Olympian Maarten van der Weijden raised 6.1 million euros during his marathon swim through the Eleven Cities of Friesland, and a portion of the funds raised will be going to a breast cancer centre in Leeuwarden.
Translation by Hans de Preter
The new breast cancer centre in Leeuwarden will be receiving 109,000 euros from the Maarten van der Weijden Foundation. The money will be used to create a cosy, home-like interior with an Elfstedentocht theme, but it is not yet clear when the centre will officially open.
The Leeuwarder Courant reports that Van Der Weijden has raised 6.1 million euros in donations for cancer research so far. In keeping with the Eleven Cities of the route, the foundation selected eleven projects before the Olympian’s 200-kilometre swim which were in need of 5.7 million euros combined. The money that came in beyond that goal is being allocated to the Leeuwarden cancer centre.
Van Der Weijden’s epic swim attracted millions of viewers both in person in Friesland and online around the world over the course of the weekend.
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