Coach Rachel Sears Casanta
My path to coaching didn't start with a plan. It started with a leap.
I'm Rachel, founder of Hypercat Racing and co-owner of Hypercat Cycleworks in Ventura, California. But before any of that, I was a runner, turned age group, then professional triathlete, and before that, I was a radio advertising rep, fresh out of college, working first in Boston and then San Francisco. I was good at that job. I just didn't feel good doing it. The way business was done never matched who I was or what I wanted out of life. I gave my two weeks' notice with no backup plan, no savings, and no idea what came next. Just a leap of faith.
For a while, I pieced things together: personal training on the side, a sales job at a bike shop called Start to Finish, where I worked with Philip, the man who'd eventually become my husband. Then one day we showed up to work and found a padlock on the door. The whole chain had closed, overnight, no warning. It was the kind of moment that could've felt like rock bottom. Instead, it was the push Philip, and I needed to stop dreaming about starting our own coaching and bike fitting studio and actually do it. That leap became Hypercat Racing in 2001 and Hypercat Cycleworks down the road.
I'd started coaching just as I was earning my “pro card” to race as an elite duathlete and triathlete. Over the next 25+ years, those two pursuits — racing and coaching — grew up together. I represented the USA at eight ITU world championships, raced everything from sprint distance to Ironman, and learned, firsthand, exactly what it takes to chase something hard. But honestly, the racing was never really the point. What I love most is what sport teaches you…about discipline, about resilience, about who you are when things get uncomfortable. I've gotten to share that with more than 1,500 athletes since I started, and it's still the best part of my work.
Whatever you're chasing…your first triathlon, your tenth Ironman, or your way back after life knocked you sideways, I'd love to help you get there.
Running Roots
Long before triathlon, I was a runner. I've competed for 40+ years, with wins ranging from 400m to the marathon, and I ran on athletic scholarship at Syracuse University during my freshman year. In 2002, I was inducted into the Sports "Wall of Fame" at my high school, Paul V. Moore High School in Central Square, NY.
Racing
I raced as a professional triathlete for twelve years, everywhere from Ironman Canada to Ironman Western Australia to the Ironman World Championships in Kona. I represented the USA at eight ITU world championship events in duathlon and triathlon, and in 2010, I was part of the US Elite Team that won gold at the ITU Long Course Triathlon World Championships in Immenstadt, Germany. A few weeks later, I raced again for Team USA and brought home silver at the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Edinburgh.
I share that not to lead with a resume, but because it's part of how I coach. Being a competitive athlete doesn't automatically make someone a good coach; those are different skills. But it does mean I've lived the process from the inside: the training cycles, the disappointing races, the breakthroughs, the moments where you have to decide if you're going to trust the work you've put in. That experience shapes how I show up for you.
Coaching
I've been coaching since 2001, athletes of every age and level, in person and remotely. Over the years that's included track and running programs for the San Francisco Triathlon Club, high school cross-country and track teams, USA Triathlon Collegiate and Junior Select camps, and countless youth running and triathlon camps along the way. I love this work. Watching someone fall in love with the process — not just the outcome — never gets old.
And the outcomes have been pretty great, too! My athletes have won national titles in aquathlon and duathlon, qualified for world championships from sprint distance to Ironman, and even won gold at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in paratriathlon. For eight years, I crafted the training programs for USA Triathlon's age group Team USA Duathlon squad as they prepared for Worlds. But truthfully, although winning is awesome, the wins are the bonus. What I care about most is helping you build something that lasts; a relationship with sport, and with yourself, that holds up over the long run.
Community
I've always believed that what I know is worth sharing, so I've made speaking and writing a regular part of my work over the years. In January 2020, I joined a panel of coaching peers at the Endurance Exchange Conference in Tempe, Arizona, talking about the business side of coaching. I've also given presentations for USA Triathlon, and spoken at Genentech, See Jane Run, Sports Basement, and Lululemon, plus the Washington State University Sport Management Club, the Syracuse University Alumni Speaker Series, and local clubs including the Rincon Triathlon Club, Golden Gate Triathlon Club, and San Francisco Triathlon Club.
I love writing about this sport almost as much as I love coaching it. My articles have appeared in FreePlay magazine, and I spent time as a writer for American Tri magazine. I authored a chapter in
The Women's Guide to Triathlon (Human Kinetics, 2015), and I've shown up a in a few other places along the way too; a documentary about the Wildflower Triathlon, two open water swimming instructional videos ("How to Swim from Alcatraz" and "From Lane Lines to Shorelines"), a 2022 episode of "Charting Her Course" podcast and even a local news segment back in Syracuse, NY where I grew up!
Experience
Coaching has taken me all over the map, literally and figuratively. I've led cross-country and track programs at the high school level (Albany High, International High School, and Lick Wilmerding, all in the San Francisco Bay Area), authored the training program for USA Triathlon's Team USA Duathlon Worlds squad for five years, founded Women on Wheels, a Ventura County cycling club for women and served as a volunteer coach for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I also served on TriEqual Change Makers Committee, working on equity issues within the sport and have mentored other coaches and aspiring sports industry leaders.
Credentials
Here's the training and education behind the coaching, because I believe staying current matters as much as experience does.
- Feisty Media - Certificate in Coaching Women Endurance Athletes
- IRONMAN® U Certified Coach
- USA Triathlon Level III Certified Coach
- USA Triathlon Youth & Junior Certified Coach
- USA Cycling Level II Certified Coach
- Slowtwitch Coaching Power Certified Coach
- Training Peaks Level II Accredited Coach
- Precision Nutrition Level I Certified Coach
- American Council on Exercise Certified Personal Trainer (since 2000)