Christian Wenk is the new President of Triathlon Club Zofingen, the biggest and most successful Triathlon Club in Switzerland. Christian Wenk won the Swiss Duathlon National Championships this year and last year he broke through with a win at Powerman Gran Canaria. As duathlon.com has reported, ten weeks ago he was paralyzed in a car accident from the 4th thoracic vertebra and below.

To the surprise of everyone Christian announced at the annual general meeting of the club, that he would be interested for the job as president - and with standing ovations, Christian was elected by all the club members. The 26 year old is not afraid that its too early for such a task just ten weeks after his accident: Without the support from my club, my success in duathlon and triathlon would never be possible. Now I want give something back. The more stuff I have to do the easier it will be for me to accept my new situation. And most importantly, with that job I still can be in contact with the sport which I still love.

For most of the nearly 200 club members it was even a surprise that Christian was able to come to the general meeting of the Club. Just seven weeks ago he was lying in the intensive care unit, and we were praying that he would survive his serious injuries. Its unbelievable how fast he is recovering and how much will and confidence he still has! Other patients with similar injuries spend 18 months in the hospital to learn how to live with a wheelchair. Now it looks like Christian will need to be in his rehabilitation program only 3 months - a new record! The great support from a lot of my friends, and all the e-mails and letters from athletes all over the world helped me so much. They give me the power and will. Because of the hard recovery training I had no time to write them all back and say thank you, but I haven't forgot all these wonderful people!

Christian Wenk is just the second president in the ten year history of Triathlon Club Zofingen. The former president Stefan Ruf worked started the club, the largest in Switzerland, and their elite team, to be the most successful in the mountain country. Because Stefan Ruf is now working together with Hanspeter Fretz, the organizer of Powerman Zofingen, he no longer has the time for the job as president of the triathlon club. But he guaranteed Christian that he will help him whenever needed. It was very difficult to find a new president so Ruf was very happy to hear of Christian's interest. With Christian we found a great person for the job as president. He knows the sport, and knows exactly how to reach and realize goals. But to be honest, I didn't venture to ask Christian if he wanted to be my successor, so shortly after his accident.

Christian Wenk won the Swiss duathlon championships on September 10th, and was ranked first in the 2000-season Swiss Duathlon Cup. His biggest international result was winning Powerman Gran Canaria last November. He was selected to race for the Swiss team in both the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Calais on October 8, and in the ITU World Long-Distance Duathlon World-Championships in Pretoria on November 12. Since he was really improving his swim skills, his long term goals included Ironman Hawaii and the Olympics in 2004. Wenk has been training to be a medical doctor, and has written his final exam about accident injuries and the recovery of the spinal marrow - he always wanted to help paralyzed people.

Because life in wheelchair is so expensive, Triathlon Club Zofingen has opened an account to help Wenk with his medical expenses. Christian at Credit Suisse -- at those who want to make a donation can do wire transfers with the following information: CREDIT SUISSE "80-359-2", Clearing Nr. 521, CS Horgen, "Christian Wenk", 0521-338083-20-2.

Those who want write an e-mail to Christian can do that on the homepage of Triathlon Club Zofingen (soon as well in English): www.trizofingen.ch the Club made a guest book especially for Christian. Those wishing to send cards can mail them to: Christian Wenk, Spital Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland.

naf