Homan rink on a roll heading into worlds

It's been seven years since Rachel Homan represented Canada at the world women's curling championship and a lot has changed.

“I've got a couple more kids,” the 34-year-old skip of Team Canada said with a laugh on Wednesday.

“And a bit more experience . ... I've gone through a little bit on the personal side. I've been able to figure out what support I need and what that looks like.”

On the ice, it's been a bit of a slippery slope for Homan since her team won the world women's championship in Beijing in 2017.

Homan went to the Olympics in 2018 as the skip of Canada's women's entry and in 2022 as part of a mixed doubles team with John Morris.

She didn't win a medal at either event and struggled with the weight of not meeting her own expectations, nor those of a curling-crazy country.

She also lost the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final three years in a row (2019-21). You might say the heartbreak was piling up.

All that turned this season, which has been historically great for the Homan team.

Not only have Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes won six events, including three Grand Slams and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, but the foursome that represents the Ottawa Curling Club has a 47-5 overall record.

It's hard to even get your head around a team losing only five times in 52 games against many of the best teams on the planet.

“Everyone on our team has put in an amazing amount of work and found the support they need to get their games at the level it needs to be at for us to represent Canada,” said Homan, whose team went 11-0 and beat Jennifer Jones in the Scotties final. “We feel like we've done that this year and we're excited to get started.”

The Homan foursome will wear the Maple Leaf and carry the Canadian hopes at the world championship, which starts Saturday in Sydney, N.S.

This is a different lineup from the one that won the worlds in 2017 and played in the Olympics in 2022. Gone are front-enders Joanne Courtney and Lisa Weagle, and in are Wilkes at lead and Fleury at third. Miskew has moved from third to second.

But it's a group that has plenty of experience — all but Fleury have played in the world championship before — and the kind of skill set that will give them a great shot at winning gold.

“The record speaks for itself in terms of wins and losses this year,” said David Murdoch, Curling Canada's high performance director. “It's exceptional. The way the team performed at the Scotties was exceptional and you take a lot of confidence from that, I know the team does. It's a huge amount of preparation this year, they've got a great support team around them, and I think that carries on to the ice. We're super excited to see how the week goes. We're excited to see what we can do.”

Homan's team is ranked No. 1 in the world, but that doesn't necessarily mean Canada is the favourite.

Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni is back again and is seeking an unprecedented fifth straight world title. Can Homan and

Co. take the mighty Swiss team down? They've played Tirinzoni three times this year — twice in Grand Slam finals — and won all of the games. Tirinzoni's record this year is 67-13, so it's pretty impressive Homan won all three of the head-to-head meetings.

Of course, Tirinzoni is not the only obstacle in Canada's way.

Canada opens with a game against world No. 5 Anna Hasselborg of Sweden and has a date with No. 9 Stefania Constantini of Italy before meeting Switzerland next Tuesday night.