Two local curlers are getting set for a national event which starts Wednesday in Ottawa.
It's Mixed Doubles Curling Nationals and Dauphin's Ray Baker and Lisa Menard will be representing Manitoba at the tournament.
Double's features just a two person team, meaning once you throw your rock down the ice, you have to get up and sweep it.
As a skip during the season, Ray Baker says it's a bit different than normal, but still enjoyable.
"You're used to yelling at somebody else to sweep all the time. On draws now you can throw, jump up and get after it. I'm not as agile as I once was but it seems to work out. There's five rocks thrown every end. One player throws one and five and the other throws two, three and four. So depending on the type of shot that's involved, one or the other person will end up sweeping it."
Lisa Menard says they got into mixed doubles because they figured it would be neat to try, plus the International Olympic Committee is making it an event for the Winter Olympics.
"Friends of mine had won it a couple years ago and he had talked about it with us a little bit last year and we just thought it was something interesting we'd try and if it was successful we'd try to bring it to Dauphin. It's a lot of fun, there's so many rocks in play and it's all about angles and taps, not a lot of hits. It's very fun for the viewer as well."
Menard adds they'll be in the same competition as a couple of big curling names.
"What I'm looking forward to the most is that Glenn Howard and Adam Casey are both going to be there. I'm never going to have the opportunity to play against those guys again, so just being there, watching them and being in the same kind of competition as them is pretty neat!"
Baker says overall he and Menard are ready to represent the province and finally get their round robin going.
"It's really exciting. Everyone who curls competitively, it's their dream to represent their province and do the best you can. It's a cool thing, our jackets arrive and we have the big Bison on the back. It's a pretty special feeling, I don't think I've ever had that feeling before. I'm really excited."
Ray Baker and Lisa Menard being their round robin at Mixed Doubles Curling Nationals in Ottawa tomorrow (Mar 11) at 6:00pm against the defending champions from Ontario, Kim and Wayne Tuck.
Listen to CKDM throughout the rest of this week for updates!
