Rasmus Henning Profile and Interview

Conducted 12.10.00,
by editor Amy White

Denmark’s Rasmus Henning is wrapping up a breakthrough year. In just his third year in triathlon, the 25-year-old university student racked up a win at Denmark's Ironman-distance Fredericia Triathlon in 8:38 and took the Danish national sprint triathlon and duathlon championships, in both cases defeating countryman Peter Sandvang, long a force on the international triathlon circuit. He took fourth place overall in the Top 4 Tour in May, a four-day stage race in Germany, nabbing a stage win and beating a stellar field that included former ITU world champion Dmitry Gaag, Switzerland's Reto Hug, and German powerhouses Lothar Leder and Normann Stadler. (For a closer look at Henning's results, click here).

Henning, who is studying to be a teacher, is in his final year of college. We at Slowtwitch thought it was high time we talked to him, and are using this opportunity to launch a new feature for our website—interviews with international triathletes we find compelling. We hope you enjoy it.

SLOWTWITCH: How did you get interested in the sport of triathlon? What was your athletic background?
RASMUS HENNING: I was a competitive swimmer for ten years. After some time without improvement, I opted to test my ability as a triathlete, as I already knew that I was a reasonable runner. The cycling shouldn't be a problem I was told, and this has also been the case. I didn't know much about the sport or the athletes, so it was a completely new world for me.

ST: Tell us a little bit about what your training is like, and how it has changed and evolved over the years.
RH: I have just finished my third season as a triathlete. Obviously the amount of training has somewhat increased over these years, but more so has the efficiency and the professional attitude toward training and living. During the winter I do three-week cycles of two hard weeks and one easy week. The hard weeks each consist of about 25 kilometers of swimming, 250 kilometers of cycling and 60 kilometers of running. The easy weeks are 25-30 percent shorter. It isn't, of course, always a lot of fun training in the cool and wet Danish climate through fall and winter, but I am lucky enough to be able to train for a few weeks at the Club La Santa sports resort on Lanzarote this year. Then it's much easier to cope with the climate when I am back home. In the summer when races are on all the time, I cut down the distance a bit and focus more on high intensity along with recovery.

ST: What is your future, long course or short? Do you have your eyes on the Olympics in 2004, or will you focus on Ironman distances? Or will you try to do both?
RH: The main goal as it looks is an Olympic medal in Athens 2004. I am only 25 years old now, so I should have plenty of time to explore the long-course world in four years time. In my opinion it appears a lot easier to change over from short course to long, rather than going the other way. However, since they are held in Fredericia, Denmark, I will compete in next year’s World Long Course Champs. I won the race there this year, so I reckon I'll have a good shot at making a good result once again.

ST: You posted some remarkable results this year, including that win at Fredericia against some very tough, veteran athletes. Did this year feel like a breakthrough to you? If so, what do you think has contributed to that feeling?
RH: This year has very much felt like a breakthrough to me. Coming into the season I knew that I was one of the top Danish athletes, but I was pretty much convinced that the way to the international elite was beyond reach [for] one or two more years. After a few races, the Top 4 Tour in particular, I realized that maybe the road to the top was shorter than that. Now I just hope that I can maintain my development and achieve even more.

ST: How much do you train with Peter Sandvang, and how much of an influence has he been on you?
RH: Peter and I mostly train together on camps with the national team. In our daily training we don't meet up too often. I still swim with my old swimming club close to my house, and when it comes to the biking and running we are rarely doing the same type of sessions since he is concentrating on long distance and I am concentrating on short distance. Also I have my studies, which some days prevent me from training with the others.
Being the best male triathlete in the country for ages, Sandvang was and still is a guy to look up to and the man to beat. He has been very friendly to me even though I have now stepped in his way a couple of times.

ST: What is the triathlon community like in Denmark?
RH: There are not many pro athletes in Denmark, and especially not many in short distance. Generally the sport is quite small and only very few kids do the sport. Hopefully that will change over the coming years due to the fine Danish results.

ST: Who are your influences?
RH: Since I hardly knew any triathletes before I started myself, I don't really have any "idols" in the sport. I have built up my own idea of training and competing from my own experiences and from listening to tons of different pieces of advice through my career.

ST: Who is your coach, and what advice have you found most useful in the last year or so?
RH: My coach is Michael Krüger, who studied sports science in Germany and was a keen triathlete at an international level himself. I consider it most important that he focuses a lot on my weaknesses in running—that is speed, length of stride, elasticity, etc.

ST: What sort of training philosophies do you follow?
RH: The thing is to get as much as possible out of doing as little as possible, allowing you time for recovery, nutrition and a normal life. Find out exactly what will work out the best for you, and do just that—nothing more!

ST: To outside observers, it seems that suddenly Danish triathletes have started posting some remarkable international results. Of course, that kind of development is never as sudden as it seems. Can you tell us a little bit about what is happening in Danish triathlon, and why we are seeing so many gifted triathletes coming out of your country these days? Is there greater interest in the sport these days? Is there a strong development program for young athletes?
RH: I don't really find the Danish results all that remarkable or sudden. Peter Sandvang, Susanne Nielsen, Jan Hansen and Marie Overbye have been in the sport for a decade, developing into the world-class athletes they are today, and Ricky Jorgensen and myself come from a high-level swimming background. We have a few juniors on the way who are well taken care of, but unfortunately I cannot say that I see a glorious future for the sport unless other swimmers with good running abilities choose to swap to triathlon.

ST: Do you have plans to race the Hawaii Ironman soon? If so, when?
RH: Not yet. Probably after the next Olympics.

ST: What are your plans for 2001? Which races are on your list?
RH: European short course [championships] in June and world long course [championships] are the two main goals. Apart from those races, I'll do five to six World Cups with three in spring and two to three in fall, and Danish champs over the Olympic distance and in duathlon.

ST: What goals do you have for the coming year?
RH: Top five positions both at Europeans and Worlds. Podium positions in one or two World Cups. Defending my Danish titles.