Wim Van Belleghem (born 10 June 1963) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

former

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

from

Koolkerke Koolkerke is small district of Bruges in the province of West Flanders in Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Neth ...

near Bruges. He won the World Championships

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

class

single scull A single scull (or a scull) is a rowing boat designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to minimi ...

in 1987. After

Polydore Veirman Polydore Jules Léon Veirman (23 February 1881 – 1951) was a Belgian rower who won two Olympic silver medals: in 1908 in the coxed eight, and in 1912 in the single scull. Between 1901 and 1912 Veirman won four gold and three silver medals in v ...

of the

Royal Club Nautique de Gand (English: ''Royal Rowing Club of Ghent'' / French: ''Royal Club Nautique de Gand'') is a rowing club from the Belgian city of Ghent founded in 1871. The association is located at the Ghent urban Watersportbaan rowing course. It has an extensiv ...

, and Eveline Peleman of Royal Sport Nautique de Gand he is the most important Belgian single sculler of all time. Van Belleghem was born in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. He was world champion in the lightweight single sculls at the 1987

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. At the Olympic Games in Seoul (1988), he partnered Alain Lewuillon from

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, the Belgian national assistant-coach, in the

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right h ...

s. They came fourth in the final just one tenth of a second short of the bronze and Lewuillon had some shoe problems during that race. Van Belleghem also won silver medals in the single sculls in the 1989 and 1990 World Rowing Championships, and a bronze medal in 1991. In 1991, he won the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowing clubs.

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

in single scull open category racing for

. Van Belleghem was coached by Jens Mac Marren (S), Yvan Vanier (NL), Mike Spracklen, and Riszard Kedjiersky (P) among other. Formerly a dealer for

Aylings Lola Aylings, was a manufacturer of rowing boats. It was formed in early 2001 when Lola Group (a racing car/composite engineering company) purchased Aylings (an existing boat manufacturer) and was based in Huntingdon, United Kingdom. Aylings was ...

Rowing Boat in Belgium, he now runs a transport company and a car showroom in

References

External links

* 1963 births Living people Belgian male rowers Olympic rowers for Belgium Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Bruges World Rowing Championships medalists for Belgium 20th-century Belgian people {{Belgium-rowing-bio-stub