Cherrie "Cherry" Samonte Pinpin (born October 27, 1962), is a Filipina

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who crewed in the SKUD 18 Two-Person Keelboat class,

Sailing at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Eighty athletes representing 25 countries in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Sailing was held in two designated areas on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao, Shandong prov ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Early life

Cherrie Samonte Pinpin was born in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

on October 27, 1962. A below knee osteosarcoma developed starting age 9 so by age 11, she elected for an above-knee

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

to halt the spread of cancer. She attended the

UP Integrated School , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

Diliman Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

but graduated as a Visual Arts scholar from the

Philippine High School for the Arts The Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) is a specialized public high school in the Philippines offering arts-focused education established in 1978 by virtue of Presidential Decree 1287. An attached agency of the Department of Education, it ...

Los Baños, Laguna Los Baños, officially the Municipality of Los Baños ( tgl, Bayan ng Los Baños), colloquialy 'elbi' or simply LB, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 115,353 ...

. Pinpin graduated with a BFA Visual Communication degree from the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

Sailing career

Training home base is Taal Lake Yacht Club, who run inclusive sailing events. The changing weather conditions in Taal Lake has helped improve her boat-handling skills in light to heavy weather. Pinpin has raced an assortment of sailboats in both para and open fleets. She previously crewed for South African Paralympian Russell Vollmer on a ''Simonis Voogd''-designed ''SV14'' 2-person keelboat provided by Disabled Sailing Thailand, ''2.4mR'' Paralympic-class keelboats in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, Topcat catamarans with the Romblon Yacht Club likewise raced multihulls, home-built wooden dinghies and ''Oz Goose'' dinghies in Taal Lake.

2005 ASEAN Para Games, Manila and 2006 FESPIC Games, Malaysia

Pinpin first competed for the Philippines in para sailing (introduced as a demo sport), in the

2005 ASEAN Para Games The 2005 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the 3rd ASEAN Para Games, was a Southeast Asian disabled multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines from 14 to 20 December 2005, nine days after the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. This was the firs ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. SailabilitySingapore donated two ''Hansa 2.3'' keelboats to the Philippines in December 2005 to help jumpstart para sailing in the Philippines. Her first international regatta was the 2006 FESPIC Games,

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, racing a faster ''Hansa Liberty'' keelboat.

2008 IFDS Two-person Keelboat World Championships, Changi, Singapore

In March 2008, she and skipper Sollique qualified the Philippines for a Paralympic Sailing slot after racing a SKUD 18 in the 2008 IFDS Two-person Keelboat World Championships,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. With no SKUD 18 in Manila, the pair scrambled to practice for Paralympic Sailing using a borrowed, adapted ''FlyingFifteen'' keelboat, sailing in Manila Bay.

2008 Beijing Summer Paralympics

One of the 3 Philippine Paralympians in the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

, Pinpin crewed a ''SKUD 18'' for severely disabled helm Pedro Sollique in the two-person keelboat event held off

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

2015 ASEAN Para Games, Singapore

Back in the international circuit after putting in time on the water (7 years in Taal Lake) improving comprehension of sailing strategy, tactics plus winning regattas more often, she took the Para Team Sailing at the 2015 ASEAN Para Games. Pinpin won silver in the Women's ''Hansa 2.3'' Single Person keelboat class while Bernardo took Bronze.

2017 Paralympic Development Program, Hong Kong

Pinpin and Bernardo started their 2017 Sailing season in Hong Kong, attending Para World Sailing’s Paralympic Development Program which included Para World Sailing's Strategic Plan' on how to help get Para Sailing reinstated in the Paralympics. The women sailors likewise tried new Paralympic class boats for the first time - Pinpin raced a more technical ''Norlin 2.4 One Design'' keelboat while Bernardo a Hansa 303, both supplied by World Sailing partner, SailabilityHK.

2017 Para World Sailing Championships, Kiel, Germany

Countless hours on Taal Lake came in handy as Pinpin battled ferocious “survival” sailing conditions in the

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during the 2017 Para World Sailing Championships in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

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, where she won the Bronze medal in the Women's Hansa 303. Filipina teammate Clytie Bernardo finished at 4th place.

Other sports

In between sailing training in 2007, she took 8 months to relearn SH1 Air Rifle ( Paralympic shooting) at the PNSA Range. Pinpin went on to win the Para Shooting ''SH1 Women’s Standing R2 bronze medal'' in the January 2008 ASEAN Para Games,

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat of ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Work

Many years in an advertising career morphed into Pinpin teaching Multimedia Arts and creative thinking in 3 universities. Then a stint as Apple Solutions Expert covering hardware and software solutions for the education and creative fields. When not giving sailing tutorials or preparing for her next sailing campaign, Pinpin works as a freelance creative director. She was the executive producer for ''Liquid'', a watersports television series.

Recognition

In World Sailing’s ''Philippine'' Member National Authority page, Pinpin was recognized in October 2018 as ''Top Ranked Philippine Female Sailor'', ranked #7 worldwide (women sailors) in the ''Hansa 303'' class. In December 2012, Pinpin was among the inspirational persons with disabilities featured in the ''Fully Abled Nation'' (FAN) initiative, a disability-inclusive elections program to increase participation of PWDs to vote in the May 2013 elections. The campaign was produced by Vera Files in cooperation with the Asia Foundation, with support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). Pinpin received the Apolinario Mabini Award ''twice'' - in 1996 (''Disabled Filipino of the Year'') for rescuing a drowning girl off Changi, Singapore, a selfless act which may have helped resumption of diplomatic relations between Singapore and the Philippines, nearly a year after the Contemplacion scandal. And in 1985 (''Ist Runner – up, Disabled Filipino of the Year'') for target shooting achievements despite disability. The Disabled Filipino of the Year award is awarded for outstanding contributions by disabled Filipinos, who have served as role models to inspire both able and persons with disabilities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinpin, Cherry Living people Child amputees Sailors at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic sailors for the Philippines FESPIC Games competitors University of the Philippines alumni 1962 births Filipino amputees Filipino female sailors (sport)