Yip Pin Xiu wins two backstroke golds for the third straight world championships
Para-swimmer wins the women's 50m S2 race to repeat her two-gold feat she managed in London 2019 and Madeira 2022
SINGAPORE — Two races, two golds, repeat. Yip Pin Xiu has made it almost a routine in winning the women's 50m and 100m backstroke S2 events at the biennial Para Swimming World Championships.
She did it in London in 2019, she did it in Madeira in 2022 when the elite para-swimming meet was postponed by a year due to the COVID pandemic, and she did it again in Manchester after winning the 50m race on Saturday (5 August).
The 31-year-old touched home in 1min 4.10sec, 6.76 seconds ahead of second-placed Angela Procida of Italy. Mexico’s Fabiola Ramirez Martinez was third, 1.22sec behind Procida.
Coupled with her 100m backstroke win on Wednesday, Yip has become a three-time double world champion, winning two out of two events she had at the World Championships for three straight editions. Together with a win in the women's 50m freestyle S3 event in 2010, she has a total of seven world championship golds.
The two-time reigning Paralympic gold medallist is also the world-record holder for both events. And while her winning times in Manchester were significantly slower than her record times, Yip said she achieved what she had set out to do - secure a swimming slot for Singapore at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, which she did with her 100m win on Wednesday.
Together with Nur Syahidah Alim securing a para archery slot at last month's World Para Archery Championships, Singapore current has two slots confirmed for next year's Games.
Yip's coach Michael Massey said, "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.”
This year's Para Swimming World Championships saw 546 para swimmers from 67 nations vying for one of the 270 direct qualification slots on offer for the Paris Paralympics. The top two ranked athletes in each individual medal event at the championships will earn the slots for their country.
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