captaining the team her senior year and earning All- American honors eight times. “I dreamt of going to the Olympics in swimming,”
says Bennett, whose favorite event was the 100-meter butterfl y. But after failing to make the 1996 team at the Olympic Trials, she was forced to reassess her goals and decided that she didn’t want to shoot for Sydney in swimming. That’s when the triathlon gods shined down on her for the fi rst time in the form of USA Triathlon’s current Chief Operating Offi cer Tim Yount.
WHERE MY PASSION IS.
THIS TYPE OF RACING IS
“ ” Yount invited Bennett to the U.S. Olympic Training
Center in Colorado Springs to train and try her hand at becoming a professional triathlete. She still wasn’t certain, however, that she wanted to put in the 10 years she believed it took to become a world-class triathlete, though she did show promise, most notably placing fourth at the 2000 Olympic Trials in triathlon. She planned to make the 2000 season her last, but the triathlon gods wouldn’t let her go that easily. This time, they came in the form of Australian pro Greg Bennett. “We met at a training camp in Victoria, B.C.,” Bennett
says. “I think what I was fi rst attracted to was how easy we got along.” Since they met in 2000, the two have been inseparable,
marrying in 2004. Sharing the lifestyle with Greg made being a pro worth it to Bennett, and with Greg by her side, Bennett racked up an incredible list of achievements, including four world championship medals, four world cup titles, two national champion titles and a fourth place fi nish at the 2008 Olympics. When Greg decided during the 2012 Olympic
qualifi cation process that he would focus on long course racing, Bennett found herself in new territory, gunning for an Olympic slot without him. In an emotional last- chance race at the San Diego qualifying event, Bennett secured the third and fi nal 2012 Olympic slot, edging out fellow 2008 Olympian Sarah Haskins to compete in what
Since 2004, Laura Bennett has made two Olympic triathlon teams and served as the alternate at the Athens Games.
PHOTO BY PAUL PHILLIPS/COMPETITIVE IMAGE
may be Bennett’s fi nal Olympic race. “This type of racing is where my passion is,” Bennett
says. “The fi rst time around, it’s about experiencing the experience. The second time around, it’s about maximizing it.” Four years from now, she says, she’ll likely have started a family. An Olympic medal would be icing on the cake of a long and legendary career.
USATRIATHLON.ORG USA TRIATHLON 49
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