Yip Pin Xiu shatters world record

SINGAPORE — A world record was sensationally shattered on the final day of the five-day swimming competition at the ASEAN Para Games (APG), courtesy of Singapore’s first and only Paralympics gold medallist, Yip Pin Xiu.

Swimming in the women’s 50m backstroke event that won her that accolade at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing (S3 class), Yip executed an almost textbook-like swim at the OCBC Aquatics Centre to stop the clock at 1min 01.61secs to clinch gold in the women’s 50m backstroke, S5 event.

Due to insufficient competitors in class S2 — which she is classified in — Yip was competing several classes up in the S5 event at this APG.

Yip’s swim erased the previous world mark of 1:03.00 in the S2 class by China’s Feng Ya Zhu. Feng set the mark at the 2012 Paralympics in London. Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Den clinched the silver (1:01.63) while Yip’s best friend and team-mate Theresa Goh, with whom she enjoys a healthy rivalry, took the bronze medal in 1:01.73.

“I am glad to consistently clock this kind of timings, and I want to improve even further in time to come,” said Yip tonight (Dec 8). “I will definitely not be complacent about it. My coach told me to go all out in the last five metres. I wasn’t even sure that I won, because the race was so close.

“This competition has definitely been a very good benchmark for us. It is around nine more months to Rio, and we are very motivated now. We are pretty much on track to Rio.”

Yip’s coach Mick Massey was delighted with her performance.

“Now Pin Xiu is in pole position to repeat (the 2008 Paralympics gold). She is the one looking over her shoulder now,” he said.

“A good thing about Pin Xiu is she understands that pressure.”

FAST FACTS

- The Singapore national para-swimming team achieved its best finish at the ASEAN Para Games this year with a total medal haul of 16 gold, six silver, 11 bronze medals. Singapore lie third in the medal table, behind powerhouses Vietnam (19-22-21) and Indonesia (17-17-16).

- Singapore’s Theresa Goh is currently second on the honour roll of the most bemedalled athlete of the 8th ASEAN Para Games, with five gold medals, behind Thai swimmer Anchaya Ketkeaw.