{"id":15013,"date":"2022-06-09T16:26:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T14:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=103931"},"modified":"2022-06-09T16:41:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T14:41:14","slug":"interview-lucy-buckingham-on-middle-distance-racing-and-2022-goals","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/interview-lucy-buckingham-on-middle-distance-racing-and-2022-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Lucy Buckingham on middle-distance racing and 2022 goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Kate Milsom\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 09 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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She\u2019s a powerhouse when it comes to 70.3 racing, with numerous Ironman, ITU, and Challenge wins under her belt, but 30-year-old Lucy Buckingham (n\u00e9e Hall) is also one of the first generations to grow up in triathlon, starting at the ripe age of eight having followed in her dad\u2019s footsteps. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Fast-forward a few years and she\u2019s taking on the world\u2019s stage at the London 2012 Olympics<\/a><\/strong>. Chosen as domestique to Helen Jenkins, Buckingham scored the fastest swim leg of the race, and propelled Jenkins on to secure an impressive fifth place.<\/p>\n

Known as La Sir\u00e8ne (mermaid) in France for her incredible swimming ability and fiery red hair, Buckingham\u2019s fired-up and intent on making a name for herself this season.<\/p>\n

220: You started the new year by getting married to long-term partner and fellow athlete Mark Buckingham, congratulations! But you also got Covid! How have you altered training as you recovered?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Lucy\u2019s been on the tri circuit for over a decade (Credit: Warren Little\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Lucy Buckingham:<\/strong> Thanks! And yeah, I had about a month off around Christmas, the plan was to just chill out and enjoy the festivities. But getting Covid just delayed getting back into training another 10 days. I\u2019d heard of other athletes having long Covid symptoms and cardiac problems, so I was super careful and used heart rate<\/a><\/strong> quite a lot, just to make sure I wasn\u2019t overdoing it.<\/p>\n

Mark is the head coach at Brownlee Fitness, he\u2019s also now your coach, how is that dynamic? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s really good, I think it could have gone one way or the other! He\u2019s a very patient guy, because sometimes doing a lot of training together can get quite intense when you\u2019re tired and fatigued. Mark was Jonny<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s [Brownlee] training partner originally, he supported Jonny leading into Tokyo and then retired after that.<\/p>\n

Your last race of the 2021 season was Clash Daytona when Jackie Herring just pipped you in the last few minutes. Is there anything that you would\u2019ve done differently in that situation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Lucy led the race until the final few minutes(Credit: CLASH Endurance)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t think so. I tend to put it all out there when I race, so I really had nothing left at the end. Even though I wasn\u2019t like physically on the floor, I was just mentally done<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was like a dagger to the heart when Jackie came past in literally the last kilometre. But that\u2019s racing, it comes down to the wire sometimes. That\u2019s why we love it, and sometimes why we hate it.<\/p>\n

From that, you qualified for the Challenge Championships, which your dad also qualified for in his age-group. How did that feel? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

It was awesome because it was my dad who actually got me into triathlon, when I was eight years old. It\u2019s so nice that I get to share that with my family. My mum goes to races with my dad and my brother\u2019s head triathlon coach at Loughborough University, so we\u2019re big into triathlon!<\/p>\n

You came off British Triathlon funding in 2018, what did you learn from training and racing with the British women\u2019s team?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Lucy was funded by British Triathlon for years as a youngster (Credit: Steve Bardens\/Getty Images for Threadneedle Investments)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

So much! With Helen<\/a><\/strong> [Jenkins], it was just nice to see that you can be a lovely person and at the top of your game; you can do it all if you do it right. I matured a lot over those years. There\u2019s such a good group of girls, who\u2019re all very, very successful.<\/p>\n

Helen was the start of that in 2012, and it\u2019s just so nice to see that\u2019s there\u2019s a legacy now with so many girls coming through.<\/p>\n