Olympic swimmer completes 196-kilometre course across the Netherlands for cancer research


Olympic swimmer Maarten van der Weijden swam 196 kilometres in the Netherlands last week (June 22) to raise money for cancer research.

Van der Weijden can be seen swimming with crowds cheering him on from either side of the river.

To move from river to river, the swimmer was transported via crane like a dolphin.

The Dutch swimmer completed the 196km '11 cities tour' on June 24 raising a huge €3.9 million for cancer research.

Van der Weijden survived cancer himself at the age of 18 and went on to win a gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.