Last October, Lawson-Crabtree represented Team USA at the 2025 World Triathlon Age-Group Aquabike Championships in Wollongong, Australia.

Lawson-Crabtree has not slowed down since and most recently competed at the 2026 USA Triathlon Multisport Nationals in South Haven, Michigan from May 13-17.

“USA Triathlon Multisports National Championship Festival,” Lawson-Crabtree said about the event. “I got the email, I said, ‘Why not?’ and signed up. I’m going to try it, and that festival is a qualifier for Worlds in a bunch of different events. They had triathlon, aquabike, duathlon, aquathon.”

Lawson-Crabtree competed in two events, the Standard Distance Aquabike and the Sprint Draft Legal Aquabike for the 50-54 age group.

Submitted Photo Mindy Lawson-Crabtree stands third on the podium after competing in the women's 50-54 Standard Distance Aquabike national championship at the 2026 USA Triathlon Multisport Nationals in South Haven, Michigan on May 14.

She is no stranger to success if you take a quick look at her resume. In May, Lawson-Crabtree added something for the first time, national champion.

Competing against her peers in the 50-54 age group of the Sprint Draft Legal Aquabike, Lawson-Crabtree raced to a time of 53:20 in the 750-meter swim and 20-kilometer bike ride, winning the national championship in the female 50-54 age group.

“I had no idea I was going to do that,” Lawson-Crabtree said about winning the national championship. “I had never done draft legal racing, I’ve always done the others where you are not allowed to draft.”

The draft legal race is half of the distance of the standard race and competitors are allowed to draft off of their competitors during the bike race, meaning you can ride off of someone’s wheel over the course of the race, adding to the strategy.

The rules are similar to standard bike racing — which of course, Lawson-Crabtree has participated in a few races for fun — which riders can follow closely behind opponents to lower their energy output as the lead cyclist cuts through the wind, which creates a low-pressure zone behind them.

Submitted Photo The team of Dunkirk's Melissa Rodriguez Arroyo, left, Frewsburg's Mindy Lawson-Crabtree, center, and Randolph's Robert Aucoin pose with their second-place medals after competing in the Happy Valley Ironman relays this past month. Arroyo did the running, Lawson-Crabtree rode the bike and Aucoin swam to lead team Tri and Stop Us to a second-place finish in the relay portion of the event last month.

“When I got on my bike there was a lady, I caught her,” Lawson-Crabtree said about drafting during the race. “They gave awards for athletes of the year and I think she was the athlete of the year. … I think her name was Lauren (Jensen McGinnis). She asked if I wanted to work with her and I said sure, because if you’re not going to work with these ladies and you’re trying to advance, even two of them will eat you alive. It was better to draft off of them to conserve energy, and what we ended up doing was taking 20-second pulls.”

Lawson-Crabtree found herself in good company with Lauren Jensen McGinnis and, working together, the two were able to win their respective age groups and Jensen McGinnis was named the female grandmaster of the race.

“When I finished, I heard my name called as a national champion and was like, ‘What?'” Lawson-Crabtree added about the race. “I couldn’t believe it. I just went there because I wanted to race. I trained all winter pretty hard on the indoor trainer and swam a lot. I was just looking in the winter at which races I would do.”

Lawson-Crabtree’s win came just two days after taking third in the standard distance aquabike with a time of 1:36.14, and at the end of the event she received a third award for making the top three in both of her events.

“I was named one of the top three masters female athletes there,” Lawson-Crabtree added. “I got third place for the standard distance, first place for the draft legal and then an additional award for placing top three in both races. I was not expecting that. These people were vying for worlds. Was I vying for worlds? No, I never have.”

Submitted Photo Pictured are Mindy Lawson-Crabtree's awards from the 2026 USA Triathlon Multisport Nationals in South Haven, Michigan this May.

Even though Lawson-Crabtree did not have the intention to qualify for another World Championships, that’s exactly what she did and she will have a spot in September 2027 in Hamburg, Germany.

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Lawson-Crabtree is unsure on whether or not she will commit to the World Championships in Germany next year, but one thing that is certain is she is not slowing down.

The month after winning her national championship, Lawson-Crabtree was back on the bike again, but this time she was competing in the Ironman relay with the team “Tri and Stop Us,” which was composed of Robert Aucoin and Melissa Rodriguez Arroyo at the Happy Valley 70.3 in State College, Pennsylvania.

“We each competed in the event we are best in,” Lawson-Crabtree said. “We got to go to the award ceremony and there were 49 teams. There was the female relay, male relay and mixed relay. We had a really fast time and it was just amazing.”

The trio shined with Aucoin in the water, Rodriguez Arroyo on the ground and Lawson-Crabtree on the bike, taking second place in the event with a time of 5:09.18. That placement was made even more impressive with the competition they were stacked up against, competing against varying ages and high levels of talent.

“We were kind of back and forth with first place,” Lawson-Crabtree addedt. “There were loaded teams. I saw the first swimmer out in the transition area was a Penn State swimmer. You’re swimming against Division I swimmers and we still competed.”

At Happy Valley, Lawson-Crabtree was able to succeed alongside the athletes she coaches through Mindy Crabtree Coaching, making the accomplishments even more special.

“It’s really inspiring, it makes it worth it,” Lawson-Crabtree said. “I could train on my own, but with coaching I train a lot with my athletes. It’s inspiring, it keeps me going, it keeps us going.”

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Lawson-Crabtree never slows down and still has much more to accomplish this summer after beginning the season with a national championship.

“I feel very blessed that my body is able to do such a thing at this point,” Lawson-Crabtree said about winning the national championship.”I’m like, ‘How long can I ride this wave?’ It’s an honor, you feel accomplished. The hard work has been a way of life. I don’t know anything else since I’ve been doing it now for quite a few years.”

The victory in the Draft Legal Aquabike and third-place finish in the Standard Aquabike have opened the possibility to compete in another World Championship, keeping her schedule full in the coming years. If she does decide to take the trip to Germany, it will only be to compete in the Standard Distance Aquabike as there is not a category for Draft Legal Aquabike.

However, with the cost of traveling to each event being so prohibitive, difficult decisions are made, but Lawson-Crabtree likely will find herself committing to Hamburg, Germany in 2027.

“I have to decide about Hamburg real soon,” she added. “It’s expensive, but since I was national champion what are my chances, like I was top 10 in Australia and could I place better? I don’t think much about it. It’s in the back of my mind and whatever I do is what I do on that day.”

Lawson-Crabtree’s goal is never to win the national championship or even get on the podium, it is just to put together the best race she can. Although, the accomplishments make the prospects of another trip to Worlds more enticing.

“I am not saying that I would ever, but if I were to hit the podium in Worlds, like holy cow,” Lawson-Crabtree stated. “I never put that pressure on myself, it’s too much. I am just a common person who has a full-time job and does this for fun. But that’s the kind of the part driving me because I had a really good performance in the United States. You just never know what other people from other countries come and how good they are or what the day is going to serve you.”