Yip Pin Xiu at Manchester 2023 Para Swimming World Championships
(Photo credit: Singapore Disability Sports Council/Jon Super/SportsNewsAgency)
5-time Paralympic medalist Yip Pin Xiu claimed her seventh World Championships title at the Manchester 2023 Para Swimming World Championships, yet again leaving her competitors in her wake in the Women’s 50m Backstroke S2 event. The win cemented Yip as double world champion for the third time, winning 2 out of 2 events she had at the World Championships.
In her second and final event of the World Championships, Yip touched home in the Women’s 50m Backstroke S2 event with a timing of 1:04.10, 6.76 seconds before Italy’s Angela Procida. Mexico’s Fabiola Ramirez Martinez shortly followed, coming in third place 1.22 seconds after Procida.
This marks Yip’s third double world championship titles in the Women’s 50m and 100m Backstroke S2 events, after London 2019 and Madeira 2022. Yip is also currently the world record holder for both events.
Though her timings at this World Championship may not be her best, Yip achieved what she had set out to do for this edition, securing a swimming slot for Singapore at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, through her earlier win in the Women’s 100m Backstroke S2 event. Her second victory in the 50m Backstroke event will not earn an additional slot for Singapore, in line with World Para Swimming’s direct qualification rules for the Paris 2024 games.
Singapore currently has two slots confirmed for the 2024 Paralympic Games, with one in para archery secured by Nur Syahidah Alim earlier in July at the Pilsen 2023 World Para Archery Championships.
Michael Massey, Yip’s coach, expressed his thoughts on their successful outing to Manchester, “The target for this World Championship was to win and secure a qualification slot for the 2024 Paralympic Games. That aside, we made some subtle changes in the final weeks before the competition to land an optimal preparation plan for 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.”
Taking place over 7 days in Manchester, United Kingdom, from 31 July to 6 August, the Para Swimming World Championships 2023 is one of the exciting races to look forward to this year, with 546 para swimmers from 67 nations vying for one of the 270 direct qualification slots on offer for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The top two ranked athletes in each individual medal event at the 2023 championships will earn these highly coveted slots for their country.
Besides Yip, three other para swimmers from Singapore – Colin Soon Jin Guang, Sophie Soon Jin Wen, and Toh Wei Soong – had qualified and are competing in the 2023 World Championships.
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