Swiss titans making another player change
When Saskatchewan’s Rachel Erickson appeared as a spare player for Team Tirinzoni in Regina yesterday, it seemed somewhat normal.
The Champions Cup is the last Grand Slam event of the season and this is the final edition, coming after word of its cancellation.
Spare players aren’t surprising at this time of year, and there are three-player teams too—one example being Bruce Mouat’s Bobby Lammie, who is attempting to recover from injury in hopes of competing this weekend.
But day two of the Cup event also brings sudden and stunning news that four-time and multi-defending world champions, Switzerland’s Team Tirinzoni, have parted ways with lead Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann.
“Team Tirinzoni and Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann go their separate ways,” read a posting on one of the team’s social media accounts.
“The achievements that we were able to celebrate with Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann during the last season remain unforgettable for us—for the private and sporting future we wish Briar only the best!”
Schwaller-Hürlimann only joined the champions a year ago, following the retirement of former front-enders Esther Neuenschwander and Melanie Barbezat.
The new squad won another spotless world championship title at Sandviken, Sweden, continuing a 36-0 winning streak at the women’s world championship.
There is no word on Schwaller-Hürlimann’s replacement.
The timing of the announcement is surprising, given the majority of the 2023 high performance curling season is basically over after this weekend’s Champions Cup playoffs.
Despite nursing an injury of her own, Schwaller-Hürlimann recently competed with husband Yannick Schwaller at the world mixed doubles championship in Gangneung, Korea. The pair finished with a 7-2 won/loss record in their pool but, oddly, just missed the playoffs.
Tirinzoni second Carole Howald, who switched from alternate to join the full lineup a year ago, was based in Toronto for much of April, following the previous Slam event, the Players’ Championship.
Former Jennifer Jones lead Dawn McEwen is competing in Regina, more than a year after announcing her retirement from competition. McEwen is sparing for Briane Harris on the Kerri Einarson foursome.
Team Jones’ recent announcement that Mackenzie Zacharias is leaving the team has led to speculation that McEwen might be receiving an invitation to return to her old squad, which currently has a four-player lineup.