SINGAPORE – With a familiar face in her camp at the Manchester Aquatics Centre on Wednesday, Yip Pin Xiu turned in an outstanding swim to claim her sixth world title and seal a spot for Singapore at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
The 31-year-old reunited with former coach Mick Massey in November and the duo showed they still have the winning formula, as Yip powered to her third straight women’s 100m backstroke S2 title at the World Para Swimming Championships.
The five-time Paralympic champion touched home in 2min 17.78sec, ahead of Italy’s Angela Procida (2:28.64) and Mexico’s Fabiola Ramirez Martinez (2:31.66).
Massey, who was previously the British Paralympic head coach, had worked with Yip and Paralympic medallist Theresa Goh from 2015 to early 2017. The Briton also worked alongside Yip and her former coach Mark Chay ahead of the Tokyo Games in 2021, when she retained her 50m and 100m backstroke S2 titles.
Yip said: “It’s been good because we have a good track record and, with Mick, I know what he’s really good at, and we just work on those things to our advantage and hopefully it shows in the performance as well.
“He brings out the best in me because the communication is very good. He knows I’m an experienced athlete, so a lot of things are no longer just coach led. We do it as a team and together with the team at the Singapore Sport Institute. We train at a high-performance level to shave off anything we can to get a better time.”
With the next Paralympics just over a year away, Yip is encouraged by her performance in Manchester. She is also the defending champion in the women’s 50m back S2 event, which she compete in on Saturday.
After securing a Paris Games berth for Singapore – the top-two ranked athletes in each individual medal event at the championships earn qualification slots for their country – Yip’s focus is on getting herself in the best condition, both physically and mentally.
She added: “This world title means a lot to me…
“It’s really exciting because it’s the world champs just before the Paralympics, so to be able to have a really good performance a year before Paris is a huge boost.”
While Yip put in a dominant performance in Manchester, it was not as easy as it looked as the swimmer shared that she had been ill before her event.
Reflecting on her preparations for the world championships, she said: “At some point, it was feeling like I wasn’t ready, but at the same time also practising a lot of these mental strategies... It was a lot of ups and downs, but it’s really given us a checklist of what we need to continue working on. It’s really been quite an amazing journey.”
Then, there is also the pressure of her own expectations, which makes winning more difficult each time.
She said: “I don’t take anything for granted and I make sure everything is a very deliberate choice from the training to the tapering to the resting, recovery.
“It’s always different because every race is different. The one thing that is harder is people thinking it’s easy but it really isn’t.”
