The OCBC Aquatic Centre exploded in joy on the sixth day of the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025 as home favourite Yip Pin Xiu won the 50m backstroke S2 gold medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 33-year-old Singaporean Para sports icon, who had won her country\u2019s first Paralympic gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Games, defended her title in the event she has now triumphed at four consecutive world championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing that all of us came to cheer together. Tonight, we are extremely proud to be Singaporeans,\u201d Yip said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explosive in the short distances, she has dominated the event for the past decade with three consecutive Paralympic titles in addition to her World Championship triumphs, and Friday\u2019s fast final was no exception. After a strong start, no one could match the stroke rate of the home swimmer, who finished in 1:04.31 to the joy of numerous passionate red-and-white fans chanting her name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe crowd today has been amazing,” said Yip, who blew kisses to the stands from the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I expected this turnout in any form but to see that Singaporeans are coming to support and watch us has really been phenomenal. I\u2019m so grateful for all the support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apart from her family, Singapore\u2019s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was among the supporters giving Yip a standing ovation before the final, pushing her to bring home the host nation\u2019s first gold medal of the championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt really goes to show that they (Singapore\u2019s people in power) see sports as an important thing in the country and being able to have an inclusive Para sport is also a priority for them,\u201d Yip said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m grateful for the support we\u2019ve received so far but also, down the road, hopefully we\u2019ll grow as a nation, in Para sports as well, and that\u2019s something to look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And she had to work for it. Neutral Para Athlete Diana Koltsova and Italy\u2019s Arjola Trimi did their best to ruin the party. Koltsova claimed silver 1.41 seconds behind Yip, and 11 hundredths of a second before Trimi who finished in bronze medal position. Moreover, all three podium finishers went under the fastest time in the world this year as well as the time that Yip won the Paralympic gold medal with last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spanish veteran Albert Gelis broke the world record en route to winning the 100m backstroke S11 gold medal, clinching his first world title at the age of 43.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great pride for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy for myself and my coach, and for all the people who have given us support throughout this season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Girona-born swimmer, who won a relay bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, showed age is just a number. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He touched the wall in 1:05.14, knocking seven tenths of a second off the previous mark set by Ukraine\u2019s Mykhailo Serbin at last year\u2019s Paralympic Games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m also an example for people who are in their 40s or 30s, that it is possible to achieve something. If you want to do it, you can,\u201d Gelis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the other end of the age spectrum, 17-year-old David Kratochvil from Czechia took the silver medal, 1.79 seconds behind the winner. Ukraine\u2019s Danylo Chufarov took the bronze as his teammate Serbin had to settle for a fourth place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USA\u2019s Olivia Chambers clinched her third gold medal in the championships after winning the women\u2019s 400m freestyle S13 final on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Manchester 2023 silver medallist was the favourite to win this time, especially after Italy\u2019s Carlotta Gilli, who had finished in second place behind Chambers at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, had been disqualified in the heats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Chambers made no mistake in the final. She led the race from start to finish, steadily increasing the gap to Roisin Ni Riain from Ireland in second place, and sealed the victory in 4:31.43, beating Ni Riain by almost six seconds. Her teammate Grace Nuhfer finished in third place to ensure two medals for USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the fourth medal for the 100m breaststroke SB13 and 100m freestyle S13 champion, who has also claimed the women\u2019s 50m freestyle S13 bronze less than 24 hours before Friday\u2019s final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paralympic champion and world record-holder Brock Whiston from Great Britain won the women\u2019s 200m individual medley SM8 gold medal, completing a full set of medals in the championships after her 400m freestyle S8 silver and 100m butterfly S8 bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neutral Para Athlete Viktoriia Ishchiulova had the lead after the butterfly and backstroke lengths before breaststroke and freestyle expert Whiston pushed past with an explosive second half of the race, claiming her first victory in Singapore by a margin of 3.56 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt like coming into (the competition), I had a lot of pressure on myself,\u201d the 28-year-old said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one else was putting pressure on me but after winning gold at Paris (2024), I just wanted to come here and prove that it wasn\u2019t just a one-off and that I deserve to be on the podium. And I can\u2019t stop smiling, I\u2019m super happy,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Sunday\u2019s 100m breaststroke SB8 left to swim, Whiston was pleased with her fourth world championships so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwo out of my three swims have been quicker than in Paris and after a major Games that\u2019s all you can ask for, so I am absolutely buzzing,\u201d said Whiston, who won the event in her World Championship debut at home in London, Great Britain, in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSingapore has been amazing. I thought I\u2019d struggle a lot with the time difference in the heats but the team has been supportive, and we\u2019ve had the best prep camp that I\u2019ve probably ever had for a competition, so it\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s Zhu Hui took the bronze, more than three seconds ahead of Jessica Long from the US \u2013 who has six world titles in the event to her name. Long, who had led the race after the first 50m butterfly, had to settle for a fourth place in her last race of the championships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most decorated World Championship Para swimmer made it to one podium in Singapore, claiming a bronze in Wednesday\u2019s 100m freestyle S8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brazil\u2019s Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo finished off his Singapore 2025 campaign in style, adding a men\u2019s 50m backstroke S2 gold medal to his world titles in 100m backstroke S2 and 200m freestyle S2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGabrielzinho\u201d has won these three events at three consecutive World Championships as well as at Paris 2024 where he was branded \u201cPele of the pools\u201d by French media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defne Kurt of Turkiye won the women\u2019s 100m freestyle final in a Championship record time of 59.08, claiming her fourth gold medal of the championships. Great Britain\u2019s Faye Rogers finished in second place, 1.38 seconds behind the winner, as France\u2019s Emeline Pierre took bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great Britain\u2019s Poppy Maskill, Harry Stewart, William Ellard and Bethany Firth set a new world record of 4:02.86 on the way to winning the fast mixed 4x100m medley relay S14 final, where silver medallists Brazil, with an American record time, finished 3.12
seconds behind the winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As 23 world champions were crowned on Friday, swimmers from Australia, China, Colombia, Israel, Italy, Ukraine and United States, as well as Neutral Paralympic Athletes Yahor Shchalkanau, Daria Lukianenko and Igor Shchitkovskii, also topped the podium on the penultimate day of action in the OCBC Aquatic Centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With one day left of the World Championships, China are on top of the medal table with 16 gold medals, chased by Italy in second place on 15. Ukraine and the United States, placed third and fourth respectively, are not far away, both on 14 gold medals, as Great Britain have 13 and Brazil 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n