Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling (; born 2 May 1979) is a former

Nominated Member of Parliament A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a non-partisan member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president to contribute independent and diverse perspectives to parliamentary debates. They are not affiliated to any pol ...

(NMP) from Nov 2006 to Apr 2011 and a former competitive swimmer from

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Yeo won 40 gold medals at the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

. She also represented Singapore in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. Yeo was elected as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

, but never took up the scholarship. During the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was a TV analyst for english-speaking Asian countries on ESPN 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.

Education

Yeo studied at

Methodist Girls' School Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and at

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where she competed in track and field and swimming for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

Swimming career

Yeo started competitive swimming at the age of 11 at the Asia-Pacific swim meet held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in 1990. She won six individual golds, one relay gold and silver during the meet and set six individual records and two relay records.

Olympics

Yeo swam for Singapore at four consecutive Olympics (

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Asian Games

Yeo competed in four

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

Southeast Asian Games

Yeo swam at eight SEA Games (1991-2003), and currently hold the record of the most gold medals in

SEA Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with su ...

history with 40 gold medals, surpassing fellow Singaporean swimmer Patricia Chan's record of 39 gold medals. In

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

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

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, 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 compatriot Ooi Yufen May. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, 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 the

1997 SEA Games The 1997 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 19th Southeast Asian Games (; the 19th SEA Games), were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Jakarta, Indonesia. This was the third time that Indonesia hosted the games. Jakarta ...

, Yeo won three gold medals. In the 1999 Games, Yeo won six gold medals, all in Games 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 behind Pilin Tachakittiranan of Thailand and compatriot Bouvron Mei-Yen Christel. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, 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. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 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.

World record

Yeo and her

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

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

Retirement

Yeo originally wanted to call it a day after the 2005 SEA Games. But after a splendid performance, she decided to continue till the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. This decision saw her swim at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the

2006 Asian Games The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

. 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.

National records

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

Post-swimming career

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 of

New Creation Church New Creation Church (abbreviation: NCC) is a Non-denominational Christianity, non-denominational Charismatic movement, Charismatic Christian megachurch in Singapore. Founded in 1984, it holds church services at The Star Performing Arts Centre. ...

. In 2009, Yeo became a non-elected

for a term of two-and-a-half years, the youngest of her batch. She made a cameo appearance in Singapore's MediaCorp TV Channel 5

Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd ''Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd'' is a Singaporean sitcom created by Andrea Teo for Mediacorp's Channel 5 (Singaporean TV channel), Channel 5. Written and produced by Ong Su Mann, it ran for eight seasons from 25 September 1997 to 11 February 2007. The ...

playing herself, in the eighth season of the show, where the main character challenges her and fails. On 7 June 2009, Yeo with Canagasabai Kunalan were unveiled as the two deputy mayors of the Youth Olympic Village for the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

held in Singapore.

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 any more due to a rule that stopped athletes from winning more than three times. This rule has since been lifted.

Autobiography

In 2004, before the 2004 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.

Personal life

Yeo is married to Joseph Christopher Purcell, born 1983, a pastor of

in Singapore, on 9 July 2010 in HortPark. Both are actively involved in the youth ministry of New Creation. Yeo and Purcell have 3 boys.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeo, Joscelin Singaporean Nominated Members of Parliament Singaporean female breaststroke swimmers Singaporean female butterfly swimmers Singaporean female freestyle swimmers Singaporean female medley swimmers Alumni of the University of Oxford California Golden Bears women's swimmers Singaporean expatriate swimmers in the United States Olympic swimmers for Singapore Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Texas Longhorns women's track and field athletes Texas Longhorns women's swimmers Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean Charismatics Living people 1979 births Swimmers at the 1994 Asian Games Swimmers at the 2002 Asian Games Swimmers at the 2006 Asian Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Singapore Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Singapore Asian Games swimmers for Singapore Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games SEA Games gold medalists for Singapore SEA Games silver medalists for Singapore SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in swimming Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang Competitors at the 1993 SEA Games Competitors at the 1995 SEA Games Competitors at the 1997 SEA Games Competitors at the 1999 SEA Games Competitors at the 2001 SEA Games Competitors at the 2003 SEA Games Swimmers at the 2005 SEA Games Singaporean women in politics Asian Games bronze medalists in swimming