Who Is Henrik Christiansen

Henrik Christiansen is one talented swimmer who successfully holds multiple national records for Norway. He made his first debut in the Olympics at the early age of 19. Although the age is young, he already showed that he’s capable and motivated to face larger obstacles, although reaching the Olympics wasn’t always his ultimate goal.

Early Life

During the early days, he would spend his time in theatre, going from stage to stage as an actor. And then, there was a time when he had to make a decision to pick between playing in the theatre or swimming. Time was spent, and he chose swimming. Years later, he was already representing his beloved country.

His winning spree is not far from his relationship with Ronnie Austense, his trusted swimming coach. Over the years, they’ve built a strong relationship that can always motivate and spark the fighting spirit within Henrik Christiansen. Although he showed promising capabilities, he states that Norway is the best place to reach success for him. And this is the very reason why he turned down the offer of UC Berkeley and Standford scholarships in 2016.

The International Career

Christiansen already won three medals as a junior. And this happened during the 2014 European Championships when he won the gold medal for the 400-meter freestyle and bronzes for both the 800 and 1500-meter freestyle. Just a month after his winning, he got another two bronze medals for 400 and 800-meter freestyle during the Youth Olympic Games.

2015 FINA World Championships

His winnings at the 2015 FINA World Championships have successfully tracked global attention. He made his very first final at World Championships for the 800-meter freestyle, pumping him up from 8th to 5th with a national record. He broke another time record in 4:21.67 for the 400-meter medley.

2016 European Championships

During the event, he successfully got his silver medal for the 400-meter freestyle, with the time recorded at 3:46.49. He was breaking the time record for Nowergia at that time.

2016 Rio Olympic Games

2016 was his shining year. During this time, he aged 19 and already joined his first Olympic Championships. He qualified for the final in the 8th position, breaking another national record.

2017 World Championships

His journey continued to 2017 when he participated in the 2017 World Championships. At that time, he was in the fifth position for the 1,500-meter freestyle in 14:54.58, which broke another national time record.

2018 European Championships

During this event, he won the silver medal for the 400-meter freestyle, only second to Mykhailo Romanchuk.

2018 Short Course World Championships

The event happened in Hangzhou, where Christiansen obtained another bronze medal for 1,500-meter freestyle with his personal best time in 14:19.39

2019 World Championships

He won another silver a year later during the 2019 World Championships. He finished second to Greg Paltrinieri with a time record of 7:41.28.

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