Dutch athlete swims across English channel twice in a row

Dutch marathon swimmer Maarten van der Weijden managed to swim across the Channel between England and France twice in succession on Sunday. He arrived on the English coast in Dover late last night, after leaving from that same coast during the early hours of Sunday morning, RTL Nieuws reports.

The former Olympic and World champion open water swimmer made this sponsored swim to raise funds for his foundation, which is aimed at improving the lives of "former, present and future cancer patients". Van der Weijden often does sponsor swims for this cause, after he himself survived a battle against cancer.

Van der Weijden was escorted on his swim by the Sea Satin boat, to make sure he was safe. His team posted updates of his progress on his social media accounts.

Hij is er! #trainingstochtje pic.twitter.com/giOeAPitLw

— MvdW Foundation (@mvdwfoundation) August 13, 2017