FANS MOVE YIP TO TEARS

They show support even as she wins 100m backstroke silver; she hopes to get 50m gold

- Melvyn Teoh

Swim queen Yip Pin Xiu is not one to cry after losing races, but tears were shed on Sept 23, when she finished second in the women’s 100m backstroke S2 final at the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships.

Speaking to the media at the OCBC Aquatic Centre after receiving her medal, the 33-year-old said: “I think the disappointment is not that I didn’t get the gold, but rather the timing...

“I really wanted to carry that through from the morning session. I know I can do better and that these times are not my best. So there’s a bit of, ‘Ah sian, wasted.”

Fighting back tears, Yip’s voice trembled as she added: “Usually I don’t cry... But I came out and people were cheering like that.

“What really moves me is that it feels like there is the weight of the nation initially. But then, even with a silver, everybody has just been so supportive and so loving.”

And the support from the crowd was loud in the final, as fans roared when her name was announced and belted out cheers of “Go, Pin Xiu, go!”