Thousands swim Amsterdam canals for ALS research

More than 3,000 participants jumped into the city canals on Sunday for the Amsterdam City Swim to raise money for research into ALS.

The main two-kilometre route took swimmers through calm water under sunny skies, starting at the Keizersgracht, heading down the Amstel, and finishing at the Marineterrein.

Many participants entered the water with a direct personal connection to the muscular disease, swimming in memory of deceased relatives or to support family members.

Personal ties along the course

Twin sisters Belle and Diewertje swam to remember their father, who died of ALS when they were nine months old.

ALS patient Maurice Korpelshoek joined the course in a belly boat, a floating craft specially adapted to carry him and his wheelchair.

Korpelshoek noted that he had been entirely healthy three years ago, regularly running and practising taekwondo before the condition rapidly took away his mobility.

Funds for treatment breakthroughs

Limore Noach, director of Stichting ALS Nederland, described the gathering as a day of mixed emotions focused firmly on raising funds for treatment research.

Noach pointed to cautious optimism in the field, noting that a treatment was recently developed for a small group of patients with a specific genetic variation.

Researchers at the ALS Centrum Nederland in Utrecht are now working to build on that initial medical breakthrough with proceeds from the event.

Source: De Telegraaf