“I want to show it to my children”
Best time targeted: mother of three makes an acclaimed comeback
June 3, 2026 – 6:58 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Eight years after her victory in Roth, triathlete Daniela Bleymehl wants to set the fastest time there again – and all of this as a mother of three. How does the 37-year-old manage it?
The two youngest children are often still asleep when their mother comes home from the first training session. Daniela Bleymehl gets up at five o’clock: swimming is usually on the agenda. The 37-year-old world-class triathlete leads her life as a professional athlete with three children. Interviews are sometimes conducted via video with the less than one-year-old daughter on her lap. Improvisation is required.
“Of course I like to have a certain order on the race weekend, but then some things are suddenly there and 20 seconds later they are somewhere else,” says Bleymehl, who lives with her family in Darmstadt. But somehow everything works.
Bleymehl wants to hunt for the best time in Roth
And Bleymehl wants to know it again this year. She has qualified for Hawaii and has a room booked, but first there is the Challenge Roth on July 5th. Eight years after her victory, she wants to hunt for a personal best there. “In terms of sport, I dream of surpassing myself again and reaching my full potential in Roth,” she says. “My requirements today are different than they used to be, but that’s exactly why I want to show my children that passion, hard work and big goals never lose their value.”
Bleymehl has been world class in long-distance triathlon for years – also because of the children. “Pregnancy also gives you a break for your head,” she explains. Getting out of the fight for the last reserves of performance in the water, on the bike or while running can also help. “Being constantly at this maximum limit can also cause you to burn out. I think my career wouldn’t have lasted so long then,” emphasizes Bleymehl.
Successes after maternity leave – for every child
A career that is particularly notable for the fact that Bleymehl, a born collector, quickly enjoyed success again after the births of her children. In 2011 she had her first child, a son. The following year, Bleymehl repeated her victory in the triathlon over the Olympic distance in Buschhütten, once celebrated as a spring classic, which she had already won in 2010. In 2015 she won the Ironman in Mallorca over 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.2 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running.
Her second child was born in 2021 – and again she made a strong comeback the following year after the maternity break. Bleymehl triumphed at the Ironman in South Africa and in Frankfurt. Last year she had to end the season early because her third child was on the way.