Lauren Fisher never just blends in.
She began doing CrossFit when she was a 14-year-old high school freshman basketball player at St. Mary’s in Stockton, California, where her team won two state championships and a national title. As an 18-year-old senior, Fisher qualified for the CrossFit Northern California Regionals and finished 12th overall, a remarkable outcome for an athlete so young. She was inspired by the CrossFit community and the strength of its women, and decided to forgo basketball at San Diego State University, where she is currently a junior, to focus on her CrossFit. Since moving south she has been training at CrossFit Invictus — twice a day, early in the morning and again in the evening — around a full class schedule.
On Nov. 16 in Tempe, she spent nearly 12 hours on the IronMan Arizona course, watching her older brother Andrew complete his second IronMan triathlon in personal-record time. But even in a sea of ridiculously fit triathletes, Fisher, trademark ponytail flopping, muscular quads on display under Reebok short-shorts, stood out. All day long, spectators and athletes alike sidled up to Fisher to ask the same question: You have nice legs, what do you do?
If only they knew.
Fisher is the up-and-coming darling of CrossFit. She’s a 20-year-old powerhouse with a megawatt smile and strength that is not at all relative to her 5-foot-5, 135-pound frame. Last August, as the youngest competitor in the 2014 CrossFit Games in Carson, California, she finished ninth overall. She has 23,000 Twitter followers, another 13,000 on Facebook and, in addition to her more niche sponsors (Rogue Fitness, Progenex and PurePharma), she has a Nike shoe deal, which is indicative of her crossover appeal.
Here’s a Day in the Life of Lauren.