One to one

Team Smith timed their run to perfection to seal Olympic selection and aim to peak for this week’s European Curling Championships and again for next year’s Games in Pyeongchang

Peaking at the right time secured Kyle Smith and his young Perth curling team Olympic selection. And, after a low-key start to their season, it’s a habit they want to get back into again. Many believed the place in Team GB for Pyeongchang would go to one of the two more experienced rinks of Team Murdoch and Team Brewster in the summer, both of which could boast world and Olympic medallists.

But, after their failure to grasp the golden ticket, it was the team not long out of the juniors who burst the finishing tape with form that could not be ignored.

Those end-of-season heights for Smith, his brother Cammy, Thomas Muirhead and Kyle Waddell haven’t been emulated at the start of this Olympic year but all that will be forgotten if they bring home their first senior medal at the European Championships in Switzerland, which get under way for them today.

“It’s the last major before the Olympics and the last chance to trial everything so we’re where we want to be for February,” said Smith.

“It’s a big event in its own right. The fact that it’s over the same format as the Olympics is important preparation for Pyeongchang as well.

“We try to look at it as two competitions in one – the round-robin then hopefully a knockout.

“Last season was a bit different because every competition was about getting points to go higher up the selection ladder.

“This season we can pace ourselves a bit better so hopefully we’ll peak now and then again at the Olympics. That’s when it matters.

“We’ve played quite a few events and qualified in a couple but we’ve not played our best yet. I think we’re doing a lot of the right things and no doubt results will come.

“A first major medal in the Europeans would be huge for our confidence. Hopefully that is the next step for us as a team.”

The men’s curling landscape was drastically altered post-Olympic selection. Sochi silver medal-winning skip David Murdoch retired and two established rinks broke up.

Some took the decision better than others but Smith pointed out that the curlers all knew what was required from the outset.

He recalled: “At the start of last season a lot of folk would have thought we were the outsiders of the three teams being talked about for the Olympics.

“We proved what we could do on the tour and thankfully the selectors saw that.

“We all knew what criteria they were going to base selection on.

“If a team medalled at the World Championships – which none of the teams did – that would have counted. And then if a team medalled at the European Championships – which none of the teams did – that would have.

“So it came down to the world rankings and we were the only ones who really met any of the criteria.

“We had conversations after selection when we were told what we did well to get it, which was nice to hear.”

So will Team Smith be a young team developing at the Olympics, a young team contending or a young team doing both?

“First of all we want to go to Pyeongchang and enjoy the experience,” said the 25-year-old former Perth Academy pupil.

“To do that we’ll have to win games. “We’ve been good at that in the past at big events.

“We know it will be a big challenge but we’re looking forward to it.

“We’re a team with hopefully a long way to go in our careers.

“I don’t think we’d have split up if we hadn’t made this Olympics. We want to keep building.

“We’ve played together for a long time now. We trust each other.”

Balancing life as a farmer and life as a curler is a challenge many Scottish players have had to battle with down the years and for Smith, understandably, there has been a clear winner this season.

“It’s been pretty much full-time curling since selection,” said Smith, whose dad David has a dairy, malt and barley farm at Guildtown.

“Dad’s set things up at home so he has other guys he can rely on to do the work on the farm.

“We’re hardly at home at all to be honest. That will be the case between now and February. It’s been a big change. I’ve tried to mix the two before – 50-50.

“We’ve had to put the curling first. All our time and effort has gone into it.”

David was a world champion in his day but his only Olympic appearance was when curling was a demonstration sport.

“Our coach Viktor (Kjell) has been to two Olympics so we do have experience of how to prepare for what will happen,” said Smith.

“But, of course, there is an element of people being able to tell you all they can but you have to experience it for yourself to know what the pressure will really be like.”

A first major medal in the Europeans would be huge for our confidence. Hopefully that is the next step for us as a team