Sven "Rocker" Decaesstecker (born 31 May 1985) is a Belgian

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

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 A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

. After one year of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and the

amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...

of his right foot, he started swimming again. He trained for both the disabled league and the able-bodied swimming club in

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

. His new coach there was

Stefaan Maene Stefaan Maene (born 13 May 1972 in Ostend) is a former backstroke, freestyle and medley swimmer from Belgium, who competed for his native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He won his first international medal at the inaugur ...

, an ex-

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

swimmer that participated in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

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 The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September 2 ...

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 A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

with a major in national politics at

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

. His studies have led him to participate in the 2006 elections for city council in his hometown of

Kortemark Kortemark (), also previously Cortemarck, is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Handzame, Kortemark, Werken and Zarren. On January 1, 2006, Kortemark had a total populati ...

, as a candidate for the

Flemish Liberals and Democrats The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (, , Open Vld) is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. The party has been described as centre-right and has smaller factions within the party that have conservative liberal and social liberal v ...

(VLD) and as a member of the majority. He is a representative on the

Belgian Paralympic Committee The Belgian Paralympic Committee (BPC) is the umbrella organization in Belgium of organized sport for people with a disability. It acts as the Belgian National Paralympic Committee, making it the official Belgian representative to the European Par ...

, where he was elected as chairman of the Athlete's Board.

Competitions

The first International Paralympic competition Decaesstecker went to was the European Championships in Brauwnschweig, Germany in 1999. Aged 14 he reached 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 Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

, Argentina in 2002 he reached 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 The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September ...

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 also competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympics, winning no medals.

References

External links

Video featuring Sven Decaesstecker
for a Belgian Equal Rights Campaign by GRIP
Official MySpace by Sven Decaesstecker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decaesstecker, Sven 1985 births Living people Belgian male backstroke swimmers Belgian male breaststroke swimmers Belgian male freestyle swimmers Belgian male medley swimmers Paralympic swimmers for Belgium Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Torhout Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships S10-classified para swimmers 21st-century Belgian sportsmen