Rudi Swiegers

Rudi Swiegers (born August 31, 1987) is a Canadian pair skater. With former partner Paige Lawrence, he is the 2011 Four Continents bronze medalist and a four-time Canadian national bronze medalist (2011–14). He also competed with Hayleigh Bell.

Rudi Swiegers
Lawrence/Swiegers in 2010.
Personal information
Country represented	Canada
Born	(1987-08-31) August 31, 1987 Cape Town, South Africa
Home town	Virden, Manitoba
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Partner	Hayleigh Bell
Former partner	Paige Lawrence, Kristin Bonkowski
Coach	Anabelle Langlois, Cody Hay
Former coach	Patricia Hole, Lyndon Johnston
Choreographer	Mark Pillay, Tyler Myles
Former choreographer	Bernard Ford, Lance Vipond, Tammy McKay
Skating club	Skate Regina
Former skating club	Wawota FSC
Training locations	Calgary, Alberta
Former training locations	Virden, Manitoba Ellenton, Florida
Began skating	1998
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	168.88 2014 World
Short program	59.84 2014 World
Free skate	113.54 2013 Four Continents
Medal record Representing  Canada Figure skating: Pairs Four Continents Championships 2011 Taipei Pairs Canadian Championships 2011 Victoria Pairs 2012 Moncton Pairs 2013 Mississauga Pairs 2014 Ottawa Pairs

Personal life

Swiegers was born in Cape Town, South Africa.[1] His family moved to Canada for his mother, a physician, to work in Kipling, Saskatchewan.[2] In 2009, he began studying part-time at Brandon University, focusing on psychology.[2]

Skating career

Early years

Swiegers began skating at age ten in Saskatchewan and began pairs at age fifteen. In 2005, his first partner, Kristin Bonkowski, decided to focus on her singles career.[2]

Partnership with Lawrence

In summer 2005, Swiegers teamed up with Paige Lawrence, one of few skaters at his club who jumped in the same direction – clockwise.[2][3]

Lawrence/Swiegers had a slow start in the junior ranks, placing 14th at Junior Nationals in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, however, they moved up to 2nd at the junior level and received several international assignments for the 2008–09 season. They were eighth and fifth at their two Junior Grand Prix assignments before finishing fourth at the 2009 World Junior Championships. They placed fourth on the senior level at Canadian Nationals.[2]

In the 2009–10 season, the pair moved up to seniors. They were seventh at the NHK Trophy but dropped to sixth at Nationals, receiving no further assignments for the season.

Lawrence/Swiegers started the 2010–11 season at the 2010 Skate Canada International, where they won their first international medal, a bronze. They were fifth at the 2010 Cup of Russia. At the 2011 Canadian Nationals, they made several mistakes in the long program to finish in third place, their first podium finish at the event as seniors.[4] They were named to the Canadian team for the 2011 Four Continents Championships. At the event, Swiegers was recognized as an example of good sportsmanship after lending his skate to Mark Ladwig during the short program.[5] Ladwig's boot heel broke during his program and Swiegers, who had skated earlier in the day, quickly offered his own skate so that Ladwig and partner Amanda Evora could return to the ice to finish their program within the time allowed.[6] Lawrence/Swiegers finished second in the short program and fourth in the free skate, with new personal best scores in both segments, and won the bronze medal. Swiegers later received a sportsmanship award from U.S. Figure Skating for his actions.[3]

In late December 2011, Lawrence sustained a concussion in a training accident.[7] The next month, the pair competed at the 2012 Canadian Championships, where they won their second national bronze medal.

Lawrence/Swiegers were named in Canada's team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and finished 14th.[8] The final event of their career was the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, where they placed 12th. They announced the end of their partnership on May 8, 2014.[9]

Partnership with Bell

Swiegers teamed up with Hayleigh Bell in May 2015.[10] They placed 5th in their international debut at the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic and then 8th at a Grand Prix event, the 2015 Rostelecom Cup.

Programs

With Bell

Season	Short program	Free skating
2015–2016 [1]	November Rain by Guns N' Roses choreo. by Mark Pillay	Howl's Moving Castle by Joe Hisaishi choreo. by Tyler Myles

With Lawrence

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2013–2014 [11]	Olivier I Put a Spell on You Rudy's Bock	Oz the Great and Powerful by Danny Elfman
2012–2013 [12]	Robin and Marian by John Barry	War Horse by John Williams	Black Velvet by Alannah Myles
2011–2012 [13]	Beetlejuice by Danny Elfman	D'Artagnan by Maxime Rodriguez The Man in the Iron Mask by Nick Glennie-Smith Nouvelle France by Patrick Doyle
2010–2011 [14]	City Slickers by Marc Shaiman	Van Helsing by Alan Silvestri
2009–2010 [15]	Baton Bunny by Milt Franklyn	Van Helsing by Alan Silvestri
2008–2009 [16]	Orange Blossom Sorbet by Joe Trio	The Painted Veil by Alexandre Desplat

Competitive highlights

Lawrence/Swiegers with the other medalists at the 2010 Skate Canada

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Bell

International[17]
Event	2015–16
GP Rostelecom Cup	8th
Skate Canada Autumn Classic	5th
National
Canadian Championships	8th

With Lawrence

International[18]
Event	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14
Olympics									14th
Worlds									12th
Four Continents						3rd	7th	6th
GP NHK Trophy					7th				6th
GP Rostel. Cup						5th		4th
GP Skate Canada						3rd	8th	4th	4th
Nebelhorn Trophy							5th
U.S. Classic								2nd	5th
International: Junior[18]
Junior Worlds				4th
JGP Belarus				8th
JGP Germany			4th
JGP U.K.				5th
National[19]
Canadian Champ.	14th J.	14th J.	2nd J.	4th	6th	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd
SC Challenge							1st
J. = Junior level

References

1. "Hayleigh BELL / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015.
2. Mittan, Barry (July 19, 2009). "Scion of Rodeo Family Roped into Pairs". Golden Skate.
3. Golinsky, Reut (October 28, 2011). "Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers: "We like to get the crowd going"". Absolute Skating.
4. Hoyt, Melanie (January 24, 2011). "Moore-Towers and Moscovitch win Canadian pairs title". Golden Skate.
5. Flade, Tatjana (February 17, 2011). "Pang and Tong dominate pairs in Taipei". Golden Skate.
6. Rutherford, Lynn; Stevenson, Alexandra (February 17, 2011). "Disaster strikes, but Swiegers saves the day". IceNetwork.com.
7. Nealin, Laurie (January 23, 2012). "Virden's Lawrence earns bronze in pairs at nationals". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012.
8. "Rudi SWIEGERS". sochi2014.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014.
9. "Saskatchewan pair skaters Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers end partnership". Skate Canada. May 8, 2014.
10. Kwong, PJ (November 18, 2015). "Figure skaters get creative to cover massive costs". CBC Sports.
11. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 28, 2014.
12. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 12, 2013.
13. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.
14. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011.
15. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010.
16. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009.
17. "Competition Results: Hayleigh BELL / Rudi SWIEGERS". International Skating Union.
18. "Competition Results: Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015.
19. Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers at Skate Canada at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

External links

Media related to Rudi Swiegers at Wikimedia Commons

• Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers at the International Skating Union