Sven Decaesstecker

Personal information

Nationality

Belgian

Born

31 May 1985
Torhout, Belgium

Height

1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)

Sport

Swimming

Medal record

Men's swimming
Competitor for Belgium
IPC World Championships
	2010 Eindhoven	200m medley SM10
IPC European Championships
	2009 Reykjavik	200 m ind. medley SM10
	2014 Eindhoven	100 m backstroke S10

Sven "Rocker" Decaesstecker (31 May 1985, Torhout) is a Belgian Paralympic swimmer.

Biography

Decaesstecker has been a participant in local competitions since he was eight. As a young swimmer Decaesstecker won both regional and national titles.

At age eleven, Decaesstecker was diagnosed with bone cancer. After one year of chemotherapy and the amputation of his right foot, he started swimming again. He trained for both the disabled league and the able-bodied swimming club in Ostend. His new coach there was Stefaan Maene, an ex-Olympic swimmer that participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In the Royal Ostend Swimming Club, Decaesstecker was reunited with Mathieu Fonteyn, with whom he was close friends at the beginning of his swimming career at the age of 8. There have been some changes at the Royal Ostend Swimming Club, swimmers like Mathieu Fonteyn and Brian Ryckeman that are now among the top of Belgian swimming left the club. Stefaan Maene left as head coach and Guy Verhelst followed. Two years later the new Head Coach was Patrick Boucquaert, it was with Boucquaert that Decaesstecker went to the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

In 2005 Greg Planckaert became the club's new head coach and took Decaesstecker to the World Championships in Durban, South Africa in 2006. Decaesstecker qualified for the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, and the first Paralympic Short Course World Championships in 2009.

Personal

Decaesstecker is working towards a bachelor's degree in political science with a major in national politics at Ghent University.

His studies have led him to participate in the 2006 elections for city council in his hometown of Kortemark, as a candidate for the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) and as a member of the majority.

He is a representative on the Belgian Paralympic Committee, where he was elected as chairman of the Athlete's Board.

Competition

The first International Paralympic competition Decaesstecker went to was the European Championships in Brauwnschweig, Germany in 1999. He made it as a youngster (14 years old) into the finals of the 100 m breaststroke, 200 m individual medley and 400 m freestyle.

His next competition was the next European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden in 2001. Again he made the finals in the 100 m backstroke, 400 m freestyle, 200 m individual medley and won the bronze medal on 100 m breaststroke.

One year later at the World Championships in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 2002 he made it into the finals in the 100 m breaststroke (5th place), 100 m backstroke (6th place) and 200 m individual medley (5th place).

2003 was the year where qualification for the next Paralympic Games in Athens was important. Decaesstecker tried to swim his qualifying time at international competitions.

At the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece Decaesstecker went for a medal in the 200 m individual medley and 100 m breaststroke. Again he made it to the finals in the 100 m breaststroke (5th place), 200 m individual medley (5th place) and 100 m backstroke (6th place).

At the next Paralympic Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa in 2006 Decaesstecker was again going for the medal. Decaesstecker again made it to the finals three times, but did not come close to his personal best time on any stroke. He finished 6th in the 200 m individual medley, 7th in the 100 m backstroke, and 8th in the 100 m breaststroke.

Decaesstecker qualified for the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

References

Sven Decaesstecker - Profile at the website of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

External links

Sven Decaesstecker - Profile at the website of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
Video featuring Sven Decaesstecker for a Belgian Equal Rights Campaign by GRIP
Official MySpace by Sven Decaesstecker

Belgian Sportsperson of the Year

Men	1967 Ferdinand Bracke 1968 Serge Reding 1969–1974 Eddy Merckx 1975 Bruno Brokken 1976 Ivo Van Damme 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Raymond Ceulemans 1979–1980 Robert Van de Walle 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982 Jacky Ickx 1983 Eddy Annys 1984 Claude Criquielion 1985 Gaston Rahier & Vincent Rousseau 1986 William Van Dijck 1987 Georges Jobé 1988 Eric Geboers 1989 Thierry Boutsen 1990 Rudy Dhaenens 1991 Jean-Michel Saive 1992 Georges Jobé 1993 Vincent Rousseau 1994 Jean-Michel Saive 1995–1996 Fred Deburghgraeve 1997 Luc Van Lierde 1998 Fred Deburghgraeve 1999 Luc Van Lierde 2000 Joël Smets 2001–2004 Stefan Everts 2005 Tom Boonen 2006 Stefan Everts 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Sven Nys 2009–2011 Philippe Gilbert 2012 Tom Boonen 2013 Frederik Van Lierde 2014 Thibaut Courtois 2015 Kevin De Bruyne

Women	1975 Carine Verbauwen 1976–1977 Anne-Marie Pira 1978–1979 Carine Verbauwen 1980 Ingrid Berghmans 1981 Annie Lambrechts 1982–1986 Ingrid Berghmans 1987 Ingrid Lempereur 1988–1989 Ingrid Berghmans 1990–1991 Sabine Appelmans 1992 Annelies Bredael 1993 Gella Vandecaveye 1994–1995 Brigitte Becue 1996 Ulla Werbrouck 1997 Gella Vandecaveye 1998 Dominique Monami 1999–2002 Kim Clijsters 2003–2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2005 Kim Clijsters 2006–2007 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2008 Tia Hellebaut 2009–2011 Kim Clijsters 2012 Evi Van Acker 2013 Kirsten Flipkens 2014 Nafissatou Thiam 2015 Delfine Persoon

Team	1997 Noliko Maaseik 1998 Belgian Motorcross team 1999 Davis Cup team 2000 Anderlecht 2001 Fed Cup team 2002 La Villette 2003 Belgian Motorcross team 2004 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2005 Under-21 football team 2006 Fed Cup team 2007–2008 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2009–2011 Men's 4×400 metres relay 2012 Field hockey team 2013–2014 Football team 2015 Davis Cup team

Talent	1998 Kim Clijsters 1999 Bart Wellens 2000 Bart Aernouts 2001 Jurgen Van den Broeck 2002 Thomas Buffel 2003 Kirsten Flipkens 2004 Aagje Vanwalleghem 2005 Niels Albert 2006 Yoris Grandjean 2007 Dominique Cornu 2008 Elise Matthysen 2009 Romelu Lukaku 2010 Luca Brecel 2011 Thomas van der Plaetsen 2012 Kimmer Coppejans 2013 Nafissatou Thiam 2014 Divock Origi 2015 Tiesj Benoot

Paralympic	2010 Sven Decaesstecker 2011 Wim Decleir 2012 Marieke Vervoort 2013 Joachim Gérard 2014 Michèle George 2015 Marieke Vervoort

Coach	2011–2012 Jacques Borlée 2013–2014 Marc Wilmots 2015 Hein Vanhaezebrouck

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