Wybrzeże Gdańsk is a Polish motorcycle speedway team, which competes in the National League (speedway 3rd division) Previously it was a multi-sports club.
History 1948 to 1999 The club competed in the inaugural 1948 Polish speedway season, under the name of GKM Gdańsk. The following year the name changed to Związkowiec Gdańsk and competed until 1950. Speedway returned to Gdańsk in 1957 under the name of LPŻ Gdańsk (1957–1959) and Legia Gdańsk from 1960.
Legia won a silver medal in the Team Speedway Polish Championship in 1960 and their star rider Marian Kaiser also became the Polish champion after winning the Polish Individual Speedway Championship in 1960. Kaiser went on to win the Golden Helmet in 1962, when the club referred to itself as Wybrzeże Gdańsk.
The 1960s remained a positive era for the club and they won the bronze medal in 1965 and the silver medal in 1967 headed by riders such as Kaiser, Zbigniew Podlecki and Henryk Żyto.
The 1970s saw little team success but Zenon Plech was the Golden Helmet winner in 1978 and Polish champion in 1979.
The 1980s proved to be another quiet period, with the only significant honours being a team silver medal in 1985 and the Polish Pairs Speedway Championship (Zenon Plech and Grzegorz Dzikowski) in the same season. However, Zenon Plech won two more Polish titles in 1984 and 1985. The 1990s continued in the same manner with little success except winning the second division in 1993 and winning a bronze medal in 1999 after signing Tony Rickardsson and Sebastian Ułamek.
2000 to 2005 Gdansk were inaugural members of the Ekstraliga in 2000, but they suffered relegation to the 1. Liga that season, this was despite a bronze medal win the previous season. They bounced back by winning 1.Liga in 2001. In 2005 club has closed.
2006 to present
However the following season a new club was established, which excluded the activity of the GKS. GKŻ Wybrzeże Gdańsk raced until 2008 and from the 2009 season, with promotion to Ekstraliga the club Wybrzeże Gdańsk Inc was established on 3 November 2008.
In recent years their success has been restricted to the 1. Liga title in 2013 and the 2. Liga title in 2015. Additionally, various licence changes have taken place and after the 2024 season, the team finished last in the 1st league and were relegated to the National League.
In 2025, the club won the third tier National League.
Riders Current teams Status at 24th of November 2024
PlayerDMP (KLŻ)DMPJCommentsS Tim SørensenS Niels-Kristian IversenS Daniel KaczmarekU24 Benjamin BassoU23 Marcus BirkemoseHire from Stal GorzówU23 Kacper GrzelakHire from KS ToruńU21 Miłosz WysockiU21 Bartosz TyburskiU21 Jędrzej ChmuraU19 Eryk Kamiński
Notable riders
Honours To 2005
From 2006 Team Speedway Junior Polish Championship 2nd place (2): 2010, 2012 3rd place (1): 2015
Polish Pairs Speedway Junior Championship 3rd place (1): 2013
Historical team names Nr.Validity periodName1.2006GKŻ Lotos Gdańsk2.2007-2008Lotos Gdańsk3.2009-2012Lotos Wybrzeże Gdańsk4.2013-2014Renault Zdunek Wybrzeże Gdańsk5.2015Wybrzeże Gdańsk6.2016Renault Zdunek Wybrzeże Gdańsk7.2017-2023Zdunek Wybrzeże Gdańsk8.2024Energa Wybrzeże Gdańsk SeasonSport's LeagueCommentLeaguePlace2006IIIII league 1/92007III league3/82008I league2/8 Won play-offs2009IEkstraliga 8/82010III league2/8Lost play-offs2011I league 2/8 Won play-offs2012IEkstraliga 10/102013III league 1/72014IEkstraliga 8/8 Club lost license after season and start from 2nd league2015IIIII league 1/52016III league6/112017I league2/8Lost play-offs2018I league6/82019I league5/72020I league4/82021I league4/82022I league6/82023I league6/820242. Ekstraliga 8/8
Former sports sections The club had many sections over the years, out of which only the speedway and handball sections exist to this day as separately run entities.
Athletics The athletics team competed between 1945-1971. The club's achievements were: 22 Senior Polish Championship Titles European Championships Vice-Champion: Władysław Nikiciuk - javelin, 1966 European Athletics Championships European Championships Bronze Medal: Władysław Komar - shot put, 1966 European Athletics Championships
Basketball There was a men's section which existed between 1949-1995. The club made a brief re-appearance 2007-2009 before it folded once more. The club's honours include:
4x Polish Champions: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1978 3x Polish Cup Winners: 1976, 1978, 1979 3 Individual European Championship medals Zbigniew Dregier Silver: Wrocław 1963 Bronze: Moscow 1965, Helsinki 1967
Boxing The section existed between 1945-1990. Their honours included: 21 Individual Polish Senior Championship titles 3 Olympic Medals Silver: Aleksy Antkiewicz, Helsinki 1952 Bronze: Aleksy Antkiewicz, London 1948 Bronze: Hubert Skrzypczak, Mexico City 1968 European Championships 3 titles (Gold Medals) Zenon Stefaniuk, 1953 & 1955 Hubert Skrzypczak, 1968 3 Runners-up titles (Silver Medals) Bogdan Węgrzyniak, 1953 Henryk Dampc, 1959 Hubert Skrzypczak, 1965 1 Bronze Medal Aleksy Antkiewicz (1953)
Gymnastics The section only existed for 4 years between 1952-1956. Lidia Szczerbińska won a bronze medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne whilst representing the club.
Handball
Judo The section existed in 1958–2002, and as a separate entity since 2004. Club honours of the section are:
45 Individual Polish Championship Titles 11 Team Polish Championship titles 2 Olympic Medals Silver: Janusz Pawłowski, Seoul 1988 Bronze: Janusz Pawłowski, Moscow 1980 4 World Judo Championship Bronze Medals Antoni Reiter: 1973 Janusz Pawłowski: 1979, 1983, 1987 10 European Championship Medals 1 Gold Medal Antoni Reiter: 1975 1 Silver Medal Antoni Reiter: 1974 8 Bronze Medals Antoni Reiter: 1976 Jan Okrój: 1963 Kazimierz Jaremczak: 1965 Czesław Kur: 1968, 1969 Janusz Pawłowski: 1982, 1983, 1986
Other sections There were five other sections of the club, but they were short-lived and without any major sporting success. Football (1945–1961, 2015–2020) Volleyball (1945–1969) Cycling (1945–1955) Motorcycle club (1948–1955) Wrestling (1951–1955)
References