Background
Claeys was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
Claeys was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
At age 11, she moved with her family to Minnesota and became a student at Burnsville High School. She began studying at the University of Minnesota at age 14. Claeys trained in Atlanta and Janesville, Wisconsin until she was 11 and then trained in Minnesota.
Claeys began representing Belgium in the 1991-1992 season.
After placing fourth behind Chen Lu at the World Junior Championships in Hull, Quebec, she was named in the Belgian team to the 1992 European Making her senior International Skating Union Championship debut, she finished 11th at the event in Lausanne, Switzerland. She then placed seventh, between Tonya Harding and Yuka Sato, at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, California.
She ranked eighth at the 1993 European Championships in Helsinki. At the 1993 World Championships in Prague, she placed 21st in the short program and withdrew from the competition.
The 1993-1994 season was less successful for Claeys.
She finished 16th at the 1994 European Championships and 19th at the 1994 World Claeys represented the United States at the 1997 Winter Universiade, where she finished sixth.
Representing Belgium, she won silver at the 1992 Skate Canada International and finished in the top ten at three International Skating Union Championships — the 1992 World Junior Championships (4th), the 1992 World Championships (7th), and the 1993 European Championships (8th). She won the junior ladies" title at the 1990 United States. Championships. In the 1992-1993 season, Claeys won silver at the 1992 Skate Canada International, placed sixth at the 1992 Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai Trophy and fifth at the 1992 Grand Prix International de Paris.