About

Bio

Glen Christiansen. Born February 10th 1957 in Göteborg, Sweden.

Learned to swim at the age of 9. Started serious swim training at 14. With 15 he reached the finals at the Swedish Championships, with 16 the Junior National Team and with 17 his first Senior National Title with a Swedish Record. He continued to be the Swedish Record Holder for the next 22 years. One year after participating at the Olympic Games in Moscow, 1980, he swam the fastest time in the world over 100 m. Breaststroke 1.01,6 ! A year later, at the age of 25, he decided to retire and start coaching in his native Göteborg. The experience of 10 years on the international swimming scene, 3 years studies & training at University in the USA and absolving the Swedish Coaching Licence soon resulted in success. Within 2 years Christiansen produced several National Champions and qualified in 1984 his first Olympic swimmer for the Los Angeles Games. Since then he has worked and lived abroad. Five years in Tokyo, Japan publishing books, videos, a swimming suit collection and a weekly television show as well as coaching junior Olympic swimmers and world champion masters swimmers + managing a sport club added more experience to the already colourful career.

In 1992 he was recruited to coach at the Olympic Training Centre in Hamburg, Germany, a position that also included organizing and coordinating scientific tests and camps for foreign National and club teams. In 1992 his team won the German Junior Nationals and in 1996 the team he was Headcoaching won the German National Championships and qualified 4 swimmers for the Olympic Games in Atlanta. The swimmers brought home 4 medals and several National records. As a Swedish Olympic Coach he coached swimmers from 3 countries in Atlanta. In 1997 he was ready for the next challenge taking the job as Manager for the exclusive Tennis & Hockey club ” Der Club an der Alster ” with its 3000 members in Hamburg.  During the years in the Der Club an der Alster he developed: a Fitness Studio, specializing in Personal training, a 25m. Swimming pool with a professional swimming program for all ages and levels, a Wellness area with saunas, solarium and Massage, and a security system for the club. The club won 1000 more members in the years  during Christiansens mangement and in 2000 and 2002 the Mens Hockey team won the European championships. The next club he managed was the SK Neptun, the most successful swimmming club in Sweden with its 2500 members, 17 employed fulltime staff, 150 part time coaches and 1000 children in their swimschool. When he left the position in 2008 Neptun sent 9 persons (5 swimmers, 1 diver, 2 coaches and 1 leader) to the Olympic Games in Bejing. After that he managed the exclusive health and fitnessclub in Copenhagen, Charlottehaven and kept in touch with swimming being the Headcoach for the Copenhagen University swim team. Today is he leading the project “SwimStars” in Germany and being Ambassador for the World Masters Swimming Championships 2010.

Glen has stayed active during the busy work years breaking more than 50 World Masters records, winning 11 World champion titles and qualifying for the Swedish Senior National Championships as the oldest swimmer ever in history in 2003. As a personal trainer and mentor for several top athletes and top Managers he stays in daily contact with coaching and helping people reach their full potential. He enjoys, when his busy schedule allows, invitations to share his experience and knowledge at Seminars and Workshops all over the world.

Master Swimming

I swam my first Masters competion in 1983. It was the first National Championships in Falun where Masters swimming was just starting to take shape in Sweden. A year before I formed my first adult swim-group but it was not until four years later, in 1986, in Tokyo, Japan that I realized fully the potential of Masters swimming. There at the first World Masters Championships I met over 3500 Masters swimmers, all competing under the motto: Fitness, Friendship and Understanding.

Never before have I had so much fun and met so many friends at a swimming meet. The competion in the water was fierce but the atmosphere around the pool was friendly and relaxed. I shared my first World championstitle and world record with my new friends, many of them still today close friends that I stay in touch with. There, I also met the founder of Masters swimming in Japan, Wataru Okada, who was to become my mentor and still influences me today despite his tragic death in 1995. The 5 years that I spent working with him in Tokyo, really got me hooked on masters swimming.

After returning to Europe in 1992 it felt a little strange swimming at Masters competions as the only participant from a Göteborg club. I missed Japan and all my friends at Maininchi Masters. Then in 1993 the father of Swedish Masters swimming, Arne Jutner took me under his wings and since then I have enjoyed the company of my team-mates in Hellas at competions all over the world. Many people consider me a world expert on Masters swimming and it is true that I have had fantastic success both as a swimmer and as a coach. The people around me, swimmers that I have coached, competitors, coaches, leaders, friends, family and my mentors has made this success possible. Without them I would never have been where I am today.
Thank You!

My Highlights in Masters swimming: