Mike Behan
Editor
World silver-medalists.
It’s a title Stratton siblings Trevor Bonot and Jackie McCormick now hold following the world mixed curling championships last week in Champéry, Switzerland.
“I don’t think it has truly sunk in yet,” Bonot admitted yesterday in an e-mailed response to the Times.
“It was such a whirlwind coming back [to Canada] so quick after the final,” he noted, adding they landed back in Thunder Bay at 1:30 a.m. on Monday.
“It will take some time to fully understand what we accomplished, for sure.”
Facing Scotland in Saturday’s gold-medal game, Canada fell behind 5-2 through six ends.
But Bonot’s rink, which included his sister at third, along with Thunder Bay couple Megan and Kory Carr at lead and second, rallied with a deuce in the seventh end, then stole one in the eight to force an extra end.
“The team kept its cool like we always do,” Bonot said of facing a three-point deficit with just two ends to go.
“Knowing that if we can get some pressure on them, we may have a chance to go the distance.
“The experience of playing so many competitive games over the years definitely helps,” he added.
The outcome hung in the balance right down to the wire as Scottish skip Grant Hardie to make a double take-out with his final stone to score three and secure the gold medal.
“My mindset was to try and do the exact same thing we did in eight to get our point there,” Bonot recounted.
“We knew we couldn’t afford a miss,” he stressed.
Unfortunately, Canada only was able to get one rock in the free-guard zone in the extra end and that changed the strategy a little bit.
“We were hoping to be able to force them to draw on their last [rock] but he had a couple of hit options, so we just tried to make it as hard on him as possible,” Bonot reasoned.
“The intensity of the final couple of ends was what kept me going,” noted McCormick in an e-mailed response to the Times.
“After a bit of a rough start to the game, we played our hearts out and were rewarded with some much-deserved points on the board.
“I was ecstatic at the end of eight to be tied,” she added.
“If you told me after four ends that we would be going to an extra end, I am not sure I would have believed you.”
After going 6-0 in round-robin play to finish atop Pool ‘E,’ Canada opened the playoff round Friday by holding on for a 4-3 win over Poland before dumping Russia 9-1 in the quarter-finals.
Canada then beat Norway 5-3 in the semi-finals earlier Saturday to reach the gold-medal game.
Bonot cited staying calm and playing steady as the keys to their narrow playoff wins over Poland and Norway.
“We got a two-point lead in both games, I think, and held on for dear life!” he recalled.
“The Norway game was very exciting coming down to a draw against three to win and we made it [after a measurement],” Bonot added.
“So just making sure we had control and had last rock when it counted was key.”
Bonot said the rink, which was coached by Jim Waite, made a couple of adjustments as the week wore on but only as they became more and more comfortable with the ice.
“Nothing too crazy,” he stressed. “We know our game and what we can do, and we tried to execute the best we could.
“Unfortunately, the final came down to some execution and we just didn’t match Scotland in the first half,” Bonot admitted.
“I’m so proud of how we [came] together for the week–it’s not easy to only play as a team once in a while,” Bonot added.
“Like I have said before, the fact that we know each other so well helped a lot.”
Bonot said a silver medal is amazing and he will be proud of it forever.
“But the chance to curl with my sister, and travel to Europe with so many family and friends, is something we will never forget,” he enthused.
“I also loved meeting so many different competitors from around the world.
“Honestly, having the opportunity to experience this ride with Jackie has been the best curling experience of my life,” he continued.
“I wouldn’t change it for anything.
“I have played with a lot of great thirds over the years but I don’t think any have kept me as calm or made me smile so much on the ice.”
“This was the best part of the entire world curling experience,” McCormick said of playing on the world stage with her brother.
“We worked so well together on and off the ice,” she noted. “We make each other laugh and can be brutally honest with each other, too.
“Sharing the world curling stage with him was unbelievable.”
McCormick said they grew up in a curling household, noting over the years they spent countless hours at the rink cleaning the ice, organizing curling, watching curling, teaching curling, and playing curling–all as a family.
“Curling really is in our blood,” she remarked. “Trevor and I have always dreamed of wearing the Maple Leaf on our back and we have always had the same drive and work ethic when it came to curling.
“When the chance to get to enter competitive curling with him came up, I jumped,” McCormick said.
“To be able to play third for one of the best skips in Northern Ontario, who also happens to be my brother, is a curling dream come true.”
Besides the silver medal they brought home, McCormick said there was so much more to this experience.
“We had the opportunity to interact with curlers from around the globe and learn about their curling experiences, their families, their cultures, etc.,” she noted.
“We were able to visit an extremely beautiful part of our world and we were able to experience it with our family, which was amazing!”
As for all the support they received during their time in Champéry?
“The support we received from back home can’t be described in a statement. It’s indescribable,” Bonot stressed.
“We feel so honoured to have had the opportunity to represent our region on the world stage.
“We had no idea how many people were following [us] until we arrived in Champéry,” he added.
“All the messages and Facebook posts made us so proud to be from Stratton and the Rainy River District.
“Who knew a couple of rink rats from Stratton could end up wearing a Maple Leaf?” he quipped.
“I am not sure that there are any words to describe this,” agreed McCormick. “The fact we had so many people make the trip with us to support us in person is incredible.
“Our fans showed up for every game, cheered loud and proud, and made sure everyone at home was kept up to date,” she noted.
“[And] the support we received from back home was astonishing!” McCormick enthused. “We had a team Facebook page with over 1,000 followers.
“The messages, texts, e-mails, [and] Facebook posts were heartwarming and inspirational.
“I loved reading them all and on more than one occasion, they left me in tears,” she added.
Would they do it all again?
“A return to the world championship would be amazing but we didn’t try to even make it back to the Canadians this year as the provincials were in March,” Bonot noted.
“We are realistic and know we live in Canada, so that is why we worked so hard for this experience,” he added.
“A few of us plan to step back from the competitive side of the game a bit but curling is in our blood, so we will see!”
