Old Unionite Lawrence van Lingen currently finds himself at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, as part of the coaching staff of the Bermuda team, in particular Bermudian triathlete, Flora Duffy.
As a sports chiropractor and movement specialist, Lawrence is on hand to assist Duffy with her running technique, movement, and injury treatment and prevention.
[ Duffy, undoubtedly one of triathlonโs greats, just so happened to take home the gold with a commanding performance in the womenโs triathlon event on Tuesday, 27 July, finishing in a time of 1:55:36 and earning her country its first gold medal. ]
In addition to Duffy, Lawrence is also working with three-time Olympian, American racing cyclist Amber Neben, who competed in the womenโs individual road cycling event today, Wednesday, 28 July.
Neben, who at 46 is a decade or two older than the other women vying for a place on the podium, delivered a stellar performance, coming in 5th in the final. Lawrence has been working with Neben for the past 6 years, helping her to overcome a pelvic fracture and chronic pain following a cycling incident.
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Lawrence, who relocated to Laguna Beach, California, in 2013, matriculated from Union High School as part of the Class of 1989, after having attended the school from Grade 5 to 12.
After matriculating from Union, Lawrence launched his professional journey by qualifying in South Africa as a licensed Sports Chiropractor by graduating with a Masterโs Degree from the Durban University of Technology. He has since amassed more than 20 years of experience working with world-class athletes, gaining an international reputation for helping athletes overcome difficult injuries and postural problems as well as helping them achieve significant breakthroughs in performance.
Over the past 20 years, Lawrence has been entrusted with providing physical therapy to world-class runners, including New York Marathon winner Willie Mtolo, Olympic Marathon Gold medallist Josiah Thugwane, South African marathon record holder Zithulele Sinqe and members of the 4x100m World Champion South African track team. At the same time, he was working with Olympic swimmers and triathletes, as well as professional golfers and tennis, cricket and rugby players.
Some highlights of Lawrenceโs career include assisting the Durban Surf Lifesaving Club to three World Titles. He was then tapped by the world-class Natal Sharks Rugby team as a movement and core conditioning coach for a year, simultaneously working with several Springbok rugby players.
Lawrence was also the fitness and conditioning coach and team physician for the Glenwood Falcons Premier League rugby team for four years. This diverse range of sports and responsibilities equipped him with a broad and varied foundation for his whole-body view – of people generally and athletes specifically.
Lawrenceโs philosophy and views on elite performance are not merely theoretical either.
He has walked the walk when it comes to high-level sports, racing as a professional triathlete for two years and completing ten full Ironman races during that time. His last three years in South Africa were spent working full time in private practice. Here, he treated numerous world-class and amateur athletes, using manual therapy and tissue release to both restore normal function and movement and to catalyze higher levels of performance.
Lawrenceโs unique approach drew the attention of Red Bull and in 2013 he was appointed as their High-Performance Manager for the companyโs South African athletes. This included world-class surfers, trail runners, triathletes and XC mountain bikers. Lawrence also worked with the legendary Santa Cruz Syndicate and Greg Minnaar, the 2012 and 2013 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Champion.
At the end of 2013, Lawrence relocated with his wife and daughter to Southern California and currently has a Structural Integration practice in Laguna Beach. In addition to triathlete Flora Duffy and two-time UCI World Time Trial Champion Amber Neben (who he helped back to four US national victories and a world title after a severe crash), his clientele includes numerous standout triathletes (assisting with injuries and performance enhancement) as well as amateur and local school athletes.
Throughout his career, Lawrence has made a point of assisting not just elite athletes, but also amateurs and regular members of the community. His philosophy of attaining a better life through a better-integrated body is applicable to all.
๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ธ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.
Pictured here is Old Unionite Lawrence Van Lingen, sporting the pink Bermuda kit in the middle, with Richard Murray, a South African Olympic triathlete, on the right and Port Elizabeth local and standout triathlete David Hyam on the left at the Olympic Games currently being held in Tokyo, Japan.