PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — The roar still sounds the same. The takes just as thunderous. Even if there are fewer curlers making the noise.
“You’re basically doing a four person job with two people,” Winnipeg curler Krysten Karwacki said.
More Manitobans are dipping their brooms into mixed doubles curling, hoping to represent Canada in 2018 when the sport is played at the Olympics for the first time.
“I’m not use to sweeping,” 2015 Manitoba men’s curling champion Reid Carruthers said. “I haven’t done it in a few years. It was a little challenging but I’m getting used to it.”
Teams are made up of a guy and girl instead of the traditional foursome. Curlers can choose between having their partner skip or sweep. Each end starts with two rocks in play with five more thrown by each team. Hits are forbidden until the fourth stone.
“It’s a lot of fun but definitely a lot of strategy,” Derek Samagalski, 2015 Manitoba men’s curling champion said. “Almost like a mini-skins game. There’s a lot of rocks in play. You’re just trying to get all the angles set up.”
Curling Canada is using the inaugural Canad Inns Mixed Doubles Classic in Portage la Prairie this week to start scouting an Olympic team.
“We just haven’t put a lot of emphasis on it,” Jeff Stoughton, Curling Canada’s mixed doubles program manager said. “Now with the Olympics, it’s definitely high profile for us.
Despite Canada sweeping gold at the Sochi Olympics, the maple leaf actually falls a little short when it comes to mixed doubles curling. The country has climbed up the podium just once in the last nine world championships and is currently ranked sixth across the globe.
“They’re definitely ahead of us in the game,” said defending Canadian mixed doubles champion Kalynn Park. “So it’s a learning experience more than anything. You build on the experiences when you play them and take them back here.”
The Canad Inns Mixed Doubles Classic runs until Wednesday. One more bonspiel will be held in Ontario before March’s national championship.
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