Laurel is the younger half (by 5 mins) of the Wassner Twins. She is a survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is the first cancer survivor to become a professional triathlete. Laurel was named Rookie of the Year her first year as a pro (2008). Competitve and athletic from the start, by age 4 Laurel was swimming in meets, riding a bike and running (racing the cars) home from kindergarten. Laurel continued swimming and ran her first cross country race in 5th grade. She ran through Junior High (undefeated in cross country - yep never beaten by Bec!) and started focusing on swimming in High School going on to swim distance freestyle for George Washington University. She did her first triathlon in 2006 and also won her first triathlon in 2006. After a successful year as an elite amateur in 2007 (where she had both the fastest run and swim splits in every race), Laurel turned pro in 2008. Quickly improving under Coach Cliff English, Laurel won her first pro race in 2010 at the Columbia Triathlon, becoming the first cancer survivor to win a professional triathlon, and then went on to 5 more wins.
Prior to triathlon, Laurel worked for several magazines as a photo editor.
