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Joscelin Yeo

Personal information
Full name	Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling
National team	Singapore
Born	(1979-05-02)2 May 1979 (age 45) Singapore
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Medal record Asian Games Hiroshima 1994 100 m butterfly Busan 2002 100 m butterfly Southeast Asian Games Singapore 1993 50 m freestyle Singapore 1993 100 m freestyle Singapore 1993 200 m freestyle Singapore 1993 100 m breaststroke Singapore 1993 200 m breaststroke Singapore 1993 100 m butterfly Singapore 1993 200 m individual medley Singapore 1993 4×100 m freestyle relay Singapore 1993 4×100 m medley relay Chiangmai 1995 50 m freestyle Chiangmai 1995 100 m freestyle Chiangmai 1995 200 m freestyle Chiangmai 1995 400 m freestyle Chiangmai 1995 100 m breaststroke Chiangmai 1995 100 m butterfly Chiangmai 1995 200 m individual medley Jakarta 1997 50 m freestyle Jakarta 1997 100 m freestyle Jakarta 1997 200 m individual medley Brunei 1999 50 m freestyle Brunei 1999 100 m freestyle Brunei 1999 100 m breaststroke Brunei 1999 100 m butterfly Brunei 1999 200 m individual medley Brunei 1999 400 m individual medley Kuala Lumpur 2001 100 m freestyle Kuala Lumpur 2001 100 m butterfly Kuala Lumpur 2001 200 m individual medley Vietnam 2003 50 m freestyle Vietnam 2003 100 m freestyle Vietnam 2003 100 m butterfly Vietnam 2003 200 m individual medley Vietnam 2003 4×100 m freestyle relay Vietnam 2003 4×100 m medley relay Manila 2005 50 m freestyle Manila 2005 100 m freestyle Manila 2005 100 m butterfly Manila 2005 100 m breaststroke Manila 2005 200 m individual medley Manila 2005 4×100 m medley relay Singapore 1993 400 m individual medley Chiangmai 1995 4×100 m freestyle relay Chiangmai 1995 4×100 m medley relay Jakarta 1997 4×100 m freestyle relay Brunei 1999 4×100 m freestyle relay Brunei 1999 4×200 m freestyle relay Kuala Lumpur 2001 50 m freestyle Kuala Lumpur 2001 4×100 m freestyle relay Kuala Lumpur 2001 4×200 m freestyle relay Kuala Lumpur 2001 4×100 m medley relay Manila 2005 4×100 m freestyle relay Manila 2005 4×200 m freestyle relay Jakarta 1997 100 m breaststroke Jakarta 1997 4×100 m medley relay Jakarta 1997 4×200 m freestyle relay

Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling (Chinese:杨玮玲;pinyin:Yáng Wěilíng; born 2 May 1979) is a formerNominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from Nov 2006 to Apr 2011 and a formercompetitive swimmer fromSingapore. Yeo won 40 gold medals at theSoutheast Asian Games.^[1] She also represented Singapore in theAsian Games,Commonwealth Games andSummer Olympics. Yeo was elected as aRhodes Scholar,^[2] but never took up the scholarship.^{[citation needed]} During the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was a TV analyst for english-speaking Asian countries onESPN Star.

Yeo began her international swimming career at age 11, in a Asia-Pacific swim meet in Jakarta, Indonesia. She swam at almost every major international meet, including the Southeast Asian Games (8 times), the Asian Games (4), the Olympics (4), and the Commonwealth Games (3). She ended her 16-year swimming career in early 2007.

Yeo studied atMethodist Girls' School and atUniversity of Texas at Austin, where she competed in track and field and swimming for theTexas Longhorns.^[3][2]

Yeo started competitive swimming at the age of 11 at the Asia-Pacific swim meet held inJakarta,Indonesia in 1990.^[3] She won six individual golds, one relay gold and silver during the meet and set six individual records and two relay records.^[3]

Yeo swam for Singapore at four consecutive Olympics (1992,1996,2000 and2004).^[4]

Yeo competed in fourAsian Games (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006). In the1994 Games and the2002 Games, she won bronze medals in the 100 Butterfly and was the only Singapore swimmer to win a medal at both Games. The2006 Games was her last international competition.

Yeo swam at eight SEA Games (1991-2003), and currently hold the record of the most gold medals inSEA Games history with 40 gold medals,^[5] surpassing fellow Singaporean swimmerPatricia Chan's record of 39 gold medals.^[6]

In1991, Yeo made her SEA Games debut in Manila as a 12-year-old. She won several silvers and bronzes.

In1993, with the Games held in Singapore, Yeo won nine gold medals, which included 7 individual and 2 relay races. At the Games, she lost only one race: the 400 IM to compatriotOoi Yufen May.

In1995, in Chiangmai, Yeo also won the same seven individual races as in 1993, but lost out on the two relays. She was also the only gold medallist in the Singapore swimming squad.

In the1997 SEA Games, Yeo won three gold medals.

In the1999 Games, Yeo won six gold medals, all inGames Records. She was slated for 12 events, but pulled out of the fourth day of competition, due to a right shoulder injury. The only individual race she lost was the 400 Free, where she managed a bronze, finishing behindPilin Tachakittiranan of Thailand and compatriotBouvron Mei-Yen Christel.

In2001, Yeo took part in lesser events as compared to previous SEA games. Yeo won three gold medals.

In2003, Yeo won six gold medals, inclusive of two relay golds. This helped the Singapore women's swim team to clinch their first relay success since 1993.

In2005, Yeo participated in her last SEA Games in Manila, the same city where she debuted for SEA Games. Yeo won six golds. In the 100 Butterfly, Yeo also finally finished in under one minute, winning the race in 59.91s.

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

Yeo originally wanted to call it a day after the2005 SEA Games. But after a splendid performance, she decided to continue till the2008 Beijing Olympics. This decision saw her swim at the2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the2006 Asian Games. On 30 January 2007, Yeo announced her retirement at a press conference saying she did not have the motivation to go on with another year of training till Beijing, and retired at 28.^[7]

• 200 m individual medley - 2:16.86, 23 May 2004, 2004 Santa Clara International Swim Meet

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 mentor within the Youth ministry ofNew Creation Church.

In 2009, Yeo became a non-electedNominated Member of Parliament for a term of two-and-a-half years, the youngest of her batch.^[8]

She made a cameo appearance in Singapore'sMediaCorp TV Channel 5Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd playing herself, in the eighth season of the show, where the main character challenges her and fails.

On 7 June 2009, Yeo withCanagasabai Kunalan were unveiled as the two deputy mayors of the Youth Olympic Village for the2010 Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore.^[9]

Yeo was awarded Singapore's Sportsgirl of the Year award in 1994, and the Sportswoman of the Year awards in 1993, 1995 and 1999.^[5] She was prevented from winning any more due to a rule that stopped athletes from winning more than three times. This rule has since been lifted.^[10]

In 2004, before the 2004 Olympics, Yeo released her autobiography, titledOn 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.

Yeo is married to Joseph Christopher Purcell, born 1983, a pastor ofNew Creation Church in Singapore, on 9 July 2010 inHortPark.^[11] Both are actively involved in the youth ministry of New Creation.

Yeo and Purcell have 3 boys.^[12]

• Joscelin Yeo atWorld Aquatics
• Joscelin Yeo atOlympics.com
• Joscelin Yeo atOlympedia
• Joscelin Yeo at theCommonwealth Games Federation (archived)
• Joscelin Yeo at University of Texas at theWayback Machine (archived 9 December 2007)
• Singapore Swimming Association at theWayback Machine (archived 22 August 2008)

• Singaporean Nominated Members of Parliament
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