Seaman training at high level for comeback
Olympian helps Audrey McCarthy with racewalk clinic
Rachel Seaman sees a lot of herself in 15-year-old Audrey McCarthy.
It was a special treat for McCarthy to have the two-time Olympian as guest coach at a racewalk clinic the teen held Wednesday night at the St. Peter Secondary School track.
Twelve participants signed up to help McCarthy raise $150 for the Terry Fox Run.
Seaman, 32, who like McCarthy attended St. Peter but now lives and trains in San Diego, was home for a visit and showed up to help.
Last season, McCarthy won the Canadian junior indoor and outdoor racewalk titles. Seaman said she didn’t win her first Canadian title until she was 19 and McCarthy’s 10-kilometre time is right around where she was at the same age.
“She looks really good and I’m not just saying that,” Seaman said. “She has a great coach. Richard (Borek) started me, too, and he’s done a really good job with her. She’s a natural. You can just tell. Not everybody can pick it up and do it the way she is doing it. It’s just going to be putting in the time, like anybody else.
She has the work ethic for sure.”
McCarthy saw Seaman talk about her Olympic experience when she visited the Peterborough Legion Track Club two years ago.
“It sounded really interesting to me so the next practice I asked (Borek) if I could try it,” McCarthy said. “I really liked it. It’s great to have your inspiration be here,” McCarthy said. “Rachel went to the Olympics and one day I also hope to go to the Olympics. That’s a dream of mine.”
She’s heading to San Diego in January to a training camp run by Seaman and her husband Tim Seaman, a U.S. national team coach.
As Seaman works her way back from injuries which put her career on hold, she finds it inspiring to watch McCarthy.
“Watching other people get started and be inspired and so excited to do this reminds you of why you were even doing it in the first place,” said Seaman.
Seaman hasn’t competed internationally since hamstring tears forced her to withdraw from the 2016 Rio Olympics. As detailed in an Examiner article earlier this year, she battled depression and further injuries which almost led her to quit the sport last year.
She had a breakthrough this summer with orthotic help to correct an imbalance in the length of her legs. It removed knee pain she struggled with. She’s now training at a high level again and hopes to re-enter competition next spring. Her 2019 goal is to qualify and compete at the world championships Sept. 29 in Qatar.
“It seems like we’ve got a good handle on some things that were going wrong,” she said. “I’ve been able to slowly build up. Now I’m back to regular training again and not having any issues.
“I’m in a much better headspace than I was last year. I’m enjoying it again,” she said. “It’s fun to be out there training again.”
Despite missing so much time, her goal remains the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“If I’m ready and fit I think I’ll be able to jump back into a race and things will come back to me,” she said. “I really think I have the potential to do as well as I did before but there is work to be done. Hopefully, I can get enough of that work done in these next two years.”