Rebecca "Becky" Lavelle (née Gibbs, born December 5, 1974) is an American former professional triathlete, race director, runner, and coach. As a professional triathlete, she has had over 50 career wins in Olympic and Half-Ironman distance races.[1]
Becky Lavelle | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rebecca Gibbs December 5, 1974 Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Education | B.Sc. Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, summa cum laude |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Spouse |
Brian Lavelle (m. 2002) |
Early life
editLavelle began competing athletically from a young age. She started swimming competitively in Minnesota when she was nine and continued throughout high school.
At the age of 12, Lavelle was named best swimmer of her age group in Minnesota, a title she maintained for seven years. In 1993, during her senior year of high school, she was named (overall) Female Swimmer of the Year for Minnesota.
Lavelle went on to swim competitively at Louisiana State University (LSU) in college, where she became a ten-time NCAA All-American swimmer. In1997, she was named NCAA state-level "Woman of the Year" (Louisiana).[2]
In 1998, Lavelle graduated summa cum laude with a B.Sc. in kinesiology.
Career
edit- 2003: Pan Am Games bronze medalist[citation needed]
- 2005: winner US National Championships and Chicago Triathlon[3]
- 2005: named "Comeback Athlete of the Year" by Triathlete Magazine
- 2006 and 2008: named Multi-sport Athlete of the Year by USA Triathlon[4]
- 2007: winner of US Long Distance Triathlon National Championships
- 2008: named the Overall Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series winner[5]
- 2012: winner of Rev3 Florida Half-Ironman in Venice, FL[6]
Following her official retirement from triathlon, Lavelle began running with Arete, a women's running club based in Santa Cruz, CA.[7]
Philanthropy
editIn 2008, Lavelle co-founded the non-profit organization Jenny's Light in honor of her late sister Jenny and her sister's infant son, Graham. The mission of Jenny's Light was to improve and save lives by raising awareness of perinatal mood disorders, including postpartum depression. Jenny's Light Run events were held annually in Los Gatos, CA until 2022 in order to raise funds for organizations working on the issue.[8][9]
Master's running personal records
edit| 2017 | Marathon | California International Marathon (CIM) |  United States Sacramento, CA |
02:56:50 | Marathon debut |
| 2019 | Half-Marathon | Monterey Bay Half-Marathon | United States Monterey, CA |
01:24:00 | |
| 2017 | 10K | She Is Beautiful | United States Santa Cruz, CA |
00:37:49 | |
| 2018 | 5K | Silicon Valley Turkey Trot | United States San Jose, CA |
00:18:30 |
Notable triathlon accomplishments
edit| Year | Place | Competition | Location | Time | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1 | Rev3 Florida Half-Ironman | United States Venice, FL |
03:54:00 | Win & last career race as a pro |
| 2012 | 1 | 5150 New Orleans | United States New Orleans |
02:11:52 | |
| 2011 | 2 | The Triathlon at Pacific Grove | United States Pacific Grove |
02:06:13 | |
| 2011 | 3 | 5150 Washington | United States Washington, D.C. |
||
| 2011 | 3 | Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon | United States San Francisco |
02:19:21 | After birth of first baby [11] |
| 2009 | 1 | Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens | United States Washington |
03:56:36 | [12] |
| 2009 | 3 | Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon | United States San Francisco |
02:24:00 | |
| 2008 | 3 | Ironman 70.3 World Championship | United States Clearwater |
04:07:32 | New swim record - 00:23:03 [13] |
| 2007 | 1 | Wildflower Triathlon | United States Lake San Antonio |
04:35:19 | |
| 2007 | 3 | Ironman 70.3 California | United States Oceanside |
||
| 2007 | 1 | USA Long Distance Triathlon National Championships | United States |
U.S. Championships | |
| 2006 | 1 | Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon | United States San Francisco |
02:21:05 | |
| 2006 | 24 | ITU Triathlon World Championships |  Switzerland Lausanne |
02:08:00 | |
| 2006 | 1 | Vineman Ironman 70.3 | United States Sonoma County |
04:29:10 | |
| 2005 | 34 | ITU Triathlon World Championships |  Japan Gamagori |
02:05:24 | |
| 2005 | 1 | USA Triathlon National Championships | United States Bellingham |
02:07:55 | National Champion |
| 2003 | 15 | ITU Triathlon World Championships |  New Zealand Queenstown |
02:10:27 | |
| 2003 | 2 | Wildflower Triathlon | United States Lake San Antonio |
||
| 2003 | 3 | USA Triathlon National Championships | United States San Francisco |
U.S. Championships | |
| 2002 | 2 | Wildflower Triathlon | United States Lake San Antonio |
||
| 2001 | 2 | Wildflower Triathlon | United States Lake San Antonio |
References
edit- ^ Triathlete.com (2009-05-26). "Wins And Losses: Becky Lavelle". Triathlete. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ^ "1997 NCAA Woman of the Year," retrieved January 20, 2020. http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/events/awards/1997-ncaa-woman-year
- ^ "Wins and Losses: Becky Lavelle," Triathlete Magazine, retrieved January 20, 2020. https://www.triathlete.com/2009/05/features/wins-and-losses-becky-lavelle_9006
- ^ "2008 Elite Athletes of the Year," USA Triathlon, March 17, 2008, retrieved January 16, 2020. [1]
- ^ ""Becky Lavelle Named Lifetime Fitness Series Winner," tyr.com, retrieved January 20, 2020. https://www.tyr.com/news/becky-lavelle-named-life-time-fitness-series-winner/
- ^ "Thomas, Lavelle Win Rev3 Florida Duathlon". Triathlete.com. 16 January 2020.
- ^ "Becky Lavelle: From Professional Triathlete to Arete Teammate", retrieved February 20, 2020, published October 16, 2017, https://runarete.com/2017/10/16/becky-lavelle/.
- ^ Jenny's Light, Edina Magazine, April 2010 Issue, retrieved February February 23, 2020. https://edinamag.com/jennys-light/
- ^ "Jenny's Light Run".
- ^ Becky Lavelle Athletic Results, retrieved February 25, 2020. https://www.athlinks.com/search/unclaimed?category=unclaimed&term=becky lavelle
- ^ "Athlinks". www.athlinks.com. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Gambles and Lavelle Take Lake Stevens," Triathlon News, August 2009, retrieved January 21, 2020. Gambles and Lavelle take Lake Stevens 70.3 Archived 2016-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wikipedia Ironman 70.3 entry and results, retrieved January 21, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_70.3
- ^ "Americans Matt Reed and Becky Lavelle Win 26th Annual Accenture Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Sunday June 4th," retrieved February 24, 2020. Triathlon Winners. https://www.triathlon.org/athletes/results/5473
- ^ AEFAT Winners Release June 4, 2006
