Bart Swings — © AP
Belgium will participate with seven skaters in the world distance championships in Calgary, Canada next week. Bart Swings has been placed for five parts.
This is evident from the list of participants published on Tuesday by the International Skating Union (ISU). The seven are: Isabelle van Elst (1,500 meters), Sandrine Tas (1,500, 3,000 meters and mass start), Fran van Houtte (mass start), Indra Médard (team pursuit), Jason Suttels (team pursuit), Mathias Vosté (1,000 meters) and Bart Swings (1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters, mass start and team pursuit).
Routinier Swings, who turns 33 next Monday, will be in action on each of the four competition days. On Thursday he starts with the five kilometers, on Friday he skates with Médard and Suttels in the team pursuit and on Saturday there is the mass start, the part in which he is the defending champion and recently became European champion again. On the final day, Swings can first start on the ten kilometers and then on the metric mile, the 1,500 meters. It is likely that he finds both distances in a short period of time a bit too much.
Tas, Van Elst, Vanhoutte and Vosté arrived in Calgary late Monday after competing in the World Cup races in Québec last weekend. Swings, Médard and Suttels, who continued to train in Salt Lake City, will later join the other Belgians.
