SHE’S ALREADY WON A 70.3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BUT SHE’S GUNNING FOR A SECOND THIS YEAR – AND SHE SEEMS RIGHT ON TRACK TO DO SO. HOLLY LAWRENCE SHARES WHAT STILL DRIVES HER, WHY SHE MOVED TO BOULDER AND HER PLANS TO GO LONG…
WORDS EMMA-KATE LIDBURY
Q&A HOLLY LAWRENCE
Holly Lawrence is a podium contender at any race she enters, but the bubbly Brit’s pro career hasn’t always been the easiest of rides, with illness and injury presenting plenty of challenges. This season, though, the former 70.3 world champ is happier, healthier and readier than ever to prove she’s still got what it takes to succeed at the very top…
220: You’ve lived in the U.S. for almost a decade now and you recently moved to Boulder. What prompted the move and how’s life in the tri mecca?
Holly Lawrence: We came to Boulder for a few weeks last summer and instantly enjoyed it; LA was becoming an increasingly hard place to live and train, especially after Covid. I tend to absorb the energy or stress of others. Boulder is so much quieter and life just feels easier. I grew up in a rural area in the UK, so being in nature feels like home. Where we live, I can be out riding or running on trails within a few hundred metres of my front door.
Of course, it’s also great to have so many people to train with, if I want to. I hate swimming on my own and have always enjoyed swimming with people faster than me. I’m often in the pool with Flora Duffy, Rudy von Berg and ITU speedsters like Kevin Macdowell and Kirsten Kasper.
I usually ride and run with Sean [Jefferson, her fiancé, coach and former pro ITU racer] and link up for some of my long runs with friends who are pro runners. I’m a social trainer and this gives me a good mix of training solo when I need to and being around others when I want to.
220: Where will we see you racing this year?
HL: I started the season with fourth at 70.3 Oceanside. Next up for me will be the PTO European Open in Ibiza in May [Holly finished 10th], then probably 70.3 Boulder in August, the PTO US Open in August and possibly the PTO Asian Open in Singapore, but that’s only a week out from my main focus – the 70.3 Worlds in Finland at the end of August.
220: You’ve already won a 70.3 world championship [in 2016]. What motivates you to win another?
HL: I want to prove it wasn’t a fluke. I want to get back to the form I had before getting sick at the end of 2019, and it’s the pursuit of that that re
