2 athletes from P.E.I. inch closer to their Olympic dreams after national talent search

Two athletes from Prince Edward Island are one step closer to the Olympics after being selected for funding and accelerated development through the Canadian Olympic Committee’s official talent search program, RBC Training Ground.

Carmen Seaman, a 21-year-old former UPEI track athlete from Emyvale, and Jenna Larter, a 23-year-old long-track speed skater from Brookfield, were among just 35 athletes from across the country chosen to receive funding after competing in the program’s national final in Vancouver.

More than 2,500 athletes aged 14 to 25 took part in RBC Training Ground testing events across Canada this year.

From that group, only 100 were invited to the national final.

For Seaman, the opportunity opens the door to a new Olympic pathway in bobsleigh, a sport she is only just beginning to pursue.

“I’m actually brand new at it, so coming from the East Coast, you can only train in the West Coast," she told CBC’s Mainstreet P.E.I. "This funding is going to mean a lot to me, and it’s going to help me with this journey."

RBC Training Ground identified Seaman as a potential bobsleigh athlete based on a range of performance indicators like speed and strength. Her strong testing results matched what the sport needs, despite the fact that she has never competed on an actual bobsleigh track.

So far, her experience has been limited to training at an ice house facility in Calgary, where athletes practice the explosive start that is critical in bobsleigh.

Seaman said the transition doesn’t intimidate her.

“I’m kind of an adrenaline junkie, so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said.  “I think at the beginning… it's definitely going to be frustrating, and… I’m going to have to get over some hurdles and stuff, but I think that's all part of the learning process.”

She’s now setting her sights on the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.

“My dream was never really to go to the Olympics. As an athlete, I always want to be the best athlete I can, while I can,” she said. “So it was kind of always like a background goal. But ultimately, I was just kind of focused on being the best I could be.”

She’s pursuing that goal with support from some of P.E.I.’s most accomplished Olympians.

Seaman said she connected with two-time Olympic gold medallist Heather Moyse over the summer, and has been training at a local gym with Dave (Eli) MacEachern, who won gold in two-man bobsleigh for Canada in 1998 — the very first Olympic gold for a P.E.I. athlete.