Longest continuous swim in a counter-current pool (male)

The longest continuous swim in a counter-current pool (male) is 45 hours, achieved by Maarten van der Weijden (Netherlands) in Vught, North Brabant, Netherlands. He started at 5 a.m. on 28 December and ended at 2 a.m. on 30 December 2023.

A leukaemia survivor himself, Van der Weijden took on this challenge in memory of his "best buddy" who died from cancer aged 45 earlier that year; the 45-hour goal was influenced by his friend's age and a candle was lit at the turning of each hour in his honour. The attempt also raised funds for cancer charities, building on the millions of euros he has previously raised through other extreme swims. Most notably, he swam the 200 km (124 mi) Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour) – a series of canals, lakes and other waterways that form a loop and are used as a skating race track when frozen – in 2019 and 2023. On the latter occasion, he made it a triathlon, also completing the course on foot and then again by cycling.

Van der Weijden is a former swimmer for the Dutch national team and won gold in the 10 km (6 mi) swimming event at the 2008 Olympic Games.

This is the second time that Van der Weijden has held this record, having swam for 32 hours 20 minutes 50 seconds on 20–21 November 2021. The record was then subsequently broken by Pablo Fernández Álvarez (Spain) with a time of 36 hours 19 seconds on 30–31 January 2022.