Amsterdam canal swim raises record €3m for ALS research

More than 3,300 people swam 2km through Amsterdam’s canals on Sunday and raised a record €3 million for research into the muscle-wasting disease ALS. Last year’s event brought in just under €1.73 million.

Swimmers set off from the Keizersgracht in groups every few minutes and finished at the Marineterrein, next to the maritime museum. A shorter 750-metre swim for children and less experienced swimmers took place earlier in the day.

Among the participants were 12 people who have ALS, some swimming under their own power and others towed through the water by family and friends. Television presenter Beau van Erven Dorens, radio host Marieke Elsinga, actress Monic Hendrickx and singer Maaike Ouboter also took part.

Hellespont origins
The event grew out of a 2011 fundraiser in which a group of friends swam the Hellespont in Turkey in memory of a friend who had died of ALS, raising €90,000.

The first Amsterdam edition followed in 2012, when some 1,100 swimmers, including the then Princess Máxima, raised €740,000.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, causes progressive loss of muscle control and has no cure. Most patients die within three to five years of their first symptoms. Around 500 people in the Netherlands are diagnosed every year, according to broadcaster NOS.

Donations remain open until the end of September and the final total will be announced on October 1.