Portrait: Marathon runner Sven Jürgensen has dedicated himself to inclusion in sailing

Genevieve Wickham is a winner of the inclusion movement. The Australian won gold at the 2023 World Inclusive Championships in Rostock with Grant Alderson in the RS Venture Connect dinghy class. But her real victory was a different one.

The woman, who sailed as a teenager, suffered a severe haemorrhage during an aneurysm operation four months after her wedding. Since then, she has been unable to walk independently with her right side of her body paralysed and has had to relearn how to speak. Years later, Genevieve and her mother Anne sought advice from an agency about activities that were still possible. The experts suggested sailing. Her mother, as she told the Fremantle Herald newspaper, just thought: "What a stupid idea! Boats tip over, and how are you supposed to get back into the boat if you're paralysed? For heaven's sake!" But Genevieve is fired up, wants to sail regattas again and finds a new home port with the Sailability organisation. For her, the medal she won in Rostock is worth more than gold.

Who is this man who has long been synonymous with inclusion in sailing in Germany?

When Genevieve meets event manager Sven Jürgensen after the victory, she tells him with tears in her eyes: "This is my way back to life." It's moments like these that motivate and drive the philanthropist Sven Jürgensen every day. "That's exactly what we want," he says. But who is this man who has long been synonymous with inclusion in sailing in Germany? The man who previously launched the world's largest women-only regatta, the Helga Cup 2018, and later made it inclusive? The man who has already shown so many people with a wide range of disabilities new ways of getting out on the water and who is now the second chairman of the "Wir sind Wir - Inclusion in Sailing" association, rethinking, tackling and making regatta sport a reality?

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The father of four grown-up children lives less than a kilometre away from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) with his partner Claudia in their flat in Hamburg-Uhlenhorst. Sven Jürgensen originally comes from Langenhagen near Hanover, studied business administration in Flensburg and then entered the agricultural machinery business, where his father also worked. As managing director, Jürgensen took many of his paths at a brisk pace.

The discovery of his talent in the Bundeswehr led to this. He remembers: "Back then, I was slightly overweight and a bit lazy when I joined the Bundeswehr. But when I had to run, I did it. Then there was a 5,000 metre fitness test. I ran the barracks record. Untrained. Immediately they said: 'Hey, sailor Jürgensen, now you can run!" And he did. Inspired by two competitive athletes in his student flat share, he became one of the best German long-distance runners.

Sven Jürgensen's path into sailing leads via his camera

He ran his first real marathon "with almost ten kilos overweight" in 2:46, the second in 2:21 hours. He competed in 100-kilometre and ultra-distance races, ran, ran and ran. His running career came to an abrupt end when his girlfriend became pregnant. "I couldn't make a living from athletics back then. I was 23 years old and stopped, I wanted to look after my child. I didn't make it to the Olympic Games, so I had the same quirk as a few other competitive athletes," says Jürgensen.

When his father's family business went bankrupt, he came along - at the time as a board member of a small public limited company in Hamburg - and saved what could be saved. At the same time, he devoted himself to photography in northern Germany - a passion from his school days that he had "put aside for far too long". While shooting a reportage entitled "Nachts an der Schlei" (At night on the Schlei), he met the then YACHT editor-in-chief Jochen Rieker. He discovered some marvellous landscape pictures in Jürgensen's office in Kappeln and turned them into a photo report worth seeing. The result: more photo assignments. Sven Jürgensen's life took on new perspectives: "Photography quickly became my new main profession."

A short time later, he happened to accompany a team to the national league event at the NRV. There he met Claudia Langenhan, who is a multi-talented member of the NRV, working in event management and also as a race director. Jürgensen makes contacts and develops the idea for the Sailing Media Cup, which the NRV is organising for media representatives for the first time in 2017. The aim is to create more understanding for this beautiful but complex sport among reporters.

A long night with four women at an NRV table and a few bottles of wine later, the idea for the 2018 Helga Cup premiere has been finalised.

Sven Jürgensen is also fascinated by the topic of women in sailing. Not least because he accompanied the "Pink Ladies" on the regatta yacht "Tutima" as a photographer and fan. One long night with four women at an NRV table, a few bottles of wine and a concept later, the idea for the Helga Cup premiere in 2018 was born. It was the beginning of the success story of the world's largest women-only regatta. One of the 300 participants was a wheelchair user the very first time. She surprises Sven Jürgensen with an unusual compliment: "You're an inclusive regatta!"

Jürgensen is concerned by this realisation. He is an inclusive thinker by nature and until then had not given much thought to obstacles for people with disabilities in sailing. Now he is doing so with rapidly increasing intensity. And he watches a documentary about Kristina Vogel. The track cyclist who won two Olympic gold medals and 17 world championship titles, but who was also severely tested by life on two occasions. In 2009, Kristina Vogel was hit by a Thuringian police car during road training. The consequences: serious injuries and a long road back. The comeback was successful and she continued to win, celebrating team gold with Miriam Welte at the 2012 Olympics before racing to the first German Olympic victory for a woman in this discipline in the sprint in 2016. National coach Detlef Uibel was famous for his praise at the time: "Kristina is our best man."

The now 33-year-old remained on the road to success - until 26 June 2018, when she suffered serious injuries in an accident during training at the Cottbus cycling stadium. Since then, she has been paralysed from the chest down. As a wheelchair user, however, she has not become quieter, but louder. Sometimes charming, sometimes funny or sarcastic and always with the help of her own experiences, she uses social networks to draw attention to the hurdles that wheelchair users face everywhere.

Sven Jürgensen recognises the opportunities and wants more inclusion in sailing

"The documentary about her threw me completely off course," recalls Sven Jürgensen, recalling the emotional trigger for his mental turnaround, the original impetus for his inclusive projects. He says: "The woman is amazing." He writes her an email. Kristina Vogel replies immediately. A few weeks later, at a meeting in Hamburg, she agreed to become the patron of the Helga Cup. On one condition: "I want to sail myself!" In 2020, she won silver in the Helga Cup inclusion competition with Anastasiya Winkel, who went on to finish sixth in the 470 at the Olympics. "I've rarely felt so free at an event. I can just be me while sailing and not me in the wheelchair," said Kristina Vogel after her premiere.

Sven Jürgensen recognises the opportunities and wants more. He asks himself: "Why are there no world championships for inclusive sailing, for people with and without disabilities to compete together?" He turns to the World Sailing Federation. "They reacted really cleverly and quickly," he says. In 2020 and 2021, the first Inclusion World Championships will take place on the Alster under the NRV club umbrella in cooperation with World Sailing and the DSV. Jürgensen's credo: "Show what works instead of talking about what doesn't."

Four-time Helga Cup winner Silke Basedow, helmswoman and co-organiser of the Hamburg Sailing Club (HSC), describes Jürgensen as follows: "Sven is a jack-of-all-trades: creative, strong in implementation and with a clear attitude. He is the driving force behind projects such as the Helga Cup, the Inclusion World Cup and the Sailing Media Cup. He is also a source of ideas beyond sailing, especially in the area of inclusion. With his passion, he always manages to convince business and politics." Just like Hamburg's Senator for Sport and the Interior Andy Grote, who says: "Sven Jürgensen is a strong driving force and tireless motivator, especially when it comes to the social impact of sport and sailing in particular."

According to Löschke, Jürgensen has "paved the way for a broader mass of people to participate in inclusive sailing"

In 2022 and 2023, Jürgensen will bring the Inclusion World Cup to Rostock twice. He is running into open doors with the city and state in the fight for funding. The NRV is organising the sporting side in cooperation with the Rostock Regatta Club and the Möhnesee Yacht Club. The organisation is in the hands of the association "Wir sind Wir - Inclusion in Sailing", newly founded by the first chairman Clemens Kraus and Sven Jürgensen, which is becoming a powerhouse of the inclusion movement. Silke Basedow and Nadine Löschke win both editions of the World Championships in Rostock and, as the "Hamburger Deerns", they also leave some of the favourite men's crews behind them. Silke Basedow states: "We were able to show that it doesn't just matter whether you are disabled or not, but also what gender you are."

Nadine Löschke from FC St. Pauli reflects on Sven Jürgensen's overall performance: "I noticed Sven straight away at my first Helga Cup. He is a doer and puts his heart and soul into things that are important to him. Without him, inclusive sailing in boats that don't belong to the unaffordable luxury class wouldn't be where it is now." According to Löschke, Jürgensen has "paved the way for inclusive sailing for a wider audience". Nadine Löschke will compete in the Heinz Kettler Deutschland Cup with her para-sailing partner Tim Trömer in 2024.

With three regatta highlights, "Wir sind Wir" is continuing the series initiated in 2023 with the Heinz Kettler Foundation this year in Prien (1 to 5 May), on Lake Möhnesee (19 to 21 July) and in Schwerin (5/6 October). The final will be organised by the Schweriner Segel-Club von 1894. "A great club," Jürgensen enthuses, "otherwise I often hear what doesn't work. Here, when talking to the board members, they always just say: 'We can do it'."

Inclusive World Cup will not take place in 2024 despite another strong German bid

The four-day inclusive sailing festival in Schwerin starts on the Day of German Unity under the motto "Sailing Together" with the Sailing State Cup and inclusive teams from all 16 German states, before the final of the Heinz Kettler Deutschland Cup follows. The power programme of Sven Jürgensen and his allies is also increasingly spiked with events at Kieler Woche on its inclusion course: in 2024, almost half a dozen inclusive teams will start in the J/70, accompanying trips and a sailing course for people with visual impairments will be organised.

An inclusive World Championship, on the other hand, will not take place in 2024 despite another strong German bid. World Sailing had awarded the hosting rights to the British former Olympic venue of Weymouth. The disappointing cancellation came in spring. "We'll probably do it again in 2025," states Jürgensen. He adds without scorn: "They can't do it. We've done it four times. Thanks to our partners, we have created the right conditions with affordable events, low entry fees, the necessary accessibility and boats provided."

The rethink in local clubs is helping here. NRV Club Manager Klaus Lahme says: "Sven has set a lot in motion at the NRV. With the Helga Cup, he created the world's largest women's regatta, which has been one of Hamburg's top ten sporting events since 2018. And Sven has been instrumental in initiating inclusion in sailing, resulting in regular inclusive sailing training at the NRV, inclusive regattas being sailed and our inclusive teams taking part in Kiel Week and the 2nd German Sailing League. When Sven is passionate about a topic, he only knows one approach: Full throttle!"

The man may not be a soft-spoken man, but he doesn't take himself too seriously

The host is particularly proud of the new second division team Bat Sailing. Its crew members with and without visual impairments are the first inclusive sailing team to enter the league. The team name says it all for the sailors, some of whom are deaf or in wheelchairs: "Bat" stands for bat - the master of orientation. The ambitious twelve-strong group emerged from a sailing workshop for blind and visually impaired people, the core of which now has great ambitions to compete in the J/70 league boats. "I'm delighted for the team," says Sven Jürgensen.

As a young grandpa who regularly cycles from Hamburg city centre to Iserbrook in the west of the city to look after his grandchild, he doesn't just have his sights set on inclusive regatta sport. He has also long been building bridges to sailing for children and young people with a wide range of disabilities. Four years ago, when he hosted pupils with intellectual disabilities from the Campus Uhlenhorst project on a holiday course at the NRV for the first time, he thought after a fulfilling few days: "That can't be it. Such a happy time for the young people - and it's all over already?" Not with Sven Jürgensen, who weaves support structures like a fisherman weaves his nets. The campus juniors have had their regular sailing course on J/22 boats for three years. Further inclusive courses are currently being developed in collaboration with the Kroschke Children's Foundation, the Werner Otto Institute and new supporters. "We want to achieve something sustainable with NRV and HSC on the Alster," says Jürgensen.

The man may not be a soft-spoken man, but he doesn't take himself too seriously. "I don't need possessions to be happy, I like to live modestly. I don't dream of emigrating or sitting on some beach," he says. He prefers to imagine "that in ten years' time, Germany will have lived inclusion in society". Just like the severely visually impaired David Koch from the Bat Sailing Team, who realised his dream at Kiel Week in 2022 and climbed aboard the 49er FX of Olympic silver medallists Tina Lutz and Sanni Beucke.

Jürgensen: "As long as we talk about inclusion, we are not inclusive"

It only took him a few moments to glide weightlessly across the water with helmswoman Lutz. "David has an incredible sense of balance and can hear so much. They never once lost their rhythm, even though he had never been on a boat like this before," says Sven Jürgensen. But he knows: "As long as we talk about inclusion, we are not inclusive. Working together must become a matter of course." It is clear that some restrictions remain. "I wouldn't be allowed to drive a Formula 1 racing car. Four deaf people alone on a boat on a federal waterway is simply not possible because sound signals apply there. You have to respect that."

Sven Jürgensen also has one wish for himself: "I'd like to do more photography again. That gets far too little attention. I'm constantly asked for pictures of inclusive sailing ..." It's not just this trend that shows that the movement is becoming more visible. Which is why the chairwoman and her still small 17-strong "Wir sind Wir" association team will have to professionalise to some extent in the future. "We will be organising some projects more commercially because we have high expectations that it will work well and that we will make progress," says Jürgensen, who at the same time rushes from one selfless commitment to the next.

Sometimes, in the middle of a conversation, one of his protégés spontaneously sails into his mind's eye. Right now it's Tjark Schimmel, a former young squad sailor from Lower Saxony, who is now in a wheelchair as a result of a brain aneurysm. Tjark couldn't speak at first, but now he can a little. Jürgensen explains: Before the crash turnaround in his life, Tjark Schimmel had just competed in the 2021 Cadet European Championships on Lake Garda with sailing friend Klaas Fiete Kruck. They had qualified for the 2022 Youth World Championships in Australia. But Tjark was no longer able to take part. Now Tjark will be back in the same boat as Klaas at the Heinz Kettler Deutschland Cup. Sven Jürgensen and his allies create opportunities like this.