Maarten van der Weijden, 2008 Olympic champion in marathon swimming (10-kilometer), participated in this year’s edition of the 120-mile “11 Cities Tour” swim.
The Dutch swimmer started in the city of Leeuwarden, Netherlands on Friday evening, and reached the city of Leeuwarden again on Monday, coming to a finish at 7:30 PM that day. This year’s swim was the second edition so far.
The Dutch swimmer raised a total of €3.9 million, which adds up to approximately $4.4 million. All funds raised went towards cancer research.
Van der Weijden survived cancer himself at age 19. Eight years later, he won Olympic gold in Beijing in the open water swim event.
The Dutch swimming ace, member of the International swimming Hall Of Fame Class of 2017, has participated in many events in an effort to raise awareness and funds towards cancer research.
Among his achievements is breaking the world record in the 24-hour swim. Last year, Van Der Weijden swam 102.8 km during this timeframe, which equals 63.8 miles.
The Dutch marathon swimmer completed the 120-mile “11 Cities Tour” marathon swim on Monday evening, local time in the Netherlands, after four days of open water swimming.
Incredible accomplishment for a great cause. The best of our sport comes through.
An amazing man! Swimming for an amazing cause. It’s difficult to imagine swimming 120 miles in the Dutch canals made famous by the 11 city tour on ice. I really enjoyed watching the YouTube 360 live stream. The human body (and mind) is awesome! Go Maarten!
Good man!