Henning Muehlleitner is a competitive swimmer who represents Germany internationally. He is a 2020 Olympian and European champion in the 4×200 mixed free relay.
Müehlleitner, originally from Emmemdigen, Germany, trained with One Flow Aquatics in Neckarsulm leading into the 2020 Olympic Games. The Tokyo Olympics were Müehlleitner’s first major International Competition besides the European Championships, where he represented Germany in 2015 and 2018.
In 2021, Müehlleitner exploded in the 400, slowly becoming one of his country’s top prospects. Prior to April 2021, Müehlleitner’s personal best in the 400 freestyle stood at a 3:46.98 from 2018. He then lowered it to a 3:45.55 at the Eindhoven Qualifying Meet in April, before going a 3:45.36 at the German Olympic Qualification Competition a week later.
Split Comparison:
| 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES PRELIMS – JULY 2021 | GERMAN OLYMPIC TRIALS – APRIL 2021 | EINDHOVEN QUALIFICATION MEET – APRIL 2021 | STOCKHOLM OPEN SWIM – APRIL 2018 | |
| 50m | 26.71 | 26.71 | 27.12 | 26.9 |
| 100m | 54.86 | 55.13 | 55.15 | 55.77 |
| 200m | 1:52.02 | 1:53.24 | 1:52.08 | 1:54.29 |
| 300m | 2:48.08 | 2:50.06 | 2:48.78 | 2:51.01 |
| 400m | 3:43.67 | 3:45.36 | 3:45.55 | 3:46.98 |
Müehlleitner dramatically improved the front half of his race since 2018, coming into the 200 mark over 2 seconds faster than he previously did in Stockholm. By extending that time by another half second, Müehlleitner was able to swim almost 2 seconds faster at the Olympics than he did 3 months prior.
International Competition
2018 European Championships (Glasgow, Scotland)
At the 2018 European Championships, Müehlleitner earned an individual bronze medal in the 400 freestyle, along with a relay gold medal in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
2020 Olympic Games (Tokyo, Japan)
Müehlleitner almost didn’t even qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games, having placed 3rd overall at the German Olympic Trials meet. However, he was added to the team when trials winner Florian Wellbrock elected to drop the 400 freestyle to focus on the longer freestyle events.
Müehlleitner is made the most of his opportunity to compete, not only being the only German in the final after coming into the event seeded 12th, but taking the top seed in prelims with a huge best of 3:43.67.