Lucy Campbell is one of the UK's top CrossFit athletes as well as an ex-international swimmer and a sports psychology MSc graduate.
Lucy has always been incredibly talented; she was a national level gymnast until the age of 12 when she began to focus on swimming. With minimal training, Lucy soon reached regional level and national and international success quickly followed with Lucy notably placing 3rd in the LEN European Open Water Cup and 8th in the World Junior Open Water Championships, alongside multiple British Championship medals and national records. However, she soon became burnt out, and ultimately retired from swimming at university, leaving her without the sense of identity and self-worth she had previously had.
Lucy then found CrossFit and took to it instantly; in her very first session she learnt handstand push-ups, and in her first Open in 2019, just a few months after starting the sport, she placed 13th in the world on the first workout.
Lucy’s phenomenal rise through elite sport has been met with continual struggles around body image and her relationship with food. Throughout both gymnastics and swimming, Lucy was continually told she ‘wasn’t small enough’, leading to a very distorted relationship with food and her body that haunted her for years. After only 1 year of CrossFit, Lucy qualified for her second ever competition and unexpectedly ended up in the Elite category. Even more to her disbelief, Lucy won the whole event, which finally helped her realise that a certain aesthetic doesn’t equal performance as well as showing her what her body was truly capable of.
Lucy’s rise in CrossFit has been nothing short of monumental; after only a few years in the sport, and only a few months after recovering from a back injury, Lucy placed 2nd Fittest in the UK in 2021, finishing 9th in the Lowlands Throwdown, 18th in the Last Chance Qualifier and winning the Elite division at The Arnold Games. Her 2022 season really made the world take note; Lucy finished 4th overall at Wodapalooza, with an event win and just 2 points away from the podium.