Amsterdam canal swim raises report €3m for ALS analysis

September 7, 2026

More than 3,300 folks swam 2km via Amsterdam’s canals on Sunday and raised a report €3 million for analysis into the muscle-wasting illness ALS. Last 12 months’s occasion introduced in slightly below €1.73 million.

Swimmers set off from the Keizersgracht in teams each jiffy and completed on the Marineterrein, subsequent to the maritime museum. A shorter 750-metre swim for youngsters and fewer skilled swimmers came about earlier within the day.

Among the contributors had been 12 individuals who have ALS, some swimming underneath their very own energy and others towed via the water by household and associates. Television presenter Beau van Erven Dorens, radio host Marieke Elsinga, actress Monic Hendrickx and singer Maaike Ouboter additionally took half.

Hellespont origins
The occasion grew out of a 2011 fundraiser wherein a gaggle of associates swam the Hellespont in Turkey in reminiscence of a buddy who had died of ALS, elevating €90,000.

The first Amsterdam version adopted in 2012, when some 1,100 swimmers, together with the then Princess Máxima, raised €740,000.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, causes progressive lack of muscle management and has no treatment. Most sufferers die inside three to 5 years of their first signs. Around 500 folks within the Netherlands are recognized yearly, in accordance with broadcaster NOS.

Donations stay open till the top of September and the ultimate whole will probably be introduced on October 1.