Dutch olympic champion raises €4.7 mil. for cancer research with 11-cities triathlon

Dutch long-distance and marathon swimmer Maarten van der Weijden raised a total of 4.7 million euros for cancer research with his Eleven Cities triathlon, according to his foundation. The Olympic champion swam 200 kilometers, cycled 200 kilometers, and walked 200 kilometers between June 18 and 25, with as little sleep and rest as possible.

The Eleven Cities triathlon is a reference to the Elfstedentocht, or Eleven Cities Tour, which is a long-distance tour skating event through Friesland which starts and ends at Leeuwarden and passes eleven historical cities in the province. It is held at most once a year, and only if natural ice along the entire route is thick enough to skate on safely.

Half of the amount was raised by people sponsoring his effort. Main sponsor Reggeborgh doubled each donation. The amount raised stood at 3.7 million euros after Van der Weijden finished in Leeuwarden.

"We are enormously proud of the achievement that Maarten has delivered. He gave it all and in doing so, raised a wonderful amount," said Inge Wessels from Reggeborgh. "Research into the 11 selected cancer studies is incredibly important and by doubling the donations, all the studies can be carried out."

"I am deeply grateful and happy. The main reason for doing the Eleven Cities triathlon was to make these 11 studies possible. We did it!" said Maarten van der Weijden, who himself recovered from leukaemia.

In 2019, Maarten van der Weijden already successfully swam the route of the Elfstedentocht, raising nearly 4 million euros for cancer research.