On October 15th 2016, a team of top Dutch swimmers including 2008 Olympic champion Maarten van der Weijden, 2016 Olympic champion Ferry Weertman, long-time professional marathon swimmer Irene van der Laan, and 2017 500m ice swimming world champion Fergil Hesterman together with coaches Edith van Dijk, a former world champion, Desirée Emmen, and Richard Broer, a 2017 International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame honouree, swam a 54 km relay in 11-14°C water from The Biesbosch National Park to Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands.

Broer reported, “It was nice exposure on national TV for WWF.”

It is clear that International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame dual inductee Van der Weijden is picking up where he last left off: on top of his game.

Van der Weijden has finished his tour in the theaters with his serious and comedy one-man show called Beter where he tells his story of his illness and his Olympic 10K marathon swim victory in 2012.

Broer says, “Beter may be televised at some point. And Maarten is swimming again. Seriously too.

Maarten has a passion to especially swim for his good cause: the Dutch Cancer Foundation. He was on national TV with his plan to swim 12 hours and, to top that, a 24-hour swim. He is still fast with various plans for very interesting open water swims.”

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