Rudi Swiegers

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

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.

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

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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

In late December 2011, Lawrence sustained a concussion in a training accident. 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. 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.

Swiegers teamed up with Hayleigh Bell in May 2015. 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. On June 15, 2016, Swiegers and Bell announced their retirement on their Facebook page.

File:Skate Canada 2010 – Pairs.jpg

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00054561.htm |title= Competition Results: Hayleigh BELL / Rudi SWIEGERS |publisher= International Skating Union }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00054561.htm |title= Hayleigh BELL / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2015/2016 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151122165013/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00054561.htm |archive-date= November 22, 2015 |url-status= live }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00009313.htm |title= Competition Results: Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150114180807/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00009313.htm |archive-date= January 14, 2015 |url-status= live }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00009313.htm |title= Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2008/2009 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090501115102/http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00009313.htm |archive-date= May 1, 2009 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |title= Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2009/2010 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100329234524/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |archive-date= March 29, 2010 |url-status= dead }}

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{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |title= Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2011/2012 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120419132843/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |archive-date= April 19, 2012 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |title= Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2012/2013 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130312061524/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |archive-date= March 12, 2013 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |title= Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2013/2014 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140528112704/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009313.htm |archive-date= May 28, 2014 }}

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://skatecanada.ca/Profile/tabid/3998/language/en-US/Default.aspx?strregid=2743843&strcategory=pair&strbiocategory=Senior%20Pair&strlanguage=E |date=* |title=Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers at Skate Canada }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-rudi-swiegers |title= Rudi SWIEGERS |website= Sochi2014.com |publisher= Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140407020524/http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-rudi-swiegers |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2011lawrenceswiegers |title= Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers: "We like to get the crowd going" |first= Reut |last= Golinsky |work= Absolute Skating |date= October 28, 2011 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.goldenskate.com/2009/07/scion-of-rodeo-family-roped-into-pairs/ |title= Scion of Rodeo Family Roped into Pairs |first= Barry |last= Mittan |work= Golden Skate |date= July 19, 2009 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.goldenskate.com/2011/01/kirsten-moore-towers-and-dylan-moscovitch-win-gold/ |title= Moore-Towers and Moscovitch win Canadian pairs title |first= Melanie |last= Hoyt |work= Golden Skate |date= January 24, 2011 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/amateur/virdens-lawrence-earns-bronze-in-pairs-at-nationals-137874263.html |title= Virden's Lawrence earns bronze in pairs at nationals |first= Laurie |last= Nealin |date= January 23, 2012 |work= Winnipeg Free Press |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140505144105/http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/amateur/virdens-lawrence-earns-bronze-in-pairs-at-nationals-137874263.html |archive-date= May 5, 2014 |url-status= live }}

{{cite news |url= http://skatecanada.ca/AboutUs/NewsDetails/tabid/2157/sni%5B2797%5D/3498/language/en-US/Default.aspx |title= Saskatchewan pair skaters Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers end partnership |publisher= Skate Canada |date= May 8, 2014 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.goldenskate.com/2011/02/pang-and-tong-dominate-pairs-in-taipei/ |title= Pang and Tong dominate pairs in Taipei |first= Tatjana |last= Flade |work= Golden Skate |date= February 17, 2011 }}

{{cite news |url= http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110217&content_id=16661420&vkey=ice_news |title=Disaster strikes, but Swiegers saves the day |first= Lynn |last= Rutherford |first2= Alexandra |last2=Stevenson |work= IceNetwork.com |date= February 17, 2011 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figureskating/figure-skaters-get-creative-to-cover-massive-costs-1.3322853 |title= Figure skaters get creative to cover massive costs |first= PJ |last= Kwong |work= CBC Sports |date= November 18, 2015 }}

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Category:1987 births

Category:Canadian male pair skaters

Category:Living people

Category:Sportspeople from Cape Town

Category:Canadian people of South African descent

Category:Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists

Category:Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Category:Olympic figure skaters for Canada

Category:21st-century Canadian sportsmen