The 36-year-old German is aiming for a world record on the Challenge Roth route. He creates reserves for his four-month race. Deichmann says: “I want to start with a little tummy.”
Jonas Deichmann usually combines adventure and extreme sports: in the triathlon around the world, he cycled through the vastness of Siberia.
Andrei Bavchenkov
If you want to challenge Jonas Deichmann, you tell him something is impossible. Deichmann, 36 years old, has already cycled from Portugal to Vladivostok or cycled from the North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope; He set a speed record on both routes. In 2021 he circumnavigated the globe by swimming, cycling and running. He swam across the Adriatic, cycled through the vastness of Siberia and ran across Mexico.
While orbiting the earth he completed 120 Ironman distances, which took him 430 days. Next summer, Deichmann wants to repeat this project in a different way. The South German is aiming for a world record. Deichmann wants to complete an Ironman every day for four months. Without a day’s break. 120 times. The previous record is 105 Ironman triathlons. Deichmann is challenged by this brand and says: “I know that it is possible.”
In his projects, Deichmann usually combines adventure with top sporting achievements. Encounters with other cultures fascinate him, and he still raves about the people who supported and cheered him on while crossing Mexico. There it became a media event; In some places he was given a police escort; people called him “the German Forrest Gump.”
“I know that I can cycle and run far,” says Deichmann. Last year he crossed the USA twice.
Markus Weinberg
Encounters with other cultures are important to him: in 2021, Deichmann ran across Mexico.
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The adventure will be missing in summer. Deichmann does not complete the 120 triathlons in the Siberian tundra, the Sahara or the Mexican hinterland, but on the Challenge Roth route. This race is legendary in the scene and is known as the “Home of Triathlon”. Up to 300,000 spectators make a pilgrimage to the track in northern Bavaria for the professional race. Deichmann will also take part in the Challenge Roth during his record attempt on July 7th, when he will be halfway through the project.
Deichmann knows that this day will be a special challenge. He will start with the professionals, but is not allowed to set a high pace in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators. «I know that I will be overtaken all day long. That’s not funny for an athlete,” he says.
35 to 50 hours of training per week
He is not afraid that the venture will become too boring for him because of the lack of adventure. Deichmann says: “I will have to focus on sporting performance. That’s enough of a distraction.” He expects to be on the track for around twelve hours per day. 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling, 42.195 km running. This will be his everyday life from May 9th.
Deichmann completes up to 50 hours of training per week before attempting the Ironman world record.
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In the triathlon around the world, Deichmann completed the Ironman distance 120 times – here swimming in the Adriatic.
Markus Weinberg
Jan Frodeno, three-time world champion in Hawaii and 2008 Olympic champion, is amazed at the project. He says: “In addition to the incredible physical performance, it will be a masterpiece to mentally engage in the same extreme performance 120 times in a row.”
Deichmann says: “I am at the ideal age for peak performance. I want to find out what my body can do.” For this project he becomes a high-performance athlete. He has just returned from the training camp in Portugal and will soon travel to southern Spain. He completes 35 to 50 hours of training per week.
During the world record attempt he will be closely looked after by doctors and physiotherapists. Doctors from Nuremberg will also examine Deichmann regularly. Such a high and long-lasting burden on the human body has only been little researched.
He expects to burn 10,000 calories per day
Deichmann meticulously analyzed the risks of the record attempt. As with previous projects, his father Sammy helps him. He is a retired artist and lives in the canton of Solothurn. “If I have an idea, my father challenges me and points out problems,” says Jonas Deichmann.
He illustrates the close cooperation with an example. When he circumnavigated the globe, he wanted to swim through the Barents Sea and the Aegean Sea. The father, a passionate offshore sailor, advised against it due to uncertain weather and current conditions. During the 120 triathlons, Sammy Deichmann will take care of organization and nutrition; he will cook for his son every day.
He expects to burn 10,000 calories per day. He wants to supply these to the body on the route via gels and liquid food, and he would like to take a lunch break on the route. In an interview with the NZZ, Deichmann nibbles on a sandwich and adds a fruit skewer. He says: “I have to create reserves. I want to start with a little tummy.”
In 2021, Deichmann rode over 21,000 km on his bike – this distance is also ahead of him next summer.
Alexander Litau
“Because I can”: That is Jonas Deichmann’s motivation for his tours and projects.
Jonas Deichmann
Twice in a row across the USA
But why does Deichmann torture himself on the same course for four months in the summer? He found a simple answer for himself: “Because I can.” Deichmann now rattles off the arguments for this. He knows that he can cycle or run long and far. Last year he crossed the USA twice, on the New York-Los Angeles route. First by bike, then walking on the way back. “In the USA, I ran an average of 54 km a day, which is further than the Ironman marathon.”
“Because I can” is only part of the answer. Deichmann studied business administration and then worked in sales for a software company. While he was still in this job, he cycled from Portugal to the farthest corner of Russia. After that, he didn’t return to the office, but became a professional adventurer. Father Sammy says: “It was clear to me that he couldn’t just return to work after these experiences.” He always encouraged and supported his son on his journey.
Jonas Deichmann now makes a good living from his adventures. After the triathlon around the world, interest in him skyrocketed, and large companies booked him as a motivational speaker. Deichmann is in Zurich for the NZZ interview; a shoe retail chain has invited him. Branch managers from all over Switzerland meet at a workshop. There is a fashion show and various posts with team building exercises.
To round off the day, it’s Deichmann’s turn. He can sell his story, tells it grippingly, and wants to inspire the audience. He says things like: “You have to see the finish line long before you get there.” Or he teaches the audience to divide a large project into intermediate goals – in his current world that means: Ironman by Ironman, discipline by discipline. He wrote a bestseller: “The only limit is me.”
Deichmann describes himself as an “unconditional optimist”. He has never failed in his adventures. He says he doesn’t doubt for a second the success of his projects. But Deichmann knows that the 120 Ironmans in one go are different than previous ventures. “I was able to recover from an injury and make up the lost distance on other days.” His current project doesn’t allow for a day’s rest.
Deichmann says the most likely thing he can fail is running. This discipline puts the greatest strain on joints and muscles. Or he gets sick; The main concern is an infection. In extreme cases, this could lead to the world record attempt being abandoned. Deichmann says: “I won’t risk any permanent damage.”
When crossing Mexico or the USA, Deichmann sometimes covered more than the marathon distance in one day.
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