Canadian swimmer Kayla Sanchez underwent shoulder surgery on September 10th in Toronto to deal with a lingering injury, according to a statement provided by her coach Ben Titley.
Sanchez was originally announced as a member of the Toronto Titans’ franchise for the 2020 ISL season, but has been ruled out – at least from the regular season. General manager Rob Kent says that she will rejoin the team “100%” if they qualify for the post-season, which is expected to begin in late November or December.
“There has been a shoulder issue which has caused Kayla some discomfort for the last few years, and meant that her training regularly has had to be adapted,” the statement says. “The plan all along was for surgery to take place post the 2020 Olympic Games, however with the postponement of that meet, a decision had to be made on which course of action was best for her.
“The COVID pandemic unfortunately delayed things due to medical priorities for the country, but in the end the best decision was to continue with surgery and focus on a less compromised preparation for Tokyo 2021.”
Sanchez is undergoing a “structured rehabilitation program” under the guidance of specialists from Swimming Canada & the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario. She is expected to be back in the water within the next few weeks, and the provisional timeline will see her return to competition in late 2020 or early 2021.
Titley says that the rehab is going well, and that Sanchez remains in positive spirits.
Last summer, Sanchez was chosen to represent Canada individually at the World Championships in the 50 free, though ultimately she scratched out of the preliminary round. She did swim as a finals entrant on both the 400 free relay and 800 free relay, each of which won bronze medals. She led off both of those relays in finals.
The 19-year old Scarborough native had her individual breakout during the ISL season, where she ranked 13th in the league in MVP scoring. Last year, she represented the Energy Standard Club, which won the inaugural league title.
In short course meters, Sanchez is the Canadian Record holder in the 50 free (23.71), 100 free (51.45), and 100 IM (57.80). The 100 free and 100 IM times are both also Americas records as the fastest times swum by an athlete from the Western Hemisphere.
Get well soon Kayla! Canada needs you!