Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu – our first gold medalist ever
Sept. 16, 2008
By Les Tan
Remember this name: Yip Pin Xiu. Why? Because this swimmer has made history.
Pin Xiu, a 16-year-old girl from Bendemeer Secondary School, won the first gold medal ever for Singapore at a major global swimming meet. Competing at the Beijing Paralympics, Pin Xiu swam her 50m backstroke (S3) event in a gold-medal time of 58.75 seconds. Earlier in the heats, she had set a new world record of 57.92sec for the event.
While the average 16-year-old will expect to improve with age, for Pin Xiu, the future is uncertain because she has muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease that is marked by progressive weakness and degeneration of the muscles which control movement.
Pin Xiu also won a silver medal in the 50m freestyle (S3) event and both her medals are sweet reward for the years of toil she has put in to train.
Her achievement puts life in perspective for the rest of us, especially if we take for granted our physical health. Pin Xiu has shown us how to live.
Singapore is proud of you.
1,546 views | Written by Les | Filed under: Nation in Motion, girls, swimming
Tags: Bendemeer Secondary.Comments
8 Responses to “Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu – our first gold medalist ever”
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April 9th, 2009 at 6:54 am
hey congrats on your victory,yip pin xiu.you have shown us how to live and helping futre generations to be succesful
January 20th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I’m not Singaporeans, but i can feel how singaporeans feel.. she really did her best..
It is a great achievement.. =D
I’m so happy for her..
September 18th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
WELL DONE!
you made singapore proud
your hard work and determination definitely paid off.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
We are proud of all of you who went to the paralympics…. well done all!
September 17th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Doesn’t matter if it’s the paralympics or the Olympics it’s still a great achievement to win gold on a international stage. Well done
September 17th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Well done, Pin Xiu!
September 17th, 2008 at 8:38 am
it’s fantastic boost to singapore sports…
be it a paralymic medale…to me it is as good as olympic gold
finally can hear our national anthemn, that’s what matters
September 17th, 2008 at 7:32 am
What a marvellous example of determination and achievement.Congratulations to Pin Xiu!