AN INSIDE LOOK AS YIP PREPARES FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.

The swimmer, who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease which progressively weakens her muscles, discovered herself in the pool. Bullied in school, at 13 she started using a wheelchair. By 16 she had become the first Singaporean to win a Paralympic gold at the 2008 Paralympics.

From 2008 to 2024, Yip has been consistently faster than the Paralympics qualifying times in the 50m and 100m backstroke.

WATER HAS SHAPED YIP PIN XIU.
I'vealwayslovedbeinginthewater.WhenIwasyounger,IwasdiagnosedwithCharcot–Marie–Tooth.SwimminggavemethisfreedomwherebyIcoulddo…I wasstable,I could doanythingelsethatanybody elsecoulddo,and Ilovedit.And Ithinkevennow,it'sjustthisfreedomofbeinginthewater,and itjustbringsmelife.

WHAT MAKES YIP FAST?

“People weren’t really designed for swimming, they were designed for running,” says Mick Massey, the Englishman who coaches Yip.

To adapt, swimmers have to learn to mimic the shape of a long, sleek boat in the water and reduce resistance.

Like any other sport, swimming is about finding balance. To be precise, it is between minimising drag and maximising speed.

THE
START
The key to Yip’s start is to create momentum by starting as dynamically as possible.
THE START

Massey

Yip

Double arm pull

Streamline position

Double arm pull
At the start, Massey lies on the starting blocks and holds her wrists. Yip does not have enough strength in her grip to hold on to the block.
To ensure she doesn't waste even a millisecond, it's important for Yip to swim straight down the middle of the lane. So to centre herself she positions her feet on either side of the starting block.
Massey is not allowed to push her at the start. When the buzzer goes off, he simply releases her hands. Yip then throws her arms over her head as she enters the water to gain maximum momentum. She cannot kick due to her condition.
“I execute a big pull (with my arms) and that is quite crucial for me, because it gives me momentum to go into the stroke,” she says.
After throwing her hands above her head, Yip focuses on finding a streamline position underwater. She is searching for the best position which offers the least resistance in the water.
Because of her condition and also because she spends hours in a wheelchair, Yip struggles to activate her hip flexors in order to achieve a better streamline position.
She executes the double arm pull by swinging her hands powerfully overhead, giving herself maximum momentum going forward into the first stroke.
THE
STROKE
The key for Yip is to catch the water. "Catching" is when her hands enter the water and pull, as if they are grabbing the water and propelling her body forward.
THE STROKE

Enter with pinky

Holding water

Press

Exit with thumb
“When I swim, I don’t use my legs at all,” says Yip. Her arms are her primary form of propulsion.
Yip’s left hand enters at four minutes past the hour, cutting into the water with her pinky as she prepares to hold the most amount of water.
The shoulder of the arm which is cutting into water drops lower because the deeper the catch the better it is.
Yip's forearms are thin and her wrist and fingers do not have the strength to extend fully. “Most of my energy generates from my arms."
Yip presses her arm into the water. Her goal is to hold the water long enough to generate propulsion.
“The back end of the stroke is the engine room of the stroke,” says Massey. “It’s where the power is.”
Yip exits her stroke with her thumb first. She begins the next stroke leading with her pinky.
THE
TURN
The main goal of Yip’s turn is to be as fast as possible while being efficient.
THE TURN

5m flag

Full extension

Knee tuck

Spin

Double arm pull

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11
The flags across the pool indicate the 5m mark to the wall.
“When her eye line goes under the flags, she starts counting the number of strokes that she does before reaching the wall,” says Massey.
Yip takes 11 strokes from the flag to the wall.
She has to practise both a left and right turn as either arm could be her final stroke to the wall, which then determines the direction of the turn.
On the last stroke her arm should be extended fully to touch the wall. This is to ensure she has enough space to complete her turn efficiently.
She tucks her knees, pushes her hands against the wall to spin, then plants her feet on the wall. She uses the momentum from the spin to drive her body away from the wall as her legs are unable to generate power.
“Once my head is in the right direction, I just open up and then do a big pull,” says Yip. She then begins the final 50m of her race.
THE
FINISH
“A good finish is so satisfying,” says Yip.
THE FINISH

5m flag

Full extension

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The finish can decide the race. At the 2015 Asean Para Games, where she won the 50m backstroke by 0.02 of a second, the finish was vital.
5m from the finish, when she sees the flags, Yip starts counting her strokes.
She typically takes 11 to 12 strokes, but often has to quickly decide between taking a final stroke or gliding to the wall. It’s a decision she makes based on experience.
“A great finish will be done with a fully extended arm,” says Massey.
EVERY SMALL ADJUSTMENT MADE BY YIP AND MASSEY MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN A RACE.
Thosefractionsofsecondsarewhatmakethegreatestswimmerandagreatswimmer.Every daywe’retrying tofindwherearethosefractionsof asecond,becausewe’regoing toneedthemoneday.

IT TAKES DISCIPLINE AND A TEAM TO MAKE A CHAMPION.

Yip rarely mentions her disease when discussing her racing life. It's part of who she is, but it's never an excuse for a performance. All she is focused on is polishing her skills, with the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics in her sights.

In a bid to find marginal gains, she works with a dietitian, a physiologist, a biomechanist, a psychologist, a strength and conditioning coach and a physiotherapist.

She does six sessions a week in the pool and two to three sessions a week in the gym. Since she cannot grip the bar, she straps on special hooks which allow her to lift weights. “Some days I’m so tired, I don’t enjoy the gym,” she says. But Yip is willing to overcome anything if it makes her better.

THE SECRET TO HER EXCELLENCE IS SIMPLE. SHE NEVER STOPS WORKING.
Ithinkthekeyreallyisconsistency.It’s not asprint,it’snotsomethingthatIworkedhardforone year,it’ssomethingthatIworkedhard formyentire lifeto get to where I want to be.AndIdon’twanttolosethat.
2007