Australia’s junior men’s champion, Sean Carlow, comes from a family of skaters. “My mom put me on the ice when I was two years old,” he recalled. “My dad was the American junior champion and my mom (Elizabeth Cain) won the bronze medal at Junior Worlds in 1976 with one of my coaches, Peter Cain. It’s a family tradition.” Carlow has won an Australian gold in both his parent’s disciplines. He is a two-time junior men’s titlist and also won novice pairs in 2001 with Wafa Asmar. “I’m actually thinking of taking it up again,” he said.
Carlow landed his first triple toe loop at 12, and a triple salchow soon after. Two years ago, he added a triple Axel, landing his first one in competition at Junior Worlds in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. “I’m still in the learning stages of it,” he admitted. “I only land it 30-40 percent of the time.”
The 19-year-old trains in Sydney, Australia with his mother, Liz Cain. Previously, he had spent eight years with Galina Pachin and a year with Colin Jackson. “My mom and dad originally taught me,” he said. “now I’m back under the watchful eye of my mum.” Carlow trains for about six hours on the ice six days a week and does about a half hour of gym work each day.
This season, Carlow will be using Scott and Fran’s Paso Doble from Strictly Ballroom for the short (same as last season) and music from movie soundtrack The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl for the long. “My mum did the choreography for my short. She has a very good ear for music and can pick the music that’s right for me.” Off ice, Carlow listens to rock and rap.
He also runs and enjoys rollerblading for fun. “I used to play soccer and cricket in school,” he said. “I also played some rugby, all the traditional Australian sports. I played some hockey when I was younger but I figured there were better things to do than bashing people on the ice. But I still enjoy going out on the ice with a stick and whacking some pucks at my cousin. He plays goalie on a hockey team. And I still play some recreational soccer.”
Carlow also likes to go to the beach, swim, hang out with friends, and play computer games. He also likes to watch the latest movies. “I went to a performing arts school and I studied film so I like different parts of different films,” he said. “I used to do some acting when I was about 15. The school had a scholarship for acting so I applied and won it. I did a lot of Shakespeare, like Midsummer’s Night Dream. It’s really helped with my skating, showing emotions and such. It helps me to keep the character in mind when I’m skating.”
Carlow collects skating pins and memorabilia, like plates and figurines. “I like to find really old figurines to add to my family’s collection,” he said. “We have four or five cabinets full at the house.” They also have four dogs, two Maltese terriers, a miniature fox terrier, and a fox terrier-Jack Russell mix.
He enjoys traveling. “I love doing competitions in America, China and Japan,” he said. “Beijing was a favorite. I also went to Singapore and the Philippines and Asia with my mom when we were doing shows. Some day I’d like to go to Brazil or somewhere in South America where there’s no skating and I can just relax.” But for now, he’s concentrating on skating.
“My goal last season was to get back to World Juniors,” he said. “I didn’t do well then or this year either. This season, I hope to make the Junior Grand Prix Final and for the long term I’d like to go to the Olympics. I’m planning to be around for the next two Olympics. Then I’d like to do some show skating. I’d like to do Stars on Ice in Australia and skate with Disney for a couple of years so I could travel around. Then I’d like to coach a little bit. Right now I’m taking some time off after graduating from high school, but I might like to study international business as well.”
