Lee Korzits

[6] She grew up in the neighboring beach town of Michmoret, Israel, between Tel Aviv and Haifa.

[7] She and rival and fellow former world champion Zofia Noceti-Klepacka of Poland got matching tattoos on their right arms in Israel, and Korzits said: "We come to fight on the water, and be friends on the beach.

In April 2005, while surfing in Hawaii, Korzits was severely injured and nearly killed after being hit by another surfer.

[5] At first the doctors thought that irreversible damage was caused to her spine, and told her that she might be paralyzed, might never walk again, and that they doubted whether she would be able to sail professionally again.

Her string of serious injuries kept her from competing, and she eventually lost her spot on the Israeli Olympic team for the Beijing 2008 Games to teammate Ma'ayan Davidovich.

Then in 2010 at the European Championships in Poland, a competitor knocked her off her board, she became unconscious and trapped in the water beneath her sail, and she came within 30 seconds of drowning.

She competed in the Women's RS:X, was tied for the silver medal going into the last race, and finished 6th.