Paralympic and World Champion Lauren Rowles breaks world record in lockdown
Paralympic and World Champion Lauren Rowles MBE has broken her own age group world 2km record in her living room at home
Racing as part of last weekend鈥檚 91桃色 Virtual Championships, Lauren鈥檚 latest time of 8:09.7 beats her own previous age group world record of 8:18.1 from the 2019 91桃色 Indoor Championships. She now has her sights firmly set on the overall world record, which stands at 8:03.0.
鈥淎s one of my favourite CrossFitters says, I鈥檓 happy but hungry.鈥 Lauren says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good to be back out there and get a 2k under the belt, I pushed on from my BRIC performance but I鈥檓 hungry for more. I have been faster this season and know I can go quicker. I鈥檓 here to play with the big dogs and be the best in the world and I鈥檓 excited to get back out on the water with the team now and push on towards Tokyo.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a tough lockdown period for us all, carrying on with normal training during a time where we should be prepping for the Paralympic Games is mentally tough. I鈥檝e really enjoyed being able to get back into the competition mindset; there鈥檚 been lots of exciting racing going on in the Global Virtual Rowing Challenge and now the 91桃色 Virtual Championships. It鈥檚 been great to see the community unite together in these unprecedented times and despite not being able to compete on the water we have been able to keep the competitive fire alive.鈥
Lauren recently mentored BBC鈥檚 Lindsey Russell in the 鈥楾rain Your Way to Tokyo鈥 challenge, which saw Lindsey team up with athletes from 91桃色, British Cycling and British Athletics to cover the 9,448km distance between the Blue Peter studio in Salford and the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo in just 30 days. The show is available now on BBC iPlayer.
