Student Brings Back Medal and Inspiration from Invictus Games
According to Jarek Neczypor ’25, the next sport to catch on worldwide should be wheelchair rugby. As the Yale Law School student explains it, the game is fast moving, combines the action of basketball and soccer, and has complex strategy. As a bonus, he quickly adds, the chairs are built for smashing into each other.
“It’s one of the best sports I’ve ever played,” he said.
Neczypor, a Navy veteran, now has a bronze medal in the sport from the Invictus Games. This year’s international adaptive sporting event for wounded, injured, and sick service members and veterans took place Feb. 8-16 in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia. The games drew more than 500 competitors from more than 20 nations to compete in 11 sports.
As a member of Team U.S., Neczypor had the unforgettable experience of entering the stadium that once hosted the Olympics with his teammates as a crowd of 50,000 supporters cheered from the stands and an audience of millions more watched at home. The moment was all the more meaningful knowing that competitors from around the world faced similar challenges to get there.
For Neczypor, adaptive sports have been an important part of his recovery from injuries that ended his military service, which started when he was commissioned as a Navy officer in 2017. He was 22, the first in his family to go to college, and had earned a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice. But he always knew that service was in his future.
“I strongly believe that people should do some sort of service whether it was military, Peace Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, firefighting, Teach for America … a public service job that transplants you into a broader community where you experience the complexities of life and live in community with people from every background,” he said.
Life-changing injuries and a resolve to study law
His time in the Navy brought him to Japan, where he ultimately attained the rank of lieutenant, leading a crew of 64 sailors. But injuries he incurred while on duty left him with severe damage to the right side of his body, including his shoulder, chest, nerves, and head. Ordinary actions like grasping objects were difficult. So was moving at all. He had to relearn activities that that most people take for granted.
“All of a sudden your body, things that the military prides itself on — strength, physical prowess — is taken away from you,” he said. “That can be immensely challenging, physically and mentally.”
Neczypor was sent to San Diego for surgeries and rehabilitation. As part of Navy Wounded Warrior, the organization that coordinates injured sailors’ nonmedical care, he took part in a rehabilitative sporting program. Joining others in physical activity, usually after a full day of work, created a shared sense of purpose.
“We all are in the same situation and that’s the part that really saves you,” he said. “You’re still working your assigned duty, but now you have another mission, too — to heal, to get better.”
His recovery also led him to law school. Injured service members are assigned a lawyer, and that experience showed Neczypor how important quality legal representation could be. A good lawyer could be the difference in how quickly someone gets treated, whether they get particular treatments, whether they receive certain military benefits, or even if they keep their job, he said.
While he was in the hospital, Neczypor researched military benefits to better advocate for himself and the other injured sailors there with him. Several times, the Veterans Legal Services Clinic4 at Yale Law School turned up in his search results because the clinic had worked on some of the very issues affecting service members he knew. He decided to apply to Yale Law School based on the clinic’s reputation. He is now a member of the clinic himself.
“I can sit down with our clients, look them in the eye and say, ‘I know exactly where you’ve been because I am in that situation right now,’” he said. “And I think that provides a sense of comfort for the clients.”
The unifying power of adaptive sports
Neczypor has come to appreciate how adaptive sports accommodate people of all physical conditions, abilities, and disabilities. Take wheelchair rugby. Some athletes use a wheelchair in everyday life. Others, like Neczypor, do not. And many players have injuries that are hidden, he noted. Some have neurological injuries, toxic exposure, or cancer. A player who stands up from the wheelchair after a match might need metal braces to stay upright. Another player might have a mental health injury or a traumatic brain injury. But at game time, nobody holds back in the famously rough sport.
“Anybody can play,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re quadriplegic, it doesn’t matter if you are missing a leg, it doesn’t matter if you have a spine injury. We’re all out there smashing into each other.”
Invictus Games participants are encouraged to compete in more than one sport to challenge themselves. In addition to wheelchair rugby, Neczypor also competed in swimming, rowing, and biathlon. For Neczypor, who is from California and doesn’t have a long history with snow sports, the opportunity to compete in one of several winter sports added to the games this year was intriguing. Biathlon — a combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting — was a particularly demanding option.
“You’re essentially running at full speed on skis, and then have to pull into a shooting range, get your heart rate down, shoot five shots, and then go out there and compete more,” he said. “It’s a really intense sport, but I like it.”
As a newcomer to the sport, Neczypor faced strong competition from athletes from Europe, where biathlon is popular. He placed 12th out of 24 in his division — a satisfying finish for someone who only picked up the sport last semester.
Neczypor returned to New Haven with powerful memories from the Invictus Games, many of which weren’t about his own performance. While there, he witnessed the camaraderie of athletes from opposing teams collecting mementos after a match.
“You will see men and women who may not speak the same language congratulating each other, giving hugs, and swapping jerseys or hats,” he said.
He also remembers how at swim meets, the biggest cheers often went not to the first-place finishers, but to the swimmers last in their heat. Sometimes a swimmer a half a pool length behind the next competitor would get a standing ovation once they reached the wall, he recalls.
“The goal was to make it to the finish line, and everyone who dove into the pool made it to the finish and received equal glory of cheers at the end,” he said.
Neczypor will continue to draw inspiration from his fellow athletes for his ongoing recovery long after the games.
“The community of athletes from the U.S. and internationally form into a family,” he said. “A family who provides support on your hardest days and encourages me to push my perceived limits.”
