Watersports with handicap

Stand Up Paddling, as you already know, is paddling while standing on a board. However, there are many different techniques for moving around on a SUP board: standing, kneeling, sitting or even lying down. Stand Up Paddling improves your own body awareness, balance, coordination and fitness. And of course, people with disabilities can also enjoy SUP sports - Tobias Michelsen from Sail United e.V. and SUP expert Kathy Rüsbüldt show you in this video what to look out for and give you valuable tips.

Windsurfing can also be experienced by people with visual impairments, without the need for special boards, sails, masts and booms. Every windsurfing novice starts on a windsurfing board with a lot of volume and usually with a daggerboard until they get a feel for the board. For windsurfers with visual impairments, the most important thing is to feel the equipment beforehand. Tobias Michelsen explains on the website iability.de the individual steps from material science to rigging and windsurfing. Here is a little insight into how windsurfing with a handicap works.

Elke Paatz tells in this interview how more and more initiatives and sailing clubs are integrating adaptive sailing. With its multitude of boat types, sailing offers opportunities for almost all needs. Heiko Kröger is a professional skipper who won the gold medal at the Paralympics 2020 in Sydney. He also supports Sail United e.V. and the online learning platform iability.de. In this video, he explains which boat types are suitable and which adaptations there are for the respective requirements and missions!

Water skiing is a team sport in which mutual consideration is essential. Additional adaptations and launching aids are often needed for water skiers with disabilities. Water ski expert Gerda Pamler tells you more about this in the iability.de video!

Kitesurfing is considered demanding and acrobatic, which is why many people with disabilities do not feel confident in this water sport. A detailed introduction with good explanations takes away these fears. Adaptations such as a special bar or a seat on the kitesurf board make things easier. For many, it’s hard to imagine that watersports enthusiasts with disabilities can be pulled through and over the water by a kite - this video from iability.de shows you how it works!

For many people canoeing and kayaking is an easy sport to learn. And for people with disabilities, it’s an accessible water sport precisely thanks to the lightweight, easily manoeuvrable boats. Short or long strokes with the paddle determine the speed. Moreover, kayaking or canoeing is a water sport that quickly leads to a sense of achievement. Whether with or without assistance, even paddlers with limitations will have lots of fun on the water. Watch the video!

Swimming and movements in the water have many positive properties: the muscles, ligaments and joints are relieved of pressure. Swimming is particularly important for people with disabilities. Thanks to the buoyancy of the water, movement is possible with little or no aids. Breathing and circulation are stimulated, while coordination and balance are trained.

In addition, adequate swimming skills are a prerequisite for using boats and boards. Kirstin Bruhn, multiple World Champion and Paralympic gold medallist in swimming, gives tips on inclusive swimming on an online learning platform:

Diving for people with disabilities requires not only courage but also teamwork. After an explanatory introduction and some dry runs, even people with a physical or mental disability are ready for a dive within a team. Diving creates a completely new body sensation that is fascinatingly different for everyone and leads to new physical and sensory experiences. Watch the video!