Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Napanee’s Scott Chadwick is just a few curling stone throws away from representing Canada at the 2022 winter Olympics.
Chadwick, who got his start in the sport playing at the Napanee District Curling Club, serves lead on a rink skipped by Tanner Horgan with Jon Beuk and Wes Forget. They went 6-0 at the Olympic pre-trial tournament in Liverpool, NS to become one of nine teams to qualify for the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, Nov. 20-28 in Saskatoon. A win there would punch their ticket to the Beijing Olympic games.
“It’s a massive step individually and as a team,” said Chadwick, who noted it’s his first time qualifying for the Canadian trials. “You don’t get many cracks at the Canadian Olympic trials, the Olympics are only every four years. You’ve got to make the most of your opportunities and that’s why we formed this team in the offseason with the eyes on Beijing. It feels really good to make the trials because it’s kind of known in the curling community as the hardest tournament to qualify for and the hardest one to win. It’s kind of the pinnacle of the sport, especially for Canada. We’re super excited and almost relieved to be a part of it this year and we’re hoping to turn some heads and make some noise (at the tournament).”
Chadwick, Forget and Beuk previously played together as part of Scott McDonald’s rink from 2018 until April of this year. When McDonald departed to pursue other interests, the remaining members brought in Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan as their new skip. They currently play out of Kingston’s Cataraqui Golf and Country Club.
“We put this team together last May at the end of the COVID season,” said Chadwick. “We didn’t have any opportunity to step on the ice as a team before our first competition. A lot of work went in over the offseason, a lot of off ice meetings, we were meeting regularly and working things out. We put in a ton of time off the ice this summer to make sure once we had ice available wed be ready to go.”
The team hasn’t shown any signs of rust after the long layoff. So far this season they’ve earned a pair of second place finishes at the Oakville Fall Open and the Oakville Tankard. They placed third at the Ottawa Curling Classic and posted top five finishes at the Penticton Curling Classic and Toronto Tankard.
Team Horgan celebrates after clinching a spot in the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials. Submitted photo.
They closed out the pre-trials on Oct. 31 with a 7-4 win over Glen Howard.
“Being in Ontario you usually end up facing Glenn Howard at some point in the season in a big game,” said Chadwick. “It’s always a joy to beat him when it’s front and centre on the stage.”
The 2021 Tim Horton’s Curling Trails will be broadcast live on TSN. A full schedule is available at https://www.curling.ca/2021trials/.
The Horgan rink enters the tournament ranked 14th in the world.