Will the Real @timathlon99 Please Stand Up

Any athlete that has spent some time on instagram has likely come across the hilarious posts from @timathlon99. Known by the rest of the world as Tim Frisch, this 23 year old student from Germany, brings humor to celebrate and embrace the grind of regular training. 

While his content helps give us a well needed laugh, there is more beneath the surface of this part student, part triathlete, part content creator. We need to know more so we set out to connect and learn more about the person behind the account. 

AG: Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do for work and fun? 

TF: I went to school and worked as a carpenter for four years. I started studying last year.

Whenever I’m not busy studying, I spend a lot of time swimming, cycling, running or creating some instagram content (particularly funny videos).

AG: Can you share a bit about your journey into triathlon? When and how did you get started in the sport? 

TF: I’ve always been a sporty kid, played soccer, took part in some running competitions and learned freestyle swimming at a young age.

My parents encouraged me to get into running pretty early on and I quickly realized that it was something I loved to do. They also did some triathlon races when they were younger, which exposed me to the sport. I did my first duathlon in 2012 at the age of 13.

A year later, I did my first triathlon. Since then, triathlon has become a constantly growing part of my life. 

I am also a member of a formal triathlon club called La Carrera TriTeam Rothsee and we compete in a triathlon league system here in Bavaria, Germany. I mainly compete in Olympic distance races. To me, they are the most fun and I prefer the shorter and faster distances over the longer ones.

Today, I can’t think of living without doing some type of sport. 

AG: What does a typical training week look like for you? 

TF: My training load definitely varies depending on the season. During the winter months, my training motivation isn’t as high as it is during the summer so I generally put in fewer overall hours and reduce the number of hard workouts. As soon as race season approaches, my training ramps up, and I add in more of the harder training sessions. In general, it’s probably around 10-15 hours of training during the summer and 5-10 hours during the winter.

I am always gauging how my body feels so I plan most of my training sessions the same day I do them. There isn’t really a fixed weekly training plan. Nevertheless, there are still some training sessions that tend to happen on specific week days. Sunday is usually my long, easy run day (~15-18km @4.45/km) as well as “track Friday” with some 800m/1000m intervals. Saturday is mostly for the longer bike rides (~70-80km).

AG: Currently, you are competing at a fairly high level. (50:57 for the swim at Challenge Roth and a sub 16 minute 5k). What are your future goals for triathlon? Do you have ambitions for certain distances, races, achievements or possibly even going  professional some day? 

TF: I’m still competing at an amateur level, but it’s on a fairly high level… I already beat some pros. But I don’t own a professional license for triathlon.

My main goal in triathlon is to stay healthy, love what I do and see some improvement over time.

I have some smaller goals, too. I would like to improve my fastest 10km time or place in the top five at some of the more important races.

I’m a pretty eager person when it comes to sports, but I don’t ever want to reach the point where “I want to train,” turns into “I must train.” That’s why I’m not planning on going pro at the moment. Even though it’s a huge part of my life, triathlon is still a hobby and there are other things that I would also like to focus on.  

AG: You’ve made a name for yourself on social media with your hilarious content. What was it that inspired you to start creating content? 

TF: I started with simply posting some photos (like everybody did), but when Instagram started featuring reels, that’s when things got interesting. It was the perfect way to share some of my funny video ideas centered around my athletic lifestyle.

I’ve always been the type of person who doesn’t take things too seriously. Creating funny videos is a fun hobby, and sharing them to spread joy with other people who can relate to my content is what makes me happy.

AG: How do you come up with your topics? Where do you get your inspiration from?

TF: A lot of my ideas are based on real life experiences that happen to me during my daily life. That’s why you will sometimes see me going for a run in the morning and posting a reel about something that happened during my run later that day. 

Of course I can’t come up with all the topics by myself, and that’s why I love to scroll through the Instagram reels/TikTok feed to get inspiration from other peoples’ hilarious ideas. I then take these ideas and fit them into my own style of creating videos.

AG: Do you have plans to invest more time in the Triathlon.Tim brand/content in the future? Where do you see it going? 

TF: I love spreading the joy of being a triathlete, giving advice and making other people happy with my content, and that’s why I’ll definitely continue creating content. 

I don’t really have a “big plan” yet, so I’m ready to be surprised by what’s to come and which direction it’s heading.