Blind People Doing Big Things... Blind Water Skier

Who says blind people can’t take part in athletic activities? If anyone does they would definitely be wrong. This fact can in part be proven by a man named Steve Thiele. In an article on wire.com writer Erik Malinowski informed readers about this mans amazing achievements.

He is a 45 year old man from Audley England. He works as an IT engineer. An accident where he fell head first out of a tree has left him blind since age eight. Regardless of his disability he is now a true athlete. His sport? He enjoys to water ski and is quite good at it. The only special equipment he uses is a whistle that allows him to communicate with the boats driver audibly.

In the past, Thiele has been a competitor in the Disabled Water Ski World Championship. As if that wasn’t enough, he took his sport to new heights when he decided he was going to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest water-skiing distance by a blind person. Before his attempt the record stood at twenty miles. The only stipulation was he had to wear a blind fold like everyone else even though he is blind.
Thiele took this as an opportunity to raise money for two different charities. The charities included Cancer Research UK and Ghana Outlook. The second charity named, aids in the building of schools in Ghana. He was able to raise thousands of dollars for the two organizations. This alone is an outstanding achievement.

The blind athlete’s efforts did not go unrewarded. At the end of his trek the final distance calculated was 23.85 miles. He achieved this goal in 59 minutes and 45seconds. So not only did he make his goal but he did it in under an hour.

This is living proof that you can do anything you set your mind to despite your limitations. He is a role model for disabled people every where and should be very proud of himself. Below is a link to the video of this fantastic accomplishment that was posted on You Tube. Enjoy!


Sources: Erik Malinowski, “IT Manager Sets Blind Water-Skiing World Record”. Wire.com