EINDHOVEN – Maarten van der Weijden has swum a distance of 42.2 kilometers. Saturday morning he tapped around half past the edge of the Pieter van den Hoogenband swimming pool after a marathon 10 hours, 36 minutes and 57 seconds. A true battle of attrition and Van der Weijden was afterwards also good piece, “I’m not as well trained as I was before.”
The Olympic champion swam specifically for the Dutch Cancer Society through the night and finally swam the longest distance he had ever swam. “If you call people to raise money and to provide a service, there must worry also a challenge for myself, I think. It was also exciting to see if I could do this for me. “
Touched
Van der Weijden reached the finish line, but it was not easy. “Of course I was a professional marathon swimmer and when I trained seven hours, but there was then an afternoon calm weather every day between.”
After swimming almost eleven o’clock he noticed that he is not trained as good as before. “That might explain that I now feel so lousy. After fifteen kilometers I felt actually moved, then it went better, but the final ten kilometers were really tough. “
Cancer
Maarten van der Weijden overcame in 2001 itself the fight against cancer and is therefore committed to the King Wilhelmina Fund (KWF). During his marathon this weekend he had much time to think about that period. “In the hospital I lived from day to day, now from job to job. I’m glad I can show that you can overcome the disease and then you can achieve even such things. I hope other people who have cancer can thus help in their struggle. “
Daughter During his
last 50 meters were dozens of swimmers a guard of honor for him. But at the end of the guard of honor was for him the most beautiful, his wife Daisy and 1 year old daughter Phileine awaited him in the water on
“Fertility can be a very big problem after chemotherapy.. Therefore, it is very special that we Phileine “says Van der Weijden. “If it is true that I am, other people can help and at the end a potentially close my daughter in my arms, I find that really exciting.”
With his action brought the swimmer 43 288, 44 euro for KWF
Changed:. Saturday, april 9th, 2016 – 11:45
Author: Maarten van den Hoven
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