“A lot of sisters go and do their own thing, whereas we’ve always trained together since we were kids,” says Lauren, 35. “I’m the older sibling, and I always had a lot of energy. Sport was the way our mom figured out that I could burn it off, and Francesca had to tag along. Janice, our mom, was a force of nature. She would always say to us, ‘We’re going to be the first to do a lot of things,’ because a woman-centric family doing a lot of sports wasn’t that common in the nineties.” 

“I think mom’s attitude gave us permission,” says Fran, 33. “We never inherited a sense that sport was not for us. A lot of families have a really active dad and brothers, but for us, it was me, Lauren, mom, and our nan—we didn’t have that comparison to think, ‘Oh, that’s a boy thing to do,’ versus a girl thing to do. Sport expanded our horizons, and we were good at it. We have always had totally different body types and capabilities, but we both did everything. Lauren was actually the UK's National Young Sportswoman Award in 2016.” 

Lauren: “It was the Olympic bid, when Seb Coe and David Beckham were campaigning for the UK to be the host. I played golf and rounders for England, and I played football for Liverpool. I was getting England caps and loving it. But it was Francesca discovering CrossFit that changed our lives and our careers.”

Fran: “I always had the license to take sport a little less seriously as the younger child. Lauren was the athlete. Then, one day, I went to a CrossFit gym; my boyfriend at the time was into CrossFit. I’d always done team sports with Lauren, but when I tried weightlifting, I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve actually found something that I’m really good at; I thought, ‘Now it’s my time to shine.” 

Lauren: “Francesca was a top 30 CrossFit athlete in Europe, by the way. What a lot of women don’t understand is that joining a gym can open so many doors for you. It’s unbelievable. It’s not just about the way you feel, and what you can achieve. I used to be a teacher, dealing with kids who had not had the greatest opportunities in life, and Francesca was a make-up artist for Mac Cosmetics.” 

Fran: Soon after, we both started working in the performance space. Today, we work for the same company, Marchon, a British training brand. Lauren is managing director of the supplements business, as well as being a coach, and I’m head of marketing for the Marchon training app, gyms, and apparel. We work together and we train together and we compete together, and we live really close by; it’s sort of like childhood all over again. We’ve always been able to rely on each other. We are each other’s safety blanket, and I think that has allowed us to be unafraid of going into these typically male spaces. A lot of women won’t have a sister, but they can create a community of women, or make friends in the gym. That support system is important.”

Lauren: “There’s not a lot of competitions that I’ve done where Francesca hasn’t been there, and vice versa. We train together five times a week, and it’s always a cup-filling exercise. There’s a deeper understanding and respect that you develop with someone you’re working hard with; the bond is different. For us, it reinforces our connection even more. It’s special. When we’re training, it’s usually the one hour we’re together when we’re not on our phones and we get to chat.” 

Fran: “Lauren is a workaholic, so there are often times when I will go to her house to check on her, see her half-eaten breakfast on the side, and know that she hasn’t found time for herself that day. My response is always, ‘Okay, get off your laptop, we’re going training.’ My role is to help her keep tabs on her stress levels. I personally train every day at 11 am, because it makes me be the best version of myself in life and in work.” 

Lauren: “Fran is the most committed person I know. She watches out for herself and she watches out for me. I, like a lot of women, pride myself on being a high achiever, but I do struggle with boundaries when it comes to work and making time for myself. I’m in admiration of her routine. We’re sisters at the opposite ends of the spectrum.” 

Fran: “When we compete together, we are a force. We came 12th in our age group and 29th globally at the Hyrox World Championships last year. People can be fitter, people can be stronger than us, but we have the upper hand on anyone because we can communicate without speaking. During Hyrox, everything will be innately in sync. We can predict how the other will move; we know when to step in and take over.” 

Lauren: “We just know each other inside out. We know which are our better movements. We’ll never let each other down. People are scared of sisters competing together. It’s a very unique thing; we have a very rare connection.” 

Fran: “Women have a really powerful connection with each other in general, more so than men. Society has always been set up to compete against each other, but we’ve always rejected that. Our mindset has always been, ‘No lad, I’m coming for you, not her.’ Since a young age, boys have always had opportunities to be competitive, but girls have been put in the same bracket, doing team sports. Crossfit and Hyrox have finally given a window for women to be athletes. 

“When I first started CrossFit, my body changed. I grew muscles, and it wasn’t that common at the time. Women have been conditioned to think we’re supposed to be these petite little things and it’s the men that are really big. I had to create my own version of what feminine was. But being surrounded by women in the gym helped; they were so supportive and affirmative. Having them say, ‘You look so good,’ and ‘I want to look like that too,’ was important. It was getting away from that culture of a tiny waist and big boobs, and going towards training for performance. I think it’s brought women together. I feel very feminine now.” 

Lauren: “There’s still not enough women coaches, though. I was the only female coach at the Elite 15 Hyrox with Gabby Moriarty; the male coaches wrongly assumed I was there as an athlete. The more women that take leadership roles within fitness means the door is opened for more women to be guided by women; this will change the culture faster. Both Fran and I find a lot of purpose in training for ourselves, and for each other, and showing that training is for every woman.”