On the occasion of the Extreme Sailing Series Event in Porto, today Wojtek Czyz togheter with his life partner Elena Brambilla, OC Sports and Marinepool introduced a new charity project to the international sailing community.

Wojtek Czyz, a German of Polish origin, was bound to become a professional soccer player when desaster struck. A serious sports insury caused the loss of his left leg right above the knee, an accident which ended his dreams at once. An athlete in every aspect, Wojtek changed his focus and pursued a career in disabled sports with great success. He won four gold medals at the Paralympic Games in Athens and Beijing as a sprinter and long jumper and silver and two bronze medals in London on top of multiple European and World titles.
During his extensive travel around the globe as an athlete, Wojtek learned that in many areas of the world disabled people are stigmatized, seen as a burden to their families and outsiders in social life. The absence of prosthetic assistance means these people have no prospects.

With SAILING 4 HANDICAPS, a charity founded by Wojtek and his life partner Elena Brambilla, an accomplished track and field athlete herself, they set out for a new challenge. To help disabled people help themselves. SAILING 4 HANDICAPS aims to improve the life of disabled people by raising awareness for what handicapped people can achieve. Sailing around the world in a catamaran SAILING 4 HANDICAPS will teach people with no access to modern prostheses how to build, fit, wear and maintain prostheses and transfer know how with the support of professional orthopaedists and doctors.

MARINEPOOL supports SAILING 4 HANDICAP with performance sailing clothing, life jackets, access to it´s global network in sailing and in fundraising.

You can find here more pics:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29747037/czyz/czyz_sailing4handicaps.zip