Fifteenth in a series profiling Kingston's contributions to the Canadian Olympic team.

Lauren Groves' athletic accomplishments come from a combination of hard work and persistence, but not

necessarily genetics.

"My parents always laugh, because I don't come from an athletic family at all."

Next Monday, the Queen's University graduate will compete in the women's triathlon, which consists of a 1,500-metre swim, 40-kilometre cycle and 10-kilometre run.

Groves said she has never heard of the triathlon until she watched Kingstonian triathlete Simon Whitfield compete and win the gold medal in the men's competition at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

When she heard Whitfield was paying a visit to the Queen's Triathlon Club, Groves said she immediately became the club's newest member.

"I wanted to meet him," she said. "I didn't make the cross country team that year, and knew the [triathlon] club had no cuts, so I showed up and met Simon."

Groves said that meeting sparked a friendship between her and Whitfield, and years later, they still remain friends.

"It's kind of neat," she said. "I never thought back in those days that eight years later we'd both be at the same Olympics."

Although she knew she wanted to pursue sports on a competitive level, Groves said she never thought she'd end up being a professional triathlete.

"It was more of a hobby or something to keep me in shape," she said. "I did have Olympic dreams swimming in Vancouver as a kid, so I've always been on the path to high performance sports."

Since she began training full-time after she graduated from Queen's in 2004, sleeping in and taking it easy isn't an option for Groves.

"I rarely take a complete day off. If I take a rest day, I'll do an easy swim or jog," she said. "It's definitely pretty demanding, but it's nice to do a variety of the three sports to mix it up."

Groves said she doesn't alternate sports between the days of the week, but works on all three of her disciplines every single day.

"Every morning is a swim, and with swim you can get away with doing more volume because it's easier on the body," she said. "Then in the afternoon I do a bike session or a run s e s s i o n , sometimes both."

Naturally, competing in a sport that encompasses three sports in one doesn't come without pain. Groves said although she's never suffered a severe injury, any type of ailment resulting from running, swimming or cycling could put you out of commission for the other two.

"This year I've struggled with two knee injuries. In triathlon if I have an injury, I can't do two of the three sports, so that's severe in the sense that competing isn't in the picture," she said. "I was out for a couple of months this year, but they're just minor in the grand scheme of things."

Although training for an event that encompasses three sports can be grueling, Groves said she enjoys the mix of workouts training for a triathlon allows her to do.

"I come from a swimming background, so I found the monotony of going to the pool every day tiring," she said. "I feel like triathlon is a life-long sport."

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Lauren Groves

SPORT:Triathlon.

KINGSTON CONNECTION:Graduated from Queen's University in 2004 with a degree in psychology. OLYMPIC HISTORY:Her first time Games.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:A second-place finish at the 2007 Battle At Midway Triathlon, a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games, an 8th place finish at the Vancouver World Cup, an 8th-place finish at the Edmonton World Cup. COMPETES:Aug. 18.

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BOUND TRIATHLETE