Joscelin Yeo

Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling (born 2 May 1979) is a competitive swimmer from Singapore.

Yeo has won dozens of gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games, [Leong, Cubby, [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sportsnews/view/181514/1/.html "SEA Games: Joscelin Yeo makes history"] , "Channel NewsAsia", 2005-12-02, URL last accessed 2006-12-07.] as well as represented the Republic in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Summer Olympics.

Yeo was elected as a Rhodes Scholar but never took up the Scholarship. [ [http://www.utexas.edu/friends/popups/spotlight_20.html "Quick Facts on Joscelin Yeo"] , "University of Texas at Austin," URL last accessed 2006-12-07.]

Yeo began her international swimming career at the tender age of 11, making her debut at the Beijing Asian Games. Since then, she has swam in every major international meet, including the Southeast Asian Games eight times, the Asian Games four times, the Olympics four times, and the Commonwealth Games three times. She finally closed the curtain on her 16 years long swimming career, calling it a day in early 2007.

National records

("correct as of 27th December 2007")
*50 m freestyle - 26.13, 3 December 2005, 23rd SEA Games
*100 m freestyle - 56.05, 8 August 1999, 20th SEA Games
*200 m freestyle - 2:03.34, 17 July 1999
*200 m individual medley - 2:16.86, 23 May 2004, 2004 Santa Clara International Swim Meet
*400 m individual medley - 4:51.87, 13 August 1999, 20th SEA Games

Olympics

Yeo competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics , 1996 Atlanta Olympics , 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her 4 Olympics appearances is the most by any Singaporean athlete. Yet, for a swimmer of Yeo's calibre, she never did perform to her best at any of the Olympics. Particularly, after the 2000 Sydney Olympics and especially the 2004 Athens Olympics , Joscelin, along with the rest of the Singapore swimming team, were lambasted for their poor performances by the Singaporean media and even their own coaches.

Asian Games

Yeo made a total of 4 Asian Games outings. In the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games and the 2002 Pusan Asian Games , she won bronze in the same event, the 100m Butterfly. She was the only Singapore swimmer to medal at both Games. The 2006 Doha Asian Games also turned out to be Yeo's last international competition.

EA Games

With 40 gold medals to her name through all the years, Yeo is the most bemedalled athlete in SEA Games history, surpassing fellow Singaporean swimmer Patricia Chan's record of 39. To date, Yeo still holds 5 SEA Games swimming records.

1991

As a 12 year old, Yeo made her SEA Games debut in Manila. It is also the only SEA Games ever that Yeo did not return with a gold medal, winning a clutch of silvers and bronzes

1993

This Games was held in Yeo's home turf of Singapore, and Yeo made it a memorable Games in every way. Yeo splashed home to a total of 9 gold medals, which included 7 individual and 2 relay races. Throughout the entire Games, she only ever lost 1 race, the 400 IM to compatriot Ooi Yufen May.

1995

In Chiangmai, Yeo won the same number of individual races as in 1993, but lost out on the two relays. She was also the only gold medallist in the Singapore swimming squad.

1997

It was the worst SEA Games ever for Yeo. Besieged by threats of witchcraft and personal illness, Yeo only won 3 gold medals. And being the only swimmer who could deliver golds at that point of time, it also meant the Singapore swimming squad ended the Games with only Yeo's 3 gold medals.

1999

The Brunei Games saw a resurgence from Joscelin, as she won 6 gold medals, all in SEA Games record time. She was slated for a whopping 12 events, but pulled out of the 4th day of competition, due to a right shoulder injury. The only individual race she lost was the 400 Free, where she only managed a bronze, finishing behind Pilin Tachakittiranan of Thailand and compatriot Bouvron Mei-Yen Christel. Singapore swimming also ended the spell of Yeo solely shouldering the responsibilities of winning gold, when Teo Wei Min Nicolette triumphed in the 200 Breaststroke.

2001

This was the Games that saw her teammates step up, as Yeo began to pass on events to them instead of having to swim so many. For example, the middle distance freestyle events were handed to Bouvron Mei-Yen Christel while the breaststroke events went to Teo Wei Min Nicolette. Yeo won 3 gold medals, but her teammates contributed for another 5, making it a total of 8, for Singapore swimming's best Games since 1993.

2003

It was another 6 gold medals Games for Yeo. Most importantly, she and her teammates combined to win 2 relay golds, the Singapore women's swim team's first relay success since 1993.

2005

This Games was Yeo's last Games. It was a full circle for Yeo's SEA Games career, as she made her debut in 1991 in Manila, and also ended it at the same city 14 years later. While Joscelin won 6 golds, it was the most successful Games for Singapore swimming in a long time, as they claimed a total of 13 gold medals, to become queen of Southeast Asian swimming for the first time since 1993. In the 100 Butterfly, Yeo also finally went under the 1 minute mark, winning the race in 59.91s.

World record

Yeo and her University of California, Berkeley teammates Haley Cope , Staciana Stitts , Praphalsai Minpraphal broke the 4x50 Medley Relay (Short-course) World record in 2000 with a time of 1:49.23.

Accolades

Yeo was awarded Singapore's Sportsgirl of the Year award in 1994, and the Sportswoman of the Year awards in 1993, 1995 and 1999. She was prevented from winning anymore due to a then imposed rule that stopped athletes from winning more than 3 times. This rule has since been lifted. If the rule never existed in Yeo's time, she most likely would have won the 2003 and 2005 Sportswoman of the Year awards too.

Autobiography

In 2004, before the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yeo released her autobiography, titled "On the Move: My Career, My Life"", which chronicled all the milestones in her life and swimming career, and also nuggets she shared about her national teammates.

Retirement

Yeo originally wanted to call it a day after the 2005 SEA Games. But after a splendid performance, she wanted to continue and try on till the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This decision saw her swim at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the 2006 Doha Asian Games. However, she made a U-Turn again in the beginning of 2007, saying she did not have the motivation to go on with another year of training till Beijing.

Post swimming

Yeo opened a swim school, called Yeo's Aquatics, along with her elder brother Leonard. She is also actively involved in church work, working as a youth mentor with the New Creation Church.

TV appearance

Recently, she has a cameo appearance in Singapore's MediaCorp TV Channel 5 Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd played as herself in the eighth season of the show, where the main character challenges her and fails terribly.

References

External links

* [http://www.utexas.edu/friends/popups/spotlight_20.html Joscelin Yeo biography]
* [http://www.swimming.org.sg/swmrecords_WomenOpen.html Singapore Swimming Association]