Yip Pin Xiu secures second gold at 2023 World Para Swimming Championships, extends reign of success

SINGAPORE: Yip Pin Xiu continued her impressive streak of triumphs by securing her second gold medal at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships on Saturday (5 Aug).

The victory took place at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, where she once again claimed the top position in the women’s 50m backstroke S2 event, extending her reign of success for the third consecutive edition.

Clocking in at 1 minute 4.10 seconds, the 31-year-old finished an impressive 6.76 seconds ahead of Angela Procida from Italy, who claimed second place. Fabiola Ramirez Martinez of Mexico secured the third spot, trailing Procida by 1.22 seconds.

With her recent win in the 100m backstroke on Wednesday, Yip has now attained the title of a three-time double world champion. She has achieved this remarkable feat by emerging victorious in two events consistently across three consecutive editions of the World Championships.

In 2019, Yip achieved this feat in London. In 2022, she repeated her triumph in Madeira, even though the event was postponed by a year due to the COVID pandemic

Adding to her accolades, Yip’s triumph in the women’s 50m freestyle S3 event in 2010 brings her total world championship gold medals to an impressive count of seven.

Despite her slightly slower winning times in Manchester compared to her record-breaking performances, Yip expressed her satisfaction in accomplishing her goal – securing a swimming slot for Singapore at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

With Nur Syahidah Alim having secured a para archery slot at the recent World Para Archery Championships, Singapore is now assured of two confirmed slots for the upcoming Games next year.

In the lead-up to the competition, Michael Massey, Ms. Yip’s coach, mentioned that they introduced subtle adjustments during the final weeks.

These changes were aimed at establishing an optimal preparation strategy for the upcoming year, 2024.

“Our forward game plan will be to continue developing the aerobic base and fine-tuning our race model to guide our outing to Paris next year.”

In addition to her exceptional athletic career, Ms Yip took on the role of a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in the Singapore Parliament, serving from September 2018 to June 2020.

Ms. Yip’s remarkable accomplishments were further acknowledged in February 2022 when she received the prestigious President’s Award for Inspiring Achievement.

546 para swimmers contest in week-long Para Swimming World Championships 2023

The vibrant stage for this extraordinary achievement was the Para Swimming World Championships 2023, a week-long event hosted in Manchester, United Kingdom, from 31 Jul to 6 August.

The championship, featuring 546 para swimmers representing 67 nations, holds the promise of 270 direct qualification slots for the highly anticipated Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

These coveted slots will be awarded to the top two athletes in each individual medal event at the 2023 championships, further elevating the significance of Yip’s triumph.

Joining Yip in this remarkable endeavor are three other para swimmers from Singapore: Colin Soon Jin Guang, Sophie Soon Jin Wen, and Toh Wei Soong, each contributing to the nation’s spirited representation in the 2023 World Championships.