A few weeks ago, Max Studer became U23 European Champion in Eilat (ISR) with aplomb. The 22-year-old, who completed an apprenticeship as a logistician and is meanwhile a professional triathlete, delivered a convincing performance this year by achieving a World Cup and European Cup victory as well as triathlon and athletics Swiss Championship titles.

Your third year as an elite athlete was extremely successful. What in your eyes are the keys to success?

My new coach, Brett Sutton, who has been taking care of me and my brother since November 2017, puts together the right training programme for us. What’s more, we try to travel as little as possible: over the winter we spent four months at the same place in Australia and in the summer, we trained for four months in St. Moritz. This enabled us to focus on our training. 

You are currently a professional triathlete. What does your everyday life look like? 

I usually complete three training units a day. In between, I recover, take care of my office work and household tasks, and see that I get something to eat. 

What motivates you to train on a daily basis and forgo one thing or the other if necessary? How do you deal with motivational problems?

Success is always the best motivator. We also train at places where it is a pleasure to be. (Sunshine Coast, Australia, and St. Moritz). It also helps to train in an international training group with interesting athletes. But if I do find my motivation is lacking, I keep my eye on the goals that I can achieve.

Making it all the way to the top means having to become even better in various areas. Where does your greatest potential lie and what specific training measures do you take to try to close the gap?

Although I am a very good runner, we are trying to get me to run even longer and faster. And we are naturally also focussing on swimming. This is because in the Olympic distance, the swim basically sets you up for the rest of the race, weight comes into play on the bike, and the run is crucial for the placement or victory.

Do you have a secret tip you would be willing to share with us? 

There is no one secret tip. Each athlete needs to find the right puzzle mix together with their coach. What I have learned in the last 12 months with Brett Sutton is that you can also get results without a lot of technique, such as wattage and heart rate training, etc.

Foto: ZVG