By REY C. LACHICA
PARIS – This could be the mother of all battles for rower Joanie Delgaco and Fil-Canadian swimmer Kayla Sanchez.
For sure, it’s going to be tall order for both of them, especially to the former volleyball setter from Iriga City when she vies in one of four hearts in the quarterfinals of the women’s single sculls at the National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France in Vaires-sur-Marne on Tuesday, July 30.
Delgaco is under no illusion of beating reigning champion Emma Twigg of New Zealand and even Swiss darling Aurelia-Maxima Janzen.
Janzen already beat Delgaco in the preliminary round.
But one thing is certain, Delgaco will do everything humanly possible to make this 24-player race something to remember.
Only the top three finishers in each heat will advance to the semis while those who failed to make the cut will battle it out for better positions in the next two races.
Like Delgaco, Sanchez also faces formidable rivals in the qualifiers of the 100m freestyle at the Paris La Defense Arena.
Sanchez contributed two medals – both in team relays – for Canada in the Tokyo Games but here in the City of Light she has to swim extra ordinarily to beat the likes of Aussie sensation Mollie D’Vallaghan and Siobhan Haugney of Hong Kong.
In her heat, she will be racing against Haugney,m Chinese Wu Qingfeng and Torri Huske, a rising star of Team USA.
In last year’s Asian Games, Sanchez did her best to end the country’s long spell for a podium finish but she failed.
