Maarten van der Weijden is 43 years old, married to Daisy and father of Phileine and Robien. At 19, he was diagnosed with cancer. After being lucky enough to be cured, he won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. After ending his sports career, he worked in the corporate world for several years. Until he decided to use his swimming talent to raise money for cancer research with unique achievements. In 2018 he did not manage to swim the Eleven Cities Tour, but in 2019 he completed the 200 km. In 2023, he completed the trip in a triathlon swimming, cycling and walking. With his Maarten van der Weijden Foundation, he managed to raise 18 million euros, with which he was able to fund as many as 45 cancer research studies.

Actually, Maarten is not much of an athlete at all. Pretty crazy, for someone who won Olympic gold. Even as a child his motivation was to keep challenging himself. To keep raising the bar. To set new goals. Just when he was performing well as a swimmer, cancer threw a spanner in the works. But once he got better, he set himself a new goal as an athlete. The highest. And he succeeded. He had an almost inhuman preparation for it. Seized every innovation that could improve his performance. From largely living in an oxygen tent to wearing light glasses. An inspiring story of how to set and achieve goals. Even when they seem impossible.