Van Acker started sailing at age 7 in an
Optimist dinghy and soon started on the youth program of the Royal Belgian Sailing Club. In 1998 she became European champion in the Optimist class. In 2000, she transferred to the
Europe class and placed 17th in the 2003 World Championship. Having transferred to the
Laser Radial, she became European champion in 2006, 2007 and 2011 and became second in the
2011 World Championship. She went on to compete in the
2008 Olympic Sailing Competition finishing 8th in the Women's Singlehanded Class the Laser Radial. On 6 August 2012 she won the bronze medal in the
2012 Olympic Sailing Competition in the
Laser Radial class, behind
Xu Lijia of China and
Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands.{{cite news She was shortlisted in 2007 by the
International Sailing Federation for the
ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards. ==References==