Great news! We are proud to announce that Maarten van der Weijden, Olympic Gold Medal Winner, joined us at Speakers Connect.
Maarten van der Weijden
Maarten van der Weijden is a former Dutch long distance and marathon swimmer who won a golden medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 (open water swimming, 10km). In 2001 he was diagnosed with cancer (leukemia) and at one point he wasn’t expected to survive. After being in the hospital for half a year for chemotherapy, surgery and a stamcelltransplantation, Maarten had the luck to recover and became a professional swimmer again.
Maarten was in his childhood known as a promising swimming talent. As a teenager he participated at the 1999 European Junior Championships and at the 2000 Open Water World Championships. After his recovery from cancer, Maarten made his comeback in 2003. He won several Dutch titles and started swimming at international events as well.
On August 21 2008, Maarten won the golden medal at the 10km in Beijing. After winning the gold, Maarten realised he reached the highest goal he could achieve in swimming and retired. He started giving inspirational speakings and wrote a book about his road to success. In 2010 Maarten started working as a financial manager for Unilever and is currently working for Unilever in Jakarta (Indonesia).
Contact us at Speakers Connect should you wish to engage Maarten for your future event.