Maarten van der Weijden ends fundraising swims, but foundation will continue

Maarten van der Weijden is ending his swimming and fundraising through the Maarten van der Weijden Foundation, Dutch news agency ANP reports. The foundation will remain in place to monitor ongoing cancer research funded by the money it raised. [1]

Van der Weijden said the foundation had raised more than €18 million. Its continuing role means his decision to stop fundraising does not mean the organisation is closing.

In August, he cut short a fundraising swim after developing abdominal symptoms and a fever. He completed 177 kilometres past 14 cities, against a plan to swim 270 kilometres past 22 cities. The shortened tour still raised more than €700,000, he said.

Van der Weijden said his swims had been driven by guilt at surviving cancer when many others had not. The sense of responsibility that came with it had grown too heavy, he said. Reflection since the death of his friend Sebastiaan from lymphoma in October 2023 helped him decide to stop, though he described the decision as an internal struggle.

He said he had briefly swum at an ALS fundraising event in Chicago in mid-September, after the August tour. His announcement concerns an end to his swimming activities and fundraising through the foundation, not a claim that he has never entered the water again. [1]