My name is Lotte van Trigt. I am a triathlete and freelance marketer. I was born and raised in Haarlem and currently live in Barendrecht. I used to be more lazy than tired; nowadays I prefer being tired over lazy. In September 2006, I was hit by a car and broke my back.

A few years later, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. To reduce issues with my body, I started training. I noticed that moving reduced my pain somewhat, and with that, my love for pushing myself physically was born. In 2018, I completed my first triathlon race and have been committed to the sport ever since.

My first race still featured the well-known 'pancakes,' aka breaststroke swim technique, but immediately after that, I started a breaststroke course. After several races at shorter distances (sprint and Olympic), I completed my first half Ironman in Jönköping, Sweden, in 2019. In 2020, I was set to race the full Ironman Copenhagen, but it was canceled due to Covid-19. In 2021, I finally completed the full Ironman Copenhagen, and eight weeks later, the Ironman Cascais in Portugal. In 2022, I participated in several strong races, culminating in a third-place finish in my age group at Ironman Barcelona.

This year, I will give my best to qualify for the Ironman World Championships. Kona is one of my big dreams. This likely makes me one of the few women with rheumatoid arthritis aiming for this. I hope to inspire others to keep running despite physical challenges. It doesn’t have to be Ironmans, but staying active benefits your body despite physical complaints. And triathlon simply makes me very happy.

During my accident, life really flashed before my eyes, but I survived and now focus on activities that bring me great joy. I'm not saying everyone should do triathlon, but you can achieve much more than you think.