Getting To Know Yip Pin Xiu Beyond Swimming

She's a world record-breaking swimmer, five-time Paralympic gold champion, and a strong advocate for people with disabilities. Out of the water, who is the real Yip Pin Xiu?

- Cheryl Lai-Lim

Yip Pin Xiu is a glass-half-full kind of person. It's not just because of her easy smile or her warm, upbeat personality. Nor is it that despite being diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) (a disorder that causes nerve damage and weakens the muscles), she has pushed past her physical limitations to win five Paralympic gold medals and one silver.

Rather, it's her uncanny ability to accept situations that are beyond her control, like her disability. "To be honest, I can't imagine life without CMT. I would probably be a very different person," she shares, noting that she might not even be a swimmer. ("I would be an accountant, maybe?" Is she good with numbers? "No, not really.") The 31-year-old had a joyful childhood, but she also recalls spending her formative years with her parents trying to treat her condition. Eventually, she knew that it had to stop. "I was probably around nine or 10 years old, but my mum recalls me telling her: 'Let's not waste any more money doing [the treatments] as the doctors have already said that it cannot be healed.' I knew that we'd tried everything we could, and that there was really nothing else that could be done. At a certain point, I accepted it, and just wanted to live my life." By the time she turned 13, her leg muscles had severely weakened, and she had to increasingly rely on a wheelchair.

Rather than viewing the wheelchair as a handicap, she saw it as increased mobility. "It was already so difficult to walk when I was 12 years old, so much so that being on a wheelchair actually felt like relief for me," she shares. "It was more of a mindset shift. A lot of people might view it negatively, but for me, I was excited that I now had wheels, for it gave me so much more independence."