Multisport: Lawn: 'I can go faster than ever'

Jo Lawn

Jo Lawn has a warning for her younger rivals who might think they'll soon get their chance at Ironman New Zealand.

Lawn shrugs off any suggestions she is contemplating the end of the road if she wins in Taupo tomorrow to join ironman great Erin Baker as a four-time winner.

"I have just turned 32," says Lawn. "I think I'm only halfway through my [ironman] career. I'm definitely going into my prime."

But there will be a new approach for the former international cyclist when she swims away from the start line tomorrow.

Now coached by Chris Pilone - who guides Hamish Carter - Lawn says she feels confident with the changes he's made.

"Chris takes a different approach. I'm doing things I never thought about before. I have prepared differently for sure. Some days are all on, others are done at granny pace. They give me the chance to switch off.

"I certainly feel I can go faster than ever."

Lawn says that while she is aware of the challenges from athletes such as Australia's Kate Major, Rebecca Preston and Sarah Fein; Scotland's Bella Comerford; and fellow New Zealanders Karyn Balance and Fiona Docherty, she will not be changing her game plan.

"It is still the same course, and I'll be tackling it no differently. I remember when I looked at the field before I won for the first time and saw Lisa Bentley's name. She was one of the fastest runners ever. There was also Karyn Balance as defending champion.

"If I had focused on them and not the course, I could have come unstuck."

Lawn, back living in New Zealand after basing herself for some years in Bolder, Colorado, has been training with her husband, Armando Galarraga, every day. They and Pilone are focused on the big fish: the World Championship in Hawaii.

"We all want to win Hawaii. No question," says Lawn. "It is hard, but we know the work I'm doing now is building towards that."

After tomorrow, Lawn will turn her attention to Ironman Roth in Germany on July 2.

"It is like the Tour de France of our sport," she says. "There are crowds of up to 500,000. It will be my first time there."

As her final preparation for tomorrow, Lawn competed for the third time in the Tauranga half ironman and came away with her first victory.

"That was a good omen."

But she remains aware of Major.

Twice on the podium at Hawaii, Major, a former squash international, has the credentials to spoil Lawn's party. In racing into the medals there, Major twice went past Lawn on the run.

But she doesn't see this race as the third round of their rivalry.

"I like to do a race early in the year," says Major. "Taupo looks so beautiful, and I enjoy seeing different parts of the world."

Like Lawn, she is more concerned with her performance.

"One thing I have learned from international squash is that you can't concern yourself with the other competitors. You have to focus on your own performance."

Given the likely challenges being thrown up by the internationals in both the women's and men's races, there is the feeling that Lawn and Cameron Brown face their stiffest tests yet.