Henrik Christiansen had his breakthrough 2015 recognized with that very term this past weekend at the Norwegian Sports Gala. He won the award across all sports, an unusual accomplishment in a country better known for its winter performance.
Christiansen was already the brightest swimming talent in Norway. The country has been without a significant international swimming star since Alexander Dale Oen passed away in 2012. He had won a medal at the international junior level. In 2015 he made the successful jump to senior swimming, culminating in a bronze medal performance at the 2015 European Short Course Championship in Netanya, Israel.
To add to that, Christiansen made crazy improvements to his own national records in the distance races. He now enters the Norwegian Olympic qualifying period which starts March 1st and finishes July 3rd. Christiansen is one of the few swimmers in the country who will not need to improve on existing national records to qualify.
Christiansen is currently in the Flagstaff, Arizona on a high altitude training camp. His parents received the 19 year old’s award in his stead.
