Stuyvesant students, with only four minutes to make their way around ten floors, are forced to walk fast. But they don’t know what walking fast truly is until they talk to a professional Olympic racewalker.
The girls’ racewalking team, a division of Indoor Track, got that opportunity on December 20, when it was revisited by national champion and Olympian racewalker Tim Seaman. Seaman, 32, is training Erin Taylor, the coach of the racewalking team, for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, for which the trials are on February 8. This was the second year she invited him to come to Stuyvesant.
“We did some stretches, we did some warm-ups, he looked at their technique and we did some drills to help them improve their technique and their form when they racewalk,” Taylor, 28, said.
Specifically, he helped them with the positioning of their arms, which should be behind their body in order to help them move their legs better.
“Tim helps us to hone our techniques so we can race more efficiently,” senior and co-captain Nina Yang said. At the PSAL Holiday Games on December 22, Yang placed first in the city in the 1500-meter racewalk with a time of 7 minutes, 37.64 seconds—a personal best. Seaman’s expertise and professional advice have helped the team establish the “biggest and best high school racewalk team in the nation,” Taylor, who has been coaching the team for the past five years, said. In all of the meets so far this season, at least three of the top five finishers of the 1500-meter racewalk have been from Stuyvesant.
Racewalking is a track and field event whose courses vary in length from 1500 meters, which is most common at the high school level, to 100 miles. A 5K is most common at the professional level. No matter the distance, racewalkers are required to keep their knees straight and one foot on the ground at all times.
Seaman said he enjoys helping the Stuyvesant team. “For me, it’s a really great opportunity,” he said. “The girls here on the team are really, really dedicated. You can tell they really like to learn and they want to excel.” Seaman lives in Tula Vista, California, and has been part of two Olympic and four world championship teams. He placed 40th the 2000 Olympic games and 20th in 2004, which was the highest rank achieved by an American in 20 years. He has also obtained the fastest time, 19 minutes, 15.88 seconds, ever by an American in the 5K racewalk.
“Now, before each race, the team gathers to perform what he has taught us,” senior and co-captain Huili Zhu said. “We are inspired by him to aim for a bigger and higher goal, which our team is definitely capable of.”
Seaman believes that his advice can spur the racewalking team on to continue their successes. “I’d say more than half the girls on the team have opportunities to make the junior national team, which is top six in America,” Seaman said. “That would be amazing.”
