Laura began swimming competitively at the age of nine with the Westport Weston Family Y Water Rat swim team. She competed at short course YMCA Nationals for three years and also competed in the Summer Speedo Champion Series in 2005 and 2006. She was the recipient of the Andrew Sawyer Memorial award for her contributions and dedication to the team. Her proudest moment on the team came at 2005 Y Nationals where she achieved new personal bests and had the fastest split on her team's 800 freestyle relay.

Laura captained her varsity swim team during her senior year after contributing to the team throughout high school. As captain she enjoyed bonding with the underclassmen, leading the infamous drum cheer, and setting the school record in the 500 freestyle. She graduated as an Academic All-American. In addition to swimming, Laura was co-editor of her high school yearbook and received a National Merit Scholarship.

At Yale, Laura is a Chemistry major, and is also involved with DEMOS, a program that teaches science in New Haven elementary schools. Laura is a distance freestyle swimmer, though she also swims the occasional 200 fly and 400 IM. As a Freshman, at the 2006 Ivy League Championships, she was a consolation finalist in the 500 freestyle, and finished in the top 16 in the 1000 and mile events. Last season (2006-2007) Laura again achieved new personal bests. At Ivies, she was again in the consolation finals of the 500 freestyle, but moved up to finish in the top 8 in the 1000 and the mile. Her mile time at that meet qualified her for the US Open.