Martin looking to follow dad with Games berth

Karrick Martin has been to the Olympics twice already even though he’s only been curling for 10 years.

He went to the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 to watch his dad Kevin win a silver medal.

He was there again in 2010 when his father won the gold medal in Vancouver.

Now he’s trying to get there as a player himself at age 28, just 10 years after he switched from hockey and took up curling for the first time.

“I never planned to curl but it’s something I’m really getting into now,” the younger Martin said Sunday at the Canadian Olympic curling trials ongoing in Ottawa. “I’ve watched lots of it and I’m comfortable in the arena setting but it’s just great to finally be on the ice myself.”

His Edmonton team — Martin is the lead for the Brendan Bottcher skipped rink — earned its first win Sunday morning, 8-6 over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock. They followed that up with a 6-5 extra-end loss to defending world champion Brad Gushue to fall to 1-1.

Martin played AAA midget hockey and junior B hockey until he was 18. He made the switch just as he as starting out at the University of Alberta.

“Curling obviously runs in the family,” he said. “I started way later than the rest of them but it helps when you can learn to curl from your dad. No bad habits, I guess.”

Kevin Martin, a four-time Canadian champion and the 2008 world champ, coached the Bottcher team at the Brier in St. John’s, N.L. earlier this year.

However, he’s not at this event … yet. He’s currently touring universities with his 17-year-old daughter Mykaela, who is a high-level softball player. He’s expected to arrive in Ottawa later in the week.

All those plans were in place before the Bottcher team qualified for the trials, through the pre-trials event in Summerside, P.E.I., a couple weeks ago.

“Technically, he helps us lots,” Karrick said. “He’s with Sportsnet for the Slams and he’s always watching and helping out. He’s a mentor maybe more than a coach but we listen and learn a lot from him.”

Though he wasn’t a player himself at the time, Karrick said some of the greatest moments of his life came at the curling rink.

“I was at the whole Salt Lake Olympic Games and they didn’t win and then winning in Vancouver was huge,” he said. “Those are some of the greatest times I can remember for the whole family. It’s just been a great experience, following him around at all the big curling events.”