Rocks Across the Pond

Gery Hermans from Belgian Curling returns to the podcast to discuss the world senior curling championship. Jonathan and Gery review the 2022 world senior curling championship and the Gery replays two interviews he completed at the event. The first is with Canadian Team Coach Bill Tschirhart. Bill is also the host of the podcast “A Pane in the Glass”.  Then Gery introduces his second gu...

Today we are joined by Germany’s Klaudius Harsch recent winner of two world championship medals: a bronze in mixed doubles with his partner Pia-Lisa Schöll, and a silver as part of Germany’s junior men’s team. We recorded the interview between the two events. We discuss what curling is like in Germany. How he got into mixed doubles. How professional curling works in Germany. His...

In this episode Jonathan interviews two people who helped the Ukraine national team leave Kyiv, find a new training facility in Finland, and compete in the European C Curling Championship. First we talk with Natalia Menzhega the Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Curling Federation. She talks about the history of curling in Ukraine, how she helped members of the national team leave the country o...

Latvia’s wheelchair curling team, led by skip Poļina Rožkova, made its Paralympic debut at the 2022 Games in Beijing. Poļina tells us about the team’s road from the B division to Paralympic qualification and takes us behind the scenes in Beijing. This includes her team’s conversations about whether or not to potentially play against Russia and her efforts to help Ukrainian refuge...

Sweden captured four curling medals during the Olympics and Paralympics in 2022, including gold for Niklas Edin. But did this unparalleled success lead to more curlers in the country? We talk to development officer Sara Carlsson to find out all about curling in Sweden: from how their high performance program is set up to the changes they’ve made to recruit new curlers. Sweden has had plenty...

Stewart Pimblett has been a dedicated curler even before he started playing. His journey to try the sport at the rink in Kelso, Scotland was a harrowing one and is one of the most incredible “how I started curling” stories you’ll hear. He went on to establish the Northern Ice Wheelchair Curling Club and has grown it into a vibrant organization. Stewart tells us how he went from a...

Get to know each of the wheelchair curling teams scheduled to compete at the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing. Please note this was recorded and posted before a definitive decision has been made on the participation of the team representing the Russian Paralympic Committee. 2022 Paralympic Curling Schedule Oyuna Uranchimeg’s Journey to the Paralympics

We recap a fun Olympic curling tournament. First, we discuss the narratives surrounding the performances of Canada, Sweden and Great Britain. What’s next for Curling Canada? Do we have a new greatest curler of all time? Is Team GB’s process justified? Then we list our favorite things from these Olympics, including the BBC’s dislike of Team USA and some daily affirmations. We try...

Like the United States, interest in curling soars in Japan during the Olympics. This interest has reached even greater levels following Japan’s bronze medal performance at the 2018 games. Naoki Iwanaga, a former competitive curler from Japan now living in the US, joins us to talk all things Japanese curling. We discuss the differences in curling culture between Japan and the US. Then, we lea...

And down the stretch they come! Every team at the Olympics has three games left on their schedule at the time of this recording. First, we try to untangle the women’s standings. Then, we breakdown the game that will probably decide the men’s playoff field. Olympic and Paralympic Curling Schedule Our Welcome to Curling series for newcomers

As everyone predicted (and by everyone, we mean no one), Italy will face Norway for the mixed doubles curling gold. In this episode we review the mixed doubles competition going into the gold- and bronze-medal games, especially the fantastic stories of Italy and Australia. We also discuss what trends could emerge in mixed doubles as a whole coming out of these games. Our “Welcome to Curling&...

Everyone’s Olympic curling dream has to start somewhere. For Laventer Oguta and Haggai Odhiambo Ogak, that dream starts New Jersey. These two members of the Kenya Curling Federation recently got their first experience on curling ice at Plainfield Curling Club with hopes that they will soon represent their nation in World Curling Federation events. They join us, along with Dean Roth from Plai...

A truly phenomenal field of champion curling teams will go for gold during the women’s tournament at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Listen to our Welcome to Curling series See the 2022 Olympic curling schedule The remarkable return of Korea’s Team Kim China’s Han Yu prepares for the Olympics

Some of the most decorated men’s curlers in the sport’s history are in the 2022 Olympic curling field. Listen to our Welcome to Curling series See the 2022 Olympic curling schedule The Ballad of John Shuster Curling in Denmark with Mads Nørgaard

We’ve documented the trials and tribulations that Korea’s Team Kim Eun-jung experienced during and after their Olympic silver medal. Well, now we get to hear about the happy part of their story. The part where Team Kim earned its way back to the Olympics. We are joined by coach Peter Gallant and curling consultant Melvin Lee to discuss Team Kim’s journey to qualify for Beijing an...

The Olympic mixed doubles field features some familiar faces from 2018, some of the game’s best shooters and two countries making their Olympic debut. Listen to our Welcome to Curling series See the 2022 Olympic curling schedule Curling in Australia with Tahli Gill’s mom, Lyn Mixed doubles curling with Anna Fowler

Wondering how to watch curling during the Olympics and Paralympics on Peacock and the networks of NBC Universal? We give you a quick explainer on how to stream the games live and watch on linear TV. Olympic and Paralympic Curling Schedule Our “Welcome to Curling” series for newcomers

Our Welcome to Curling series is designed to help newcomers to the sport understand what they’re watching during the 2022 Olympics and beyond. Why do curling players sweep? Who are the greatest curlers of all time? Where can I follow curling during and after the Olympics? Get the answers to these questions and more in this episode. Additional episodes in this series go deeper into the game o...

Our Welcome to Curling series is designed to help newcomers to the sport understand what they’re watching during the 2022 Olympics and beyond. In this episode, we tell you how you can try curling, why we love it and why it offers something for everyone. We are joined by Alice Kloker, a recreational curler from England. Additional episodes in this series go deeper into the game of curling, in...

Our Welcome to Curling series is designed to help newcomers to the sport understand what they’re watching during the 2022 Olympics and beyond. In this episode, we cover the modern history of curling and how the game has professionalized since becoming part of the full Olympic program in 1998. We are joined by Ryan Nagelhout, a sports writer and podcaster who covers Buffalo sports. Additional...

Our Welcome to Curling series is designed to help newcomers to the sport understand what they’re watching during the 2022 Olympics and beyond. In this episode, we cover the history of the sport from the frozen lochs of Scotland through its evolution into what we recognize today. We are joined by Ryan Nagelhout, a sports writer and podcaster who covers Buffalo sports. Additional episodes in t...

Our Welcome to Curling series is designed to help newcomers to the sport understand what they’re watching during the 2022 Olympics and beyond. This episode goes into the strategies and tactics teams will use to try to capture gold in Beijing. For this episode, we are joined by Alex Freedman, play-by-play announcer for the Oklahoma City Dodgers Triple-A baseball team. Additional episodes in t...

Our Welcome to Curling series is designed to help newcomers to the sport understand what they’re watching during the 2022 Olympics and beyond. This episode helps you decode the jargon and terminology you’ll hear from the players and announcers while you’re watching curling. For this episode, we are joined by Meredith Kane, a radio producer from Cleveland, Ohio. Additional episode...

Our Welcome to Curling series is designed to help newcomers to the sport understand what they’re watching during the 2022 Olympics and beyond. This episode explains the rules, equipment and game setup for the Olympic curling tournaments. For this episode, we are joined by Lauren Brownlow, a sports journalist from North Carolina. Additional episodes in this series go deeper into the game of c...

Slovenia is a country that has everything, but doesn’t have a lot of anything. So says Štefan Sever, who joined us from quarantine at the World Junior B Curling Championships to tell us all about curling in his country. And while Slovenia doesn’t have a lot of curlers, 150 total according to Štefan, it does have both lively recreational and national tournaments. Listen to our conversat...