“Primary 1 to Primary 4 was a bit tough because when kids are younger, they don’t know how to react to different people. As long as somebody is different from them, they treat them differently,” she said in a podcast last year.
“I had to go through different things, but because of all this, it made me really tough.”
Things were slightly better in Primary 5 and 6 with some friends who made sure she felt included, Yip recalled.
She then became wheelchair-bound from about 12 years old.
In the water, however, she felt free.
Yip’s first introduction to the pool was at age 6, when her two older brothers Alvin and Augustus were taking lessons at a Kallang swimming complex.
“It wasn’t until I found swimming that I truly found myself,” she has said.
DEVELOPING A WINNING HABIT
In 2004, she was talent-scouted by a volunteer from the Singapore Disability Sports Council, and began to swim competitively.
Her first competitive meet – the national junior para championships – was just months later. She bagged golds in all her events.