Speaker on resilience: Maarten van der Weijden
Maarten van der Weijden is a speaker on resilience: he was diagnosed with leukaemia at 19, won Olympic gold in 2008 and in 2019 swam the 200 km Elfstedentocht, a year after his first attempt failed. His keynotes of 30 to 60 minutes are for teams under pressure, healthcare and education organisations and companies going through change.
No obligation · a tailored proposal within one working day
Talks given, for companies, healthcare, education and government
Olympic gold in the 10 km open water, Beijing
Swam the Elfstedentocht, in 2019
Raised for cancer research, 45 studies funded
Who it is for
Maarten van der Weijden is a speaker on resilience for organisations where the pressure is high and stays high. Teams that have been working short-staffed for a long time. Hospitals, care organisations and schools where sick leave is a daily topic. Companies in the middle of a reorganisation or change programme, where people are tired of yet another new plan.
He does not tell a story about winning. He tells you what keeping going really costs, what it gives you, and how to tell the difference between persevering and getting stuck. That works for a room full of professionals just as well as for a management team of ten.
Typical occasions:
team days and away days for departments under heavy pressure
conferences in healthcare and education
kick-offs after a reorganisation or merger
programmes on wellbeing and sustainable employability
What your audience takes away
Small goals to reach big ones
After his illness Maarten started swimming again from zero. Olympic gold was too far away to focus on every day, so he worked with goals he could see the end of. He shows how a team can do the same when the final goal is still years away.
Making setbacks something you can talk about
As a financial manager at Unilever (2009–2015) he saw that teams that could talk honestly about what was not working performed better in the long run. Your audience hears what a team gains when problems come up early instead of late.
The difference between perseverance and stubbornness
In 2018 he did not reach the finish of the Elfstedentocht. Stopping was the right choice then. A year later he swam the full 200 km. Maarten explains how you know when to push on and when to stop so you can carry on later.
Rest is part of performance
If you have to perform for a long time, you need to be able to ease off. Maarten tells how he learned that in elite sport, and why it is just as necessary at work.
The story behind it
In 2018 Maarten made his first attempt to swim the Elfstedentocht: 200 km through the Dutch province of Friesland, in open water, day and night. A team was ready and money was being raised for cancer research. He did not reach the finish.
Maarten is honest about what that did to him. What it feels like to stop when so many people are counting on you. And why stopping at that moment was not failure but the only sensible choice. Carrying on for the sake of it would have been stubbornness.
In 2019 he started again. This time he swam the full 200 km. The difference was not that he wanted it more. It was what he had learned from the first attempt, and being able to use the failure instead of running away from it.
He knew that pattern from before. At 19 he was diagnosed with leukaemia. He lay in hospital with no control over his own life. After that, he had to start swimming all over again. In 2008 he won Olympic gold in the 10 km open water race in Beijing.
He wrote about the price of all that keeping going in his book De laatste slag (Ambo|Anthos, 2026, in Dutch). In his talk on resilience he uses that honesty: not just what worked, but also what it cost.
What the talk looks like
Beforehand you have a short call with Maarten about your audience and what is going on right now. He then builds the keynote around three moments in his life: the diagnosis, the road to Beijing and the two Elfstedentocht swims. At each moment he makes the link to the workplace.
A keynote lasts 30, 45 or 60 minutes. With a Q&A the audience has room to bring up their own situations. In a workshop of 60 to 90 minutes participants work on their own goals and on how they talk about setbacks in their team. Maarten speaks in Dutch and English.
A talk on resilience works best when something happens with it afterwards. So at the end Maarten asks the room to make one concrete agreement. For example, a fixed moment in the team meeting to discuss what is not working, or splitting a big goal into steps for the coming month. That way it does not stop at a good feeling on the day itself.
More topics: leadership, teamwork and team building and speaker for healthcare. All formats are on talks.
Last checked on
Maarten on setting goals
Formats
Every session is prepared with you in advance, around your organisation, your audience and the goal of the day.
| Format | Length | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Keynote | 30, 45 or 60 minutes | The story, the lessons, and what they mean for your organisation. |
| Keynote with Q&A | 45 to 75 minutes | A keynote followed by questions from the audience, with or without a moderator. |
| Interactive workshop | 60 to 90 minutes | Hands-on work with a smaller group on goals, setbacks and teamwork. |
| Event host | Half day or full day | Maarten hosts your programme: he opens, links the speakers and keeps the day on track. |
- Language:
- Dutch and English
- Location:
- On site or online
- For:
- Companies · Healthcare · Education · Government · Sport · Associations
Feedback
Zijn verhaal raakte en wist iedereen van begin tot eind te boeien. Maarten deelde zijn persoonlijke ervaringen en daarmee wist hij ons te inspireren. Zijn boodschap sloot ook perfect aan bij onze kernwaarden.
Laura VijfhuizenArbo Unie★★★★★ 5/5 Inspirerend en sloot aan op onze wensen. Fijn dat het zonder powerpoint was, vertelde makkelijk, op duidelijk toon en met passie.
Maikel HustinxAlbert Schweitzer Ziekenhuis★★★★★ 5/5
Book Maarten directly
You talk to Maarten himself, from the first question until after the talk. That way his story fits what is going on in your organisation.
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