WHL / Wheelchair Race
Caterwil
Russia
About the Team
"Our mission is to make the world accessible to thousands of people", explains the founder of the company CaterWil, Ivan Nevzorov, "we started the development in 2012, and my motivation was and still is to help my close friend Iurii, who also starts as a pilot. I’m an inventor and like to develop new products for people."
CaterWil stands for Caterpillar and Wheel, which also describes their wheelchair model GTS3. On flat surfaces, it uses wheels and for stairs the electric wheelchair functions like a caterpillar or tracked vehicle. The dedicated team from Novosibirsk in Russia already has a lot of competition experience; in 2016 they competed in CYBATHLON (6th place) and participated in the CYBATHLON Experience at REHACARE 2017 and 2018.
Caterwil
About the Pilot
"There are always problems or obstacles, but I call them tasks. If there is a problem, there is also a solution. For example, I didn't know how to cook sitting in a wheelchair, but I adapted and now I cook delicious dishes,” Iurii Larin describes. “A dream of mine is to do a parachute jump, which I wanted to do already before the accident. I know it’s still possible and one day I will do it", says Iurii. 20 years ago, he jumped into the water with a header and injured his spinal cord so badly that he suffered paraplegia.
Iurii and CaterWil are an experienced team, in 2016 they finished 6th at CYBATHLON. "I knew that I could have done better and was a little disappointed at the time. But we analyzed everything and at the next race I won", Iurii remembers, "we are not just a team that wants to win, we became part of each other as a team! We have a goal in mind and realize new ideas and projects together".