Curling ‘rocks’ when you win gold

Donna and John Lotus cheer for the Canadians Saturday at the Simcoe Curling Club after the men’s curling team won Olympic gold. 

Chris Abbott

Editor

How great was it?

 Supporters at the Simcoe Curling Club enthusiastically cheered when the Canadian men’s curling team defeated Great Britain 9-6 to win Saturday’s gold medal game at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

  “It was a nailbiter,” said Donna Lotus during the Simcoe Curling Club’s Feb. 21st open house. “And curling against Bruce Mouat from Great Britain… he’s so good.”

  “(Mouat’s) ranked No. 1 in the world,” said her husband John Lotus, a member of two provincial championship teams at the Simcoe Curling Club (1982 & 1987). “Of course, that might change.”

  The Canadian team, skipped by Brad Jacobs, scored three in the ninth end to take a two-point lead into the final end. Mouat needed to make an almost impossible double takeout on his final shot to send it into extra ends – and missed.

“Canada lost (to Great Britain) in the preliminary round,” Donna noted. “So today they got redemption.”

John, 70, now retired from curling, said they thoroughly enjoyed the Olympic curling, and they have appreciated changes in the sport over the years.

“The sweeping’s changed – that’s huge,” he said.

“He used to curl when it was straw brooms,” Donna smiled. “And the five-rock rule, they brought that in as well. It changed the game - it’s better for the spectators now. It used to be just peel, peel, peel.”

“We loved the Olympics, we were glued to the TV,” said John.

“We watch all the draws, whether it’s 5 o’clock in the morning or 1 o’clock in afternoon,” Donna smiled. “And the Brier’s starting on Friday, so we’re going to be glued again. And we’re here at the club every Monday night watching our daughter in the competitive league as well.”

Saturday’s open house and food drive – a first at the curling club – was a resounding success. Nearly 50 people joined the one-day, on-ice tutorials and donated food bank items.

“That was a great turnout,” said John. “It shows that curling is getting more popular.”

“Oh it was, they had a good turnout,” Donna nodded. “I think the Olympics helps out.”

“It exceeded our expectations,” said Craig Thompson, Simcoe Curling Club president, who was assisting on-ice. “Everyone seems to be excited - the Olympic buzz clearly has been a factor. And (the food drive) supports a good cause.”

On Saturday, people of all ages learned how to deliver rocks sliding on one sheet, if they wanted to try it, and sticks on another. Different techniques to accomplish the same goal, getting your granite rock to the other end of the ice.

“Family Day was coming up, so about a week before I called just to find out if they would be open,” said Port Rowan’s Veronica Harris. “She said ‘we’re not doing it Family Day, but we’re doing it the Saturday after…’

“It definitely makes us appreciate the ones that are playing,” Harris laughed, trying the sport for the first time with her family. “They make it look so easy!”

“That’s why we’re here to show you,” said Jim Simpson, volunteer instructor for the day.