Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling (杨玮玲) (born 2 May 1979) is a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) and a former competitive swimmer from Singapore. Yeo won 40 gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games,[1] 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.[2]
Yeo began her international swimming career at age 11, at the Beijing Asian Games. Since then, she has swum 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 ended her 16-year swimming career in early 2007.
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(correct as of 22 August 2009)
Yeo competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her four Olympics appearances are 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.
Yeo competed in four Asian Games. In the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games and the 2002 Pusan Asian Games, she won the bronze twice for the 100m Butterfly. She was the only Singapore swimmer to win a medal at both Games. The 2006 Doha Asian Games was her last international competition.
Yeo currently hold the record of the most gold medals in SEA Games history with 40 gold medals, surpassing fellow Singaporean swimmer Patricia Chan's record of 39 gold medals. Yeo still holds five SEA Games swimming records.{fact}
In 1991, Yeo made her SEA Games debut in Manila as a 12 year old,. She won several silvers and bronzes.
In 1993, with the SEA Games held in Singapore, Yeo won nine gold medals, which included seven individual and two relay races. Throughout the entire Games, she only ever lost one race, the 400 IM to compatriot Ooi Yufen May.
In 1995, 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, besieged by threats of witchcraft and personal illness, Yeo only won three gold medals.
In the 1999 Brunei Games, Yeo won six gold medals, all in SEA Games record time. 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 only managed a bronze, finishing behind Pilin Tachakittiranan of Thailand and compatriot Bouvron Mei-Yen Christel.
In 2001, Yeo took part in lesser events as compared to previous SEA games. Yeo won three gold medals.
In 2003, 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, 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 her University of California, Berkeley 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.
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. This decision saw her swim at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the 2006 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.[3]
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.
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.
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.
In 2009, Yeo became a non-elected Nominated Member of Parliament for a term of two-and-a-half years, the youngest of her batch.[4]
She made a cameo appearance in Singapore's MediaCorp TV Channel 5 Phua 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 with Canagasabai Kunalan were unveiled as the two deputy mayors of the Youth Olympic Village for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore.[5]
Yeo was married to Joseph Christopher Purcell, born 1983, a pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore, on 9 July 2010 in HortPark.[6] Both are actively involved in the youth ministry of New Creation.
On the 10th of September 2011, Joscelin gave birth to a baby boy.[7]