Potent pairings, fearsome foursomes

Coach looks for critical edge

All season long, bobsled drivers and brakemen were movable pieces in the game of championship chess being played by Canada’s head coach Todd Hays.

He was seeking the most potent pairings and fourman teams, and based his decisions solely on results rather than blending them with intangibles like chemistry. His approach had a larger aim, to take the mental machinations away from the athletes and have them focus instead on the global idea of teamwork.

It paid off handsomely as Canadians won 16 medals on the World Cup circuit.

“Coming in, I knew we had some great athletes and if we put the pieces of the puzzle together, we’d have great results and fortunately we did that,” Hays said in Calgary at the end of January.

“What surprised me, to be honest, was the professionalism of the athletes, the hard work and dedication, their preparation. I knew they were talented. I just didn’t know how smart and what their bobsleigh IQ was like. Putting them both together, that’s why we got the results.”

Driver Kaillie Humphries slid with Melissa Lotholz early, then Phylicia George late in the season, once the former hurdler found her bobsled groove. Alysia Rissling had Kristen Bujnowski, Cynthia Appiah and finally Heather Moyse in her sled, while Christine de Bruin slid with Appiah, Bujnowski and Lotholz.

In two-man, Justin Kripps had both Alex Kopacz and Jesse Lumsden in the back seat and drove to the World Cup title. Chris Spring got a push from Kopacz, Lumsden, Neville Wright, Bryan Barnett and Cam Stones at various points in the season. Driver Nick Poloniato slid with Wright and Lascelles Brown.

“He’s been deciding the teams all season and it’s actually taken a lot of stress off the pilots and it’s actually made the team a lot closer,” Poloniato said about Hays in late January. “Every week, we were racing with different guys so our team is closer as a whole. We don’t have these three little cliques.”