Published at 12:06, Saturday, 13 September 2008

THE world’s greatest marathon swimmers were set for an Olympic rematch in Windermere today.

WINDERMERE WONDERS: Great Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Cassie Pattern, eight times world record holder Mark Foster, Holland’s Olympic champion Maarten van der Weijden and Great Britain’s Olympic silver medallists Kerri-Anne Payne and David Davies. Below, meeting the media at the press conference

Gold medallist Maarten van der Weijden was hoping to beat Great Britain’s David Davies and Germany’s Thomas Lurz to victory on the shore of the lake this morning.

The men were set to take part in an elite race before 2,200 people of all abilities took to the cold waters for the country’s first Great North Swim.

Dutchman Mr van der Weijden last saw his fellow competitive swimmers in Beijing in August when he clinched first place in a thrilling race to become Olympic champion.

But while taking gold at the games is a remarkable feat in itself, Mr van der Weijden has faced more challenges than most on his path to glory, having been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2001.

Doctors gave the 27-year-old only a ‘slim chance of survival’ when treating his acute lymphatic leukaemia.

But the exceptional athlete was soon back in the water and on his way towards claiming the greatest sporting prize possible.

Looking relaxed as he took in the sights of Windermere from the Low Wood Watersports Centre yesterday, Mr van der Weijden declared he was no Lance Armstrong.

He told the Evening Mail: “In terms of fighting illness and coming back to do something amazing in sport there is a similarity between Lance Armstrong and I.

“But I feel I lay in the hospital and received the right treatment to get better, while Lance says his attitude and determination were as important as his treatment.

“It did make me very determined to do well in Beijing. But there were 25 people in the race and they all wanted to win it as badly as me.”

After receiving chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, Mr van der Weijden began training once more – moving back into competitive long distance swimming in 2003.

Since then he has notched up impressive performances at European and World championships.

He was looking forward to today’s race with silver medallist David Davies – who lost out to the 6ft 7ins star at the Olympics by just one-and-a-half seconds.

Mr van der Weijden joked: “I hope I beat him again – this is a race, after all. “

Other Olympians donning wetsuits to brave the cold waters of Windermere today were silver-medallist Keri-Anne Payne and bronze medallist Cassie Patten.

Britain’s most successful swimmer, Mark Foster, had planned to take the plunge in a bid to encourage more people to take part in the event.

But he ruled himself out yesterday with a shoulder injury.

Mr Foster explained he hoped the Great North Swim could eventually become as big as the Great North Run.

He said: “We hope this event will get people going to their local pool regularly and getting fitter and healthier in the process.

“The surroundings here at the lake are beautiful and inspiring – there’s nowhere quite like this in the world.

“This event should give people something to aim for as well as being great news for the sport.”

Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk