Maarten van der Weijden Foundation
The Maarten van der Weijden Foundation or the Maarten van der Weijden - MVDW Foundation is a non-profit organization established and run by 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medalist and leukemia survivor Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands. Its mission is to raise money for cancer research with the goal to rid cancer of the world.
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Charity Events
- In June 2023, Maarten will attempt the ELFSTEDENTRIATHLON (or Eleven Cities Triathlon) where he will swim 200 km, cycle 200 km and run 200 km non-stop to raise money for former, current, and future cancer patients.
- In 2018 and 2019, Maarten set off on the 195 km Elfstedentocht Swim (or the Eleven Cities Swim) where he raised over 6 million euros as he attempted to a charity swim along the 195 km Elfstedentocht course where he swam 63 km in 55 hours.
- On 21 November 2021, he set a new record for the longest continuous swim in a counter-current pool with a time of 32 hours 20 minutes 50 seconds in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Elfstedentocht Course
Maarten van der Weijden followed the Elfstedentocht course (English: Eleven cities tour), a famed long-distance tour skating event, almost 200 km long, which is held both as a speed skating competition (with 300 contestants) and a leisure tour (with 16,000 skaters). It is held in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, leading past all 11 historical cities of the province. The tour is held at most once a year, only when the natural ice along the entire course is at least 15 cm thick; sometimes on consecutive years, other times with gaps that may exceed 20 years. When the ice is suitable, the tour is announced and starts within 48 hours. Maarten swam the Eleven Cities Swim, almost 200 km in length, along the canals, rivers and lakes visiting the eleven historic Frisian towns: starting in Leeuwarden, Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker, Dokkum, then returning to the Bonkevaart near Leeuwarden for the finish.
2021 World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year Nominees and Winners
The Maarten van der Weijden Foundation was nominated for the 2021 World Open Water Swimming Product or Service of the Year Award. The winners and nominees included:
Winner: Aloo of Mexico
First Runner-up: La Morada Club of Argentina
Second Runner-up: Oceans Seven: How I Cheated Death And Broke The Hardest Record In Swimming
4. Radikal Swim Swimming Club of Spain
5. We Swim Wild of Great Britain
6. Hammer Head Swim Caps of USA
7. Safe Sea of Israel
8. Against The Current of USA
9. Ask Me Why I’m Stood Here: A Bristol Channel Swim Tale of Great Britain
10. Ocean Walker Academy & Wellbeing Centre of Great Britain
11. Bruckner Chase Ocean Positive of USA
12. Maarten van der Weijden Foundation of the Netherlands
13. Freedom Swimmer of China-Hong Kong
14. Amphibia Dry Mat of Ireland
15. The Swim Reaper of New Zealand
16. Open Water Swim Traverse of Lebanon
17. Goa Open Water Swimming Club of India
External links
- Maarten van der Weijden - MVDW Foundation
- The Improbable, Incredible, Inspirational Life of Maarten van der Weijden
- The Improbable, Incredible, Inspirational Life of Maarten van der Weijden
- Maarten van der Weijden On Raising Awareness On WOWSA Live
- Taking On The Ultimate Challenge
- Maarten van der Weijden, A Champion Like No Other
- Open Water Swimming
- Elfstedentocht Swim 2.0 Has Begun
- The Unprecedented Elfstedentocht Swim Completed
