Local pair aims to end Canada’s mixed curling drought
Park, Thomas aiming for country's first world title in unique discipline
Both Kalynn Park and Charley Thomas say they would never step on the ice to curl mixed doubles with their spouse. To do so would be to add even more stress to an already very stressful situation, they say.
However, the new Canadian champions are roommates and Thomas admits they’ve had “a couple of domestic disputes” during games.
“In talking to the other teams at the nationals it’s pretty common that there’s arguing and fighting out there. It is a very stressful situation,” he said.
Park and Thomas both laugh it off.
“We ( fight) all the time, so it’s no difference on the ice,” she said.
“We can handle it. If the TV cameras and microphones were on us — it’s hasn’t happened much — if anything it would be comical for people watching.”
Park and Thomas are busy preparing for the 2015 world mixed doubles championship, which takes place April 18- 25 in Sochi, Russia at the site of curling for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The pair won the Canadian trials March 15 at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club, going one step further than their runner- up finish in 2014 in their first year attempting mixed doubles.
Representing Canada at a world championship will be nothing new for Thomas. The 28- year- old skipped back- to- back world junior champions in 2006- 07. He played third this season for Brock Virtue out of The Glencoe Club, where he and Park are members.
Park, 26, won two Alberta junior titles out of Edmonton and was fifth for Kaitlyn Lawes at the 2009 world juniors. She moved to Calgary to play with Shannon Kleibrink two seasons ago, was third for Teryn Hamilton out of The Glencoe Club this past season when Kleibrink went into semiretirement and is planning to skip her own team in the fall.
Park and Thomas would become the first Canadians to capture a world title in mixed doubles. The country has a lone medal since the first championship was held in 2008 — a bronze by Sean Grassie of Winnipeg and Allison Nimike of Calgary in 2009 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“It’s really exciting for us,” Thomas said. “We want to help get Canada up there in terms of where it stands in the sport. We are taking it very seriously.”
Thirty- four countries participated at the 2014 world championships in Scotland, including such non- hotbeds as Romania, Brazil, Hungary and Spain, which actually won the bronze. Kim Tuck and Wayne Tuck Jr. of Brantford, Ont., lost to Austria in the round of 16.
“You only need two curlers to play, so ( those countries) don’t have to round up four people,” Park said.
“If they don’t already have a team they can put all their money into training for this. All they do all year is play mixed doubles. There’s lots of tournaments throughout Europe.”
Most of the top names in Canadian curling avoid mixed doubles, although four- time world men’s champion Glenn Howard teamed with daughter Carly in Ottawa last month and reached the quarterfinals. The World Curling Federation is pushing the International Olympic Committee to add it as a medal sport for the 2018 Games.
“I was reading the chat forums and some people are saying it’s bad for our sport, but I couldn’t disagree more,” Park said.
“I think it shows the athleticism in our sport because it is a faster pace. You have to hop up ( after your shot) because you don’t have sweepers. Your accuracy has to be pretty much bang on, too.”
Each team throws six rocks instead of eight and each team has a stone pre- placed as either a centreline guard or counter to start an end. The duo that loses the previous end gets to decide if they want their rock to be a counter or guard, which also determines who has last rock. If Park throws the first rock it means she also throws the pair’s fifth while Thomas delivers the middle three. A freeze attempt to the counter is usually the first shot of each end.
“It’s a pretty big leap ( from regular curling),” Thomas said.
“You have to learn what your tolerance level is for misses because each shot is really important. It’s just like in regular curling but in regular curling you can get away with a couple of misses.
“In this you really have to perform during the entire game. Even if you have a couple point lead in mixed doubles you’re not comfortable at all.”