Clean Sweep: Ice Your Competition

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TRACY MARGOLIS, 31, wound up on a sheet of ice with a broom in her hand on a recent Sunday morning because her friend Megan Collins, 28, let it slip the night before that she was going curling. As in sliding an oversize stone down an iced-over bowling lane-type thing toward a bull's-eye painted on the ice. As in, "I have to see this."

So, the pair, along with about a dozen others, turned up at an open house held by the Potomac Curling Club at its facility in Laurel, where enthusiastic members were hoping to hook newcomers on the thrill of a sport developed on frozen lochs by 16th-century Scots.

Unlike Wisconsin, America's ice-rink mecca, the Washington area isn't crawling with curlers. When asked about other clubs nearby, a member responded, "You mean on the East Coast in general?" So, no working knowledge of the sport is assumed, and the hour-long instruction period is thick with sports analogies:

"It's sort of like golf."
"Like track and field — a little."
"It's not shuffleboard on ice. It's more like chess."

That last one, from instructor Dominique Banville, is called out mid-lesson in her encouraging Canadian accent. For Banville, a physical education professor at George Mason University and a serious curler (her license plate reads CURLNGEH), the sport is indeed highly strategic. But her pupils are mostly just congratulating themselves for remaining upright on the ice, so the focus is on the fundamentals.

First, there's the delivery: essentially, a lunge performed while balancing on ice. Placing one hand on the stone and the other around a broom, extended to keep yourself from toppling over, you push out from the "hack" (or starting block) and slide forward on the ice, aiming the stone toward the end of the icy lane. "You're working your core a lot when you deliver the stone," Banville says.

Sweeping brings a dose of cardio to the workout. Once your teammate has delivered, the sweepers are called upon to run directly in front of the stone, scrubbing briskly and firmly with a broom to melt the ice directly on the stone's path so it makes its way to its intended scoring position. "It's almost like interval training. It's a short bout of very intense activity with a moment to recoup," says Banville. "It's really like a sprint, too."

By the end of Banville's lesson, some students are warm enough to shed their hats and scarves. But it's tough to turn down the hot chocolate and cookies that club members have set out in the warm room next to the rink. Curlers stress the fitness benefits of the sport, but it's also a snack-filled social experience — more pizza and beer than wheatgrass smoothie.

Clifford Laguerre, 29, who came in search of a potential group activity for his co-workers, seemed enthusiastic as he eased off the ice. "I didn't burn myself out," he said, but "the sweeping felt like I was doing a one-handed push-up."

While she was happy to satisfy her curiosity, Margolis doubts the sport will supersede her normal routine of hockey and the gym. "It could be a good workout once you learn the skills, but you have to learn the skills," she says. "But it might replace broomball."

Written by Express contributor Rachel Dry
Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu courtesy The Washington Post