Olympic Swimmer, Cancer Survivor, Stem Cell Transplant, Wins Top Swimming Award |
Maarten van der Weijden of The Netherlands, the 2008 Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year |
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Editors published 11/25/2008 1:01:00 PM
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Maarten van der Weijden of The Netherlands, announced as winner of the 2008 the Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year from Swimming World.
He was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia at the age of 20. "I was diagnosed in March 2001 and didn't think I would ever swim again". He fought back after a stem cell transplant and chemotherapy, and this year, won Gold in the 2008 Olympics.
At age 20, van der Weijden was diagnosed with Leukemia. Over the next few years, he underwent chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant as he fought off the potentially lethal condition. By 2003, he was back in the water and worked his way into the upper echelon of open water swimming by 2006. This past year proved to be nothing less than a storybook tale for van der Weijden turned the open water field on its head by sprinting for gold over the final 300 meters in Beijing after taking fourth at the Olympic qualifier.
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