Triathlete sons inspire Hong Kong mum to join them on starting line
Lynda Coggins stopped her sporting activities when she started her family, but watching her teenaged sons engage with their sports reignited her own passions
When Lynda Coggins found herself outnumbered in a sporty household with three active young boys, she did what came naturally: she joined them.
"Growing up I was a swimmer, but I stopped competing before university, and when I had the boys I stopped sport altogether," explains Coggins, 51, a chartered financial analyst and mother to Oscar, 15, Louis 14 and Jasper, 12.
Watching all three sons flourishing in sport, she got the itch to get back into competition four years ago. "Giving up competitive sports as a teenager is one of my biggest regrets," she says. "Besides, I figured it would be more fun doing the races rather than just watching them."
Getting back into the pool and into shape was hard work, but it has paid off; she regularly places top in her age group in triathlons. Last month, she picked up two silver medals and two Hong Kong records in the 50 metres and 100 metres backstroke, and a bronze and a silver in team relays at the Masters Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
Bagging silverware, it seems, runs in the family. In the Festival of Sport Triathlon in May, Oscar was first elite junior, Lynda finished first in her age group and Jasper was the first boy born in 2003 to cross the line.