At the end of my 2024 season I sat down with folks at Tri-Poll Athlete for a 'get to know' Tina Christmann interview along with my thoughts on my first year as a professional triathlete. If you want to know more about Tri-Poll Athlete you can follow them on Instagram @tripollathlete
Can you tell us a bit about where you’re from and how it influenced your journey into triathlon?
Hi! I’m a German-Italian triathlete, based in the UK. I picked up triathlon 4 years ago during my PhD at Oxford after a 14-year long rowing career. Since the age of 10 I rowed competitively, taking part in 4 world championships for Germany at U19 and U23 level, and a participation in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. After over a decade of rowing, I grew tired of the restrictive and inflexible nature of it and the same races year after year. I discovered triathlon as part of the Oxford Uni squad in the latter part of lock down. I was instantly hooked. Gone were the monotonous sessions on the rowing machine, and instead it was a wonderfully fun and social schedule of swim-bike run. I absolutely loved the adventurous aspect of it, and that I could just take my sport on a ‘holiday’ and fit it around my busy academic life.
How did you first get introduced to triathlon? When was this?
I got introduced to triathlon in 2019 during my PhD after I retired from rowing and got more into cycling and running – sports I had always done as cross training. Swimming wasn’t too much of a struggle either, as I had done many years of rescue swimming when I was young. After 2 years of competing at university level and some international age group medals, in 2023 I made the move to middle distances, did a 4:27h on my debut middle distance and won the overall Ironman 70.3 Weymouth. For 2024 I took my pro license.
How long have you been a professional triathlete?
9 months ☺ . Still new to this crazy world.
Who is on your team (e.g., coach, etc.)?
My little triathlon ecosystem is made of my top supporter and training-partner Oli (a keen triathlete himself), my coach Jon Cowell who I have been working with since 2022, my physiotherapist and strength coach Jordan Anderson and my triathlon club Southampton Tri. My parents are also keen supporters whenever I go back to race on the continent. Key partners for me are LIOS Bikes, NOPINZ and Challenging Events – all some wonderful companies based in the South of England.
What inspired you to pursue triathlon professionally? Was there a specific moment or person that motivated you to transition from amateur to professional?
Racing as a pro came as an almost spontaneous decision last year. At the beginning of my triathlon journey I was more focused on short course, but quickly realised that I liked the more adventurous and outdoorsy aspect of middle and long distances. During Challenge London, where I raced as an age grouper, I noticed I was running the same speeds as many of the pros, even overtaking some. I told myself if I put together a decent winning performance at IM 70.3 Weymouth that this could be a good sign to step it up. I ended up winning Weymouth with a bike course record and was hungry to race at a higher level. Last year I also started listening to the podcast That Triathlon Life with Paula Findlay and got a quite realistic insight into what it would be like to race as a pro (including all the ups and downs of it). After than I was very keen to take my triathlon journey to the next level and test myself against the very best women in the world. At the same time, I started my first partnerships with brands and began growing a support ecosystem around me which would make racing in the pro field a realistic opportunity – so I took the leap.
How did your friends and family react when you told them you were pursuing triathlon professionally?
I don’t think they were too surprised to be honest. They know that I throw myself into things with full passion and how much I love the sport. It was a bit of a logical next step and everyone supported me for it.
Do you compete as a full-time professional triathlete, or do you balance it with another job?
I work full time as a lecturer and researcher in Environmental Science at the University of Southampton. So, I juggle triathlon around a significant job. Luckily, the job offers a lot of flexibility with work hours and locations, and it is output based on hour-based. I work from home several days a week, allowing me to recover better and do big training days. Whenever I am on campus I tie it in with a gym and swim sessions in the excellent facilities there. It’s very tough at times, with long stressful work blocks during semesters, and then during summer break I have several months where I can be off-campus and do research. So, I try to organise my triathlon schedule around that. During the semester, I do big training blocks and try to find a routine, during term breaks I schedule training camps and race-trips. One lesson I learnt this year is that I just can’t race and travel as much as many other pros, otherwise my recovery and performance suffer. So, I’m constantly learning what’s possible and have to be realistic with my energy.
How do you balance your personal life and being a pro athlete?
I have many sporty friends, and I love training in a social environment. I do many of my swims with Southampton Tri Club. I have many good friends there, and going to an evening swim means catching up with my mates, and sometimes even a trip to the pub after. One of my favourite things to do socially is to cook with friends – sharing the love of good food, refuelling and having a nice chat in the meantime. My partner is really into triathlon as well, and I love sharing this part of my life with him. Many of our holidays end up being ‘taper-race holidays’, where we pick a cool race, spend a week there before recharging and then go smash it.
What’s your triathlon distance?
I mainly race middle distance/70.3. However, I had my long-distance/Ironman debut this year at Challenge Almere, it went surprisingly well and I loved it. So, for next year I might target long distance as my key races, but do some middle distances along the way to gain more experience and improve my race craft.
Which triathlon discipline is your favourite: swim, bike, or run?
It goes in phases, and I frankly love them all. I love the technical aspect of swimming, the social and low-equipment aspect of running, and the adventurous nature of cycling. How cool is it that my legs can take me over one hundred miles on a bike in one day?!
What discipline did you find most challenging when you first started?
Swimming. Even though I used to swim, I had lost much of the water feel during 14 years of rowing. But luckily the gains came quickly, and I loved seeing the improvements in the water week to week, so I started really liking it again.
Challenge Almere was your first long-distance triathlon and international championship as a pro. How was the overall experience, and what were the key takeaways from that race?
I had an unbelievable race and day. Racing in Almere was a rather last-minute decision made halfway through the summer. My body was holding up well during the second part of the season and I was able to do a decent block of training so my coach and I thought ‘Why not try? There is nothing to lose?’. So it was a low pressure race with potentially high learning value. I had a great time on the swim, narrowly missing the front pack and swimming by myself. Onto the bike and I had to push much harder than in any race before, but surprisingly managed to stick to it and stay with the strong girls in the top 5. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to suffer in the marathon (I had never done one before), but set off with Magda at an ambitious but also comfortable pace. I took the marathon one 10k lap at a time, kept fuelling and hydrating and never dropped too much in pace. I crossed the finish in 7th in exactly 9h and was over the moon. Turned out I peaked for the race I wasn’t initially meant to do! I learnt that this kind of flatter racing with a big aerobic portion is really for me, and that I gain a lot of energy from the crowds and from maintaining a positive attitude during the race. I also learned that I can ride much harder than expected, and now I finally know what it feels like to run a marathon (and that I can probably run it quicker next time).
What does a typical day of training look like for you as a professional triathlete?
On a daily basis I do 2-3 sessions, depending on my workload at uni. I get up around 7:30, would then either do a morning run, or cycle-commute to Uni where I’d give some lectures or do research. In the afternoons I would do a long swim on campus, or a gym session. A couple days a week I train in the evening with the club – either for a track session or for a 1h swim with some speed work. When I’m not on campus, I try to put the hours in on the bike, a long Zwift or outdoor ride.
How do you mentally prepare for a race?
Ideally, I would have a low-stress week workwise leading into a race, to allow me to focus, while not over-emphasizing the race. I make sure a couple of days out that my equipment is clean and working, that I’ve cleared my to-do list and can dedicate the headspace to the mental part of the race. I like to familiarise myself with the course to feel like I know what’s coming. The night before the race, after having set up transition and organised all my equipment, I do a 5 min visualisation with closed eyes. Just thinking through the different parts and logistics of the race, and visualising what I will feel like at different stages of the race.
What has been the highlight of your year so far?
Racing Almere and Ironman Pro series Zell am See and realising I’m amidst the rocketing sport that is women’s triathlon.
What are some of your short-term and long-term goals in triathlon?
Next year I’d like to qualify for an Ironman/Ironman 70.3 world championship and also collect some points along the way, and make my way up into the top 100 of the PTO ranking. One of my long-term goals is to always keep the joy and the fun in the sport, and be able to choose the races that I enjoy doing the most (scenic races, with beautiful lake swims, and engaging run and bike courses).
How has your first year as a professional triathlete been so far? What challenges and successes have you experienced?
It’s been an excellent year of learning. A challenge has been to juggle pro racing with beginning a new job in January, and not really knowing how to best combine both and when to strategically schedule races. So I’ve ended up doing too many races early on, while I was still very work-busy and had very little headspace. I changed my approach to doing more races outside semester time and doing big blocks of training interspersed with taking a longer holiday for some back to back racing. That worked out really well. The biggest success for me was to overcome some of the early season drama (yes I wanted to quit at some point) and come out this first season with a positive attitude, some more perspective and a big spring in my step.
How do you stay motivated?
Strangely, I rarely have motivation issues. Maybe it is because the sport is so varied compared to what I did before, and because I make sure I do many of my training sessions with friends or my club. It might also be because I have a lot of balance with my job and triathlon never takes over my life. When I do have a tough period, I make sure to focus more on recovery, and be honest with myself – sometimes I am unmotivated because I am just too tired and some adjustments in training are necessary. When I need some very instant motivation to e.g. go on a 1h run, then I would prepare some delicious food and roast it in the oven on a timer, knowing that when I come back I have a little feast waiting for me ☺. I also make sure to keep the training fun, by trying new bike routes, doing smaller local races and just realise that I do this because it’s wonderful and a very communal experience.
What advice would you give to age groupers considering a transition to professional?
I’d say ‘Ask yourself what your motivations are to go pro’. If it is the money, then that’ll probably not be enough to have a successful and enjoyable time (because it is financially very tough in the first few pro seasons, especially given the current boom in the sport). If it is about challenging yourself and testing your limits, then pro racing can be a super enriching experience. Talk to someone who has recently gone pro to get some tips and tricks, as all the logistics and requirements can be quite overwhelming (from mandatory medical testing, to separate race registrations with different race organisers, to anti-doping stuff, and picking the best races). Use your first pro season to get to know yourself better as an athlete and the races that suit you, and focus on process goals, not podium positions or prize money.’
What’s a race or location that’s on your bucket list?
Ironman Frankfurt – It’s my home race as my family lives nearby and I would love to go back and race on home soil. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’ll have a women’s pro field anytime soon ☹
How do you celebrate after a race?
I like sticking around the races for a bit and just soaking up the buzzing atmosphere and talking to fellow pros and age groupers. Foodwise, I ideally go to some kind of Asian buffet restaurant or so to get some nutritious and salty food back in and re-fill the stores. An ideal post-race celebration would also involve staying at the race location one or two days longer, to just enjoy the place without the pro race stress.
If you weren’t a pro triathlete, what career do you think you’d be pursuing?
I’d probably be working as a conservation or restoration manager. My specialty is forest restoration, so I would love to manage a restoration project or a nature reserve and implement some on the ground projects to improve the ecosystem and the biodiversity, while also doing some applied science there.
What does your race schedule look like for the rest of the year?
Off season baby!!! A couple of easy weeks post Almere, then back into a work-training routine with some cross country racing every few weekends. Being based in the UK I am planning a big winter training block leading towards some major long-distance races in spring next year.
Will you be pursuing the Ironman Pro Series next year?
Yes, I am planning to! Many spectacular locations across Europe got added to the Pro series calendar and I’m excited to check them out. It’s great to see Ironman 70.3 Swansea and Ironman 70.3 Venice Jesolo to be a pro series race, and to have some race options in Germany and in the Alps again too!
What is your go to post triathlon meal?
I love ramen! Nice and salty with lots of electrolytes, some delicious rice noodles and fresh veg and some crispy tofu on top!
What do you care about besides triathlon?
As an environmental scientist, I am very aware that the world is facing several climate and environment-related crises. Triathlon is a wonderful sport but can in many ways be extremely unsustainable. I try and approach my pro career in a way to have a smaller environmental impact, reducing my flying, eating a mostly plant-based diet and focusing on buying materials either second hand, or from companies that have high environmental and social standards. I’d love if more people would join on this mission and help preserve the wonderful environment, we so much like to race in and be part of as well. On my podcast TriWithPerspective we have done an episode specifically on this, check it out here
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