Olympic swimmer, Maarten van der Weijden, is “broken” after his 24-hour swimming marathon. He told RTL Late Night on Tuesday that he suffered from headaches, painful lungs and leg cramps. An ambulance was even called for.
Van der Weijden got into the water a nine o’clock on Monday evening at the SwimGym in Amsterdam. In 24 hours he swam almost 100 kilometres. At the start of the last hour, it became clear that he would not break the record of 101,9 kilometres.
For Van der Weijden is was, however, not only about breaking the record. He was also raising money for KWF Kankerbestrijding (Cancer Society).
This long distance specialist was 19 when he had leukemia. He was, fortunately, cured. With this attempt at the record, he wanted to draw attention to the 100 000 Dutch people who are diagnosed with cancer every year.
Photo: www.theage.com.au
Source: studio040
Translator: Melinda
