Born in Sydney to a Cypriot father and a French mother, 14-year-old Titouan Christodoulou is passionately following the path of sailing, having already excelled in the sport in both Australia and Cyprus.
Lambrini Lambrou-Cristofer’s show on the radio station 3XY Radio Hellas hosted the father of the young athlete, Dimitris Christodoulou, who told us about his son’s path to success, but also his personal emotion for the path of a child who grew up far from Cyprus, but carries his Cypriot identity with pride.
As a young boy, just five years old, he got on a boat for the first time and as his father, Dimitris Christodoulou, says, ‘he wasn’t scared at all – he liked the feeling of freedom and making his own decisions on board’.
Sailing is a family affair. Dimitris himself took up the sport, while his brothers are also active sailors, with one even being a coach. Titouan followed in their footsteps, as did his younger brother.
Despite his young age, Titouan has already been selected for the Australian national development team and has represented the country at events in New Caledonia and Thailand. However, his love for Cyprus, which he visits every summer, has prompted him to seek to play for the Cypriot team.
‘He really loves Cyprus and we decided to stay there for a year so he could have the chance to qualify for the national team,’ his father explains. A key point in his decision was his meeting with Pavlos Kontidis, Cyprus’ Olympic sailing champion, who was in Australia for the World Championships. Titouan met him personally, was inspired by his example and has since stated: ‘I want to be like Paul’.
At the moment, the young sailor is training intensively in Sydney Harbour and is preparing to travel to Turkey, where he will represent Cyprus at the European Sailing Championships in the Optimist class.
Titouan, apart from being an athlete, is also an excellent student. His family fully supports him, and, as his father states, anyone who wants to support his son’s effort can contact them either by phone or email.
Titouan Christodoulou is an example of a young boy who combines academic excellence, love for his home country and dedication to a demanding but beautiful sport, inspiring with his ethos and effort.
To learn more about Titouan’s recent achievement of qualifying to the European Championship for the sailing category Optimist (Under 15) have a look here at the GoFundMe page that we set up.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/back-titouans-dream-2025-optimist-europeans
