SMU final-year Social Sciences undergraduate and Singapore’s first and only Paralympics gold medallist Yip Pin Xiu decided last week to defer her studies to train full-time in her quest for glory at next year’s Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. Yip is in a race against time as she fights muscular dystrophy, a condition marked by the progressive weakening of the muscles. While she noted that she is feeling weaker than she did some years back, she does not want to regret not putting in enough effort to pursue her best in swimming.