Gimli’s Kerri Einarson returned to the Calgary bubble just a couple of weeks after she won her second straight Canadian women’s curling crown.
So, she is prepared go through all of the same COVID-19 restrictions that she followed during the Scotties Tournament of Hearts to compete in the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship alongside multi-Brier champ Brad Gushue of Newfoundland.
“It feels good to be back,” Einarson said from Calgary on the eve of opening day. “Basically, it’s like a second home to us.”
Einarson returned home from the Scotties and self-isolated for two weeks.
“It sucks that we had to quarantine and couldn’t celebrate too much,” she said.
After competing in the Mixed Doubles, Einarson will once again return home, quarantine, then return to Calgary for two Grand Slam events, then the women’s world championship.
Einarson has never played Mixed Doubles before.
“It’s a different game and different pace, so it will be a learning curve for me,” she said. “Brad and I both skip, so we’ll be good with the strategy, just not the sweeping. But I’ve played (four-person) Mixed before and I’m OK with the sweeping.”
Einarson’s whole squad is competing in the Mixed Doubles, including fifth Krysten Karwacki, who has teamed with Derek Samagalski (second for West. St. Paul’s Mike McEwen) to represent Manitoba.
“We’re both really excited,” Karwacki said. “Last year, when we won Manitoba, we were pretty excited because it was the first time that we had ever played together. Then, the nationals got cancelled due to Covid, which we understood, but it was pretty disappointing.”
After finding out that there would be a national Mixed Doubles championship, Einarson asked Karwacki to be her fifth at the Scotties.
“I was definitely interested,” she said. “To go with a team like that and wear the Maple Leaf on my back was pretty special. I was really involved with the team, even though I was just the fifth.”
Karwacki had thought her season was over after playing two cashspiels with Assiniboine Memorial’s Darcy Robertson in the fall.
“So, to get good news within a few weeks in January was like going from zero to 60,” said Karwacki, who turns 30 on April 30, the first day of the women’s world championship. “And to curl in the Covid bubble is pretty special.”
Einarson’s third, Val Sweeting, is curling with Marc Kennedy (third for Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs). Second Shannon Birchard is with Saskatchewan’s Catlin Schneider (third for Saskatchewan’s Colton Flasch) and lead Brianne Meilleur is partnering with Mark Nichols, Gushue’s third.
“We can’t practise together, but it will be good for us to be on the ice throwing,” Einarson said.
BITERS: Kaitlyn Lawes, third for Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones, is playing with Connor Lawes (third for Ontario’s John Willsey), her nephew … Jocelyn Peterman, second for Jones, and Brad Gushue’s second, Brett Gallant, are the defending champs … Jones is also playing with her husband, Brent Laing (lead for Ontario’s John Epping) while Jones lead Lisa Weagle is playing with Epping.
Jim Bender has more than 30 years experience as a sports reporter. He writes on a variety of sports for the Selkirk Settler Times.
