MUHLLEITNER Henning Bennet

General
FAMILY
His family has no background in swimming, which he says helped him progress in the sport. "If I gave a farewell speech at the end of my career, I would thank my parents for never knowing anything about swimming. That always gave me freedom, nobody ever intervened. I sometimes wonder whether my brother even knows that I swim. That has always relieved the pressure. No one ever stood at the poolside with a stopwatch, but the support was there and they were always proud. My mother never watches competitions because she is much too nervous." (stimmt.de, 05 Jul 2019)

EARLY DAYS
As a child he spent three years in Sunyani, Ghana, with his parents, before moving back to Saarbrucken, Germany, at age five in 2002. When he began schooling in Germany he only spoke English. "It was hell for me seeing how uncivilised they were compared to Africa. I'm even ready to say I'm not going to send my child to kindergarten." At age 15 he attended boarding school and began training under coach Hannes Vitense, who became his caregiver when Muhlleitner's parents went to Ethiopia to perform humanitarian work. "He [Hannes] was my guardian, I could always ask him for advice." (swim.de, 26 Aug 2020; stimme.de, 24 May 2020)