threatening leukemia fought back to win the grueling swimming marathon in Beijing Thursday. With torrential rain sweeping the Games city, the United States was on the verge of handing over its mantle of Olympic supremacy to China but the greatest triumph over adversity was the performance of Dutchman Maarten van der Weijden, 27, who likened his 10 kilometer swim victory to his personal battle against cancer seven years ago. “When you are in hospital and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don't want to want to think about the next day or week - you just think about the next hour,” said van der Weijden after his 1hr 51min 51.6sec swim. “It teaches you to be patient when you are lying in a hospital bed and that was almost the same strategy I chose here to wait for my chance in the pack.” It was a performance which drew comparisons with cycling legend Lance Armstrong, the former Olympic champion who beat testicular cancer and went on to win the Tour de France. Van der Weijden won a three-way sprint in the inaugural event with a better-angled finish. David Davies of Britain and Thomas Lurz of Germany drifted to the outside at the finish and settled for silver and bronze. Van der Weijden reached up to slap the yellow touchpad in 1 hour, 51 minutes, 51.6 seconds. Davies was 1.5 seconds behind and Lurz finished 2.0 seconds back. “If there is anyone in the field that can beat me, that guy is an absolute legend,” Davies said of Van der Weijden. “He's a great guy. He's obviously been to the depths in his personal life and to come back is a great story.” The Dutch swimmer was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. He came back in 2003 and began swimming faster than before he had the disease. He now commits a large portion of his time to raising awareness for leukemia, and raised $73,670 with a charity swim in 2004. After the win, Van der Weijden raised his arms in the air and pumped his fists as he walked around the dock. He was hoisted on the shoulders of his fellow countrymen and pointed a finger toward to sky.
