Vicky Holland
Region: UK
'Take your time, make sure your body and mind are ready' vicky holland
vicky's Story
I was a swimmer and a runner at school and I went to university having won a national 1500m title on the track as well as having been top 5 in my age group as a swimmer. Sadly I was a backstroker which isn’t much use for triathlon!
I went to Loughborough University which was the home of British Triathlon and the coaches there attempted to draft me in. After a bit of initial resistance I had a go at my first triathlon aged 19 and haven’t looked back.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO COMPETE AT THE LEVEL YOU DO?
I’ve always been motivated by the Olympic Games. I vividly remember watching Barcelona ‘92 and thinking it was so exciting and knowing that I wanted to go to the Olympic Games.
COMING BACK AFTER HAVING A BABY - TELL US MORE. HOW HAVE YOU FOUND IT, WHAT ADVICE HAVE YOU RECEIVED OR CAN GIVE TO OTHER WOMEN ON THE SAME JOURNEY?
I wasn’t sure if I would want to come back after having a baby, but I’ve loved the challenge of getting fit and ready to race with a new set of obstacles and challenges and with a different body than the one I had before!
I look at this as a separate part of my career to the one I had before I had my daughter. It’s been hard work but it’s been incredibly motivating seeing other mums do it and seeing the improvements come thick and fast - something that never used to happen before pregnancy! I wouldn’t say I’ve taken on much advice but what I would say now is not to expect everything to be the same as before pregnancy - the amount of time you have to train, your priorities and your body itself will all be different, so don’t compare to before. Take your time, make sure your body and mind are ready to start again and ready for each increase in volume or intensity. And get your pelvic floor checked before you start any running!
GREATEST CHALLENGES:
Returning from pregnancy, managing covid and all the restrictions as I built up to Tokyo Olympics and managing injuries. No athlete likes being injured and it’s always a really difficult time mentally. Big injuries that put you out for a long time take a lot out of you and you have to be resilient. I had a mystery shoulder problem building into Tokyo that really impacted my swim training and that was very difficult. We now know it’s because I have rheumatoid arthritis but at the time it was incredibly frustrating and painful!
SEASON GOALS:
To really enjoy every moment of racing again and to ideally get back into the top tier of racing - it would be awesome to compete at European Championships in September and be in the Grand Final of the WTCS in October.
BEST RACE PERFORMANCE?:
I won 3 WTCS in 2018 leading to me becoming World Champion and I think they were probably mybest ever results, along with my 3rd place at the Rio Olympic Games.
EVENT YOU ENJOYED THE MOST?:
Commonwealth Games 2014 - everything just went right for me, I felt great, amazing weather, incredible home crowd and a breakthrough result for me coming 3rd.
