Rachel Sears Casanta ’96, a professional triathlete who turned her passion for triathlons into a successful coaching business, Hypercat Racing. will speak on Thursday, March 3, at 7 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, Room 114 of E.S. Bird Library, as part of Syracuse University’s Alumni Speaker Series. The event is free and open to the public.

Casanta is an enthusiastic and passionate speaker who will share her career path and offer firsthand advice on what it takes to be a small business owner, including lessons she learned along the way and what she wishes she’d done differently—invaluable advice for students and professionals alike. Casanta will offer inspiration to those just getting into multisport racing and exchange best practices with those who have been involved for many years.

The 1996 SU alumna has competed as a professional triathlete for the past decade, racing at distances ranging from sprint to Ironman. She has tackled events across the globe, including Ironman Canada, Ironman Western Australia and the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. She has represented the United States at eight ITU world championship events in the sports of duathlon and triathlon. In 2010, Casanta was a member of the U.S. Elite Team that secured a gold medal at the ITU Long Course Triathlon World Championships in Immenstadt, Germany. Weeks later, she competed on the U.S. Elite Team that brought home silver from the ITU Duathlon World Championship in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Throughout her personal athletic career, Casanta has coupled her raw experience as an athlete with the art and science of coaching. She coaches athletes of all ages and fitness levels, both in person and virtually. Her athletes have earned national titles and qualified for world championship events from the sprint distance to Ironman. For the past eight years, she has written the training programs for the Team USA Duathlon in preparations for world championship events.

After completing her bachelor’s degree in television/radio/film and international relations at SU, Casanta went on to earn a master’s degree in sport management at the University of San Francisco. She holds coaching certifications from USA Triathlon (Level II), USA Track & Field (Level I), USA Cycling (Level II), A.C.E. and A.S.C.A.

For more information on Casanta’s visit, contact Kim Brown in SU Career Services at kmbrow04@syr.edu.

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