Michel Van Lint:

Fanatical and Successful

by Stefan Mertens

Zoutleeuw: This time did I have an appointment with one of the most fanatical fanciers in Belgium? If you ask me, yes. And certainly when, a few hours later, I closed the door of the house at #33 Bogaerdenstraat, I was more convinced of my opinion than before. Michel and his nice wife know perfectly what they are doing with their birds. For them, the pigeon sport is more than just a hobby. Every detail that could have an effect on a better race result is fanatically worked out. Even more, everything is done so well that you get that impression that here in Zoutleeuw, nothing can go wrong. Their success formula: superb birds housed in ideal lofts, managed by a top fancier.

Only three years ago, Michel came back from Taiwan after being away for 20 years, and now he already has results that are what a lot of other fanciers can only dream of. National victories, Olympiad birds, etc. This is the pigeon sport from another planet, of playing at the pigeon sport just a little bit better-the pigeon sport as practiced by Michel Van Lint.



A SPECIAL GUY

Michel was born in 1935 as the youngest child of eight, into a real "pigeon family." Something would have had to go seriously wrong for Michel not to get infected with the "pigeon virus," because both his father Richard and his brothers were good fanciers. Certainly brother Firmin was a top short-distance fancier. The number of first prizes he clocked during his career as a fancier cannot be counted. Michel didn't get the opportunity to be in the pigeon lofts a lot, because as a little guy he went to a special school where he had to stay the whole week and week-ends. Only during the holidays, could the boarding students go home.

A strong regime was the first lesson in "how hard life can be." But when Michel did too many "bad things," he could not go home for the holidays and had to stay at school. "Och," Michel says, "when I had to stay, a teacher had to also stay and that was also a kind of punishment for those people. The result was that on Sunday afternoon we went to the soccer matches. Stade Leuven was then playing in first division and almost every home match I was sitting with a school teacher between the fans of that soccer club. In that stadium I decided to become a soccer player, and I think I may say that I was a good player." My coach would say 'You're a head too little, but you have character,' and I scored one goal after the other. When I celebrated my 30th birthday, I stopped playing soccer, and one week later I became an official pigeon fancier."

Michel goes on to say, "It is not that I want to boast about myself, but already then (and I am speaking about the year 1966) I was always looking for better pigeons and methods. Already then I raced my young cocks on widowhood coupled against old hens. Also my loft was unique for that period. Not only it was built in a southeasterly direction, but there was a special ventilation system and a heating system in the lofts. It was a loft in which I could 'play' with each weather situation. The strain of pigeons I had in these lofts was that of Genette X Delbar X Desmet Matthijs. I had a widowers' team of nine cocks and with them I succeeded in becoming 7th general Champion of Belgium."

Advance nine years. 1980 was a real disaster of a year. Not only were Van Lint's best pigeons stolen but his loft was set on fire. Michel remembers, "I debated a lot whether to begin again with pigeons. Professionally, I had built up a very nice career in banking, and I didn't have a lot free time for the pigeons. But the 'pigeon virus' was not yet dead in me, and six months later I constructed a new loft using a special concept. The end result was a superb loft with ideal ventilation. In 1981, I started again with youngbirds, and in 1982 everybody wondered about my result on the Limoges national race for yearbirds. In total I basketted 24 yearbirds, and all the ring numbers were registered on the race result sheet."


TAIWAN

In 1978 Michel flew with some other business partners on trade mission to China. And while Michel is telling this, he shows me a blue brochure in which everything is well explained. But Michel made something special of this trip. Instead of staying the entire time with his colleagues, he left them for eight days. He made a first visit to Edourd Chien, his Taiwanese friend and vice-president of the Hua-nan bank , one of the biggest banks in Taiwan. Later he went with Chien to the lofts of a lot of other fanciers. Already then he felt a big need for Belgian birds and pigeon products.

In October 1982 he made the definitive step. The combination of familial problems, the illness of a good friend, and the offer of Taiwanese pigeon fancier Johnson to become his loft manager in Taiwan convinced Michel move to there. The first year Michel raced very well with pigeons, but quickly he felt that he was seen as a "outsider." Van Lint felt a strong cultural difference from the Taiwanese people, and in that period they lived also under a special regime. The agreement with Johnson ended, and Michel moved to a little apartment above a shopping center. Michel reminds me, "Please note that I didn't have a wealthy and happy life. I didn't know a word of the language. Luckily, I got the support of my friend Chien. But I remembered the words of my soccer coach ('You have character'), and I went to the university to learn the language and culture. Can you imagine the situation? An 'old' European guy mixed in with all that Taiwanese youth-those were special times. But I succeeded, and I built up a nice business in buying and selling top Belgian pigeons and products.

Van Lint inside
his loft

Hens' loft and
cocks' loft





Inside the
stockbird loft




The aviary for
the stockbirds






The special
breeding boxes




Special boxes for
the breeders




A view of the
racing loft


In this way
birds are clocked
automatically






The drilling
stick





The compartment
for the racing hens

A dropper to attract
the incoming birds














Inside the
youngbird loft



The youngbirds of
the second round



Michel outside by
the youngbirds

Some of Michel's
important trophies