WEBVTT
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All Right, Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome back to this week of Table Buzz
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podcast. We have an Olympian on
again this week, read Watts. He's
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a Luger. Just came back from
Beijing, I guess, week or so
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ago. Read, how are you
doing? Great? Thanks. How about
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you, guys? We're good.
Man, unreal, unreal. Yeah,
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we're you just said you're on vacation
mode after the Olympics. Yeah, I
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was on vacation mode. I just
got back like a couple weeks ago.
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I was home for a few days
and then headed off with a bunch of
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friends to Mexico. I'm kind of
been back here, honestly, being a
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bit of a loafer right now compared
to some of the other athletes in Beijing
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right, who are you? Know? They're still competing with other World Cups,
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World Championships. But for me that
was the that was the end of
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the season for us. As soon
as I hit the hit the pad and
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the team relay, that was that
was vacation vote for me. So Nice.
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Yeah, well learned. I'm sure
that's so. Your World Cup circuit
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is all over for the season.
It rounds up. It's yeah, it
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ends usually just for the Olympics right
our season is so based around the Olympics.
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So, yeah, Olympics is is
the end of the show for us.
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How did it? How did your
regular season go? Um, to
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be honest, it really didn't go
very well at all for me. I
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I didn't quite have the results I
was looking for. There was a a
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lot of things that didn't quite fall
into place the way I wanted to.
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Whether it was me making my own
mistakes or whether we were trying some crazy
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stuff with the sled that didn't quite
work out. There was there was a
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lot of things that really didn't quite
go my way, but it was a
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it was a solid way to kind
of finish things off, especially with the
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team event in the Olympics, to
kind of and things off on more of
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a high note. But not quite
where I wanted to end up, especially
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in the World Cup circuit, but
at least we were trying stuff and yeah,
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we know now some of it just
doesn't doesn't quite work the way we
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were thinking it was going to.
So yeah, so you had a big
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six plate place finish there at the
Olympics, but you just touched on it.
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Their sec I'm kind of interested in
now. What do you guys do
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to your sleds to alter them up, and so all man, it's where
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do I even start? Right,
and the longer I'm in it the less
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I know too. But a lot
of it is like a big sort of
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basic principle not to get too complicated. Is like with the runners, right,
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the actual steel part that's touching the
ice. That s where, you
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know, we got all our control
from. And just a general rule of
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thumb is like the sharper the steels
are, the more control you have,
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the safer it is, but also
the more friction there is, the slower
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at that's right. So that's kind
of a basic rule of how how we
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run things. But it gets so
unbelievably complicated for these sleds that have no
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moving parts. But you know with
a sport that's time down to the thousandth
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of a second and you know races
are wonder lost within that kind of that
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margin. There's there's so many things
right, like aerodynamics, what kind of
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materials you're building your sleds out of, Kuffins and stuff like that. The
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list just goes on and on and
on. Right. Yeah, just like
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the F one drivers. I'm sure
you guys have your own stuff like that.
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That's awesome. Yeah, he's can
be exactly. It's kind of f
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one ish in a sense. Right. And Yeah, I'm really I'm sure
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you can drive yourself crazy trying to
shave off like a thousandth of a second.
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I couldn't imagine wrapping my brain and
us. Yeah, it's it's the
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beauty of our sport, right.
Well, I'm sure you're thinking about all
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those things when you're flying a hundred
and thirty kilometers down the track to yeah,
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no, kidding, right. And
that's the thing, right, is
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when races are one or lost within
you know it can be thousands of a
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second, hundreds of a second.
Right. It's it's really tough to kind
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of shake off when you when you've
made a mistake down the track and you
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know you've just lost a bunch of
precious time. It can be really hard
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to kind of come back, reproup
and just finished strong, right. But
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that's just, yeah, how it
how it goes in our sport. Yeah,
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the mental side is just down to
the second benuts. Yeah, that's
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the thing with lose, right,
is there's definitely a physical aspect, especially
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up at the start, right,
and there is a physical side. But
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it's more of a game of chess, right, how mentally clear you have
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to be, how on you have
to be and how composed you have to
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be to write like you go want
to be all jacked up going down the
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track. It's kind of like you
want to become cool and collected and you
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know, when you're racing and sliding, sometimes going over a hundred, forty
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kilometers. Now are right, it's
easier said than done. So what kind
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of like off ice training to get
your like you just talked about the mental
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side, but to get your body
ready for like. I know there's a
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huge push at the start to try
and get some speed, but when you're
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flying down the track, like,
is there parts of your body that you're
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using more than others to steer the
slid going down the track? It's definitely
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a little more of a core stability
thing. But and of course neck,
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right, core, and just neck, the way you have to hold your
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hold your head up through these corners. That's the that's the that's the most
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physical part about actually going down the
track is when you're going into some of
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these corners at the bottom of the
track, you could be pulling over five
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Geez so you're trying to lift your
head that's now over five times is heavy,
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and there's this really there's really interesting
thing actually, if your next not
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strong enough and up to up to
snuff. We call it losing our head
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and it's when you go into a
corner and your head can't take the G
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force. It goes down and the
the next really interesting thing is once you're
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once your head's gone, there's no
getting it back. So once it's down
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and locked in, you're pretty much
just staring all throughout the whole corner.
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Can't get it back up. Running
blind. And Yeah, that's a scary
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part. But of course the biggest
physical part to our sport is the start.
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It's you need a combination of like
good snappy upper body strength with some
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flexibility, right coordination to of course, but that's usually what we spend most
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of our summers training. Is the
start. You can't really simulate too much
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of the sliding aspect of our sport
in the summer. Yeah, yeah,
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do you ever travel like outside of
Canada to be able to get on like
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tracks in the winter or in the
summer, but just with winter conditions?
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No, that's that's not really a
thing in the summer. They can't really
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they can't run these tracks in the
summer. We used to do this thing
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called wheel sliding where you know the
tracks, they're these big long concrete snakes,
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right, that they just ice over
in the winter. And we used
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to do this thing where we just
put little like like rollerblading rollers on our
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sleds and you go down the track, the concrete track, on a roller
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sled right, going pretty much just
as fast as you would on ice,
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which is interesting. But we didn't
really find it, or personally I don't
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really find it too beneficial because the
the amount of grip you have on the
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concrete with those those wheels is just
so much more than you get with steel
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on the ice. So I didn't
really find it overly beneficial. But yeah,
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sounds like good fun at the very
least. Yeah, it is fun,
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but also pretty dangerous to write,
because tipping over or the risk of
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tipping over and hitting walls when it's
concrete the seat of ice right, that
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it can take some skin off.
Yeah, yeah, pretty been around in
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June class on the Little Square scooter. Yeah, that's it. Pretty much
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the same thing, right, exactly. Yeah, so assumed you just didn't
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wake up one day and you're suddenly
all interest and luge. Like. What
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got you into this for? Well, I'm born and raised in Whistler BC,
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right, so of course the Vancouver
twousd ten Olympics have been here,
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which was a huge part of my
story. But anyways, it was before
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the actual Olympics they were doing trading
runs down the down the track here in
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Whistler, which was newly built.
Heading it was like the the fall of
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two thousand and eight I believe,
and my dad was like hey, read
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you want to go check this this
sledding stuff out on this new track?
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And of course, you know,
I went with him and I just thought
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seeing those slots go down the track
at like a hundred and fifty kilomme there's
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an hour, was the coolest thing
in the world, right, and I
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was just I was so hooked,
I was so perplexed by the whole thing,
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right, and I was lucky enough
that at the time they were starting
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out with a BC loge program and
of course they they pick, they pick
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kids young, they start you young
and you know, over years develop you
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into into being able to race at
the next level. But yeah, no,
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just watching the sleds go down if
I was a coolest thing in the
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world. That was lucky enough that
they were starting a little program here and
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of course I just took the first
run and was like this is it,
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funnest thing in the world. Right. So never really never really looked back.
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And did it take any time to
decide, you know, do I
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want to do lose or skeleton,
or did you end up trying both?
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Or even Bob stood the honest honest
truth that not many people say. Actually
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is the only reason I really picked
loses because they're the only one that start
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recruiting when you're nine years old,
right. Yeah, skeleton, they're not
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really getting kids involved when you're that
young because you can kind of just kind
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of just it doesn't it doesn't take
the driveability same as Bob Sleigh. You
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know, you can pretty much come
right from a track and field or football
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background and you know, couple years
behind the D rings, you can,
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you can kind of drive, but
lose it just has such a it takes
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a lot more precision, a lot
more finesse. So that's why I started
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out so young. But, you
know, don't regret it at all.
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Definitely not. I wouldn't regret it
when you had the the kind of early
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success you had either at the Youth
Olympics community. Yeah, that's right now.
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That was a that was a really
good season for me. I of
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course, the Youth Olympics is such
a that was a that was a really
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cool moment. Of course, being
able to take the bronze medal with me.
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That was that was really cool.
And that was also the year,
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the season I was kind of longlisting
Pyeong Chang. I was young, I
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was kind of an underdog, but
I knew that season I had a real
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shot in making that Olympic team and
I made some massive, massive steps that
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season and it was just, yeah, huge part to huge part to the
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success. Yeah, I'm sure that
would definitely launch you into the conversation,
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for sure. Yeah, exactly.
But even that season two, that's where
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I sort of made a made a
bit of a name for myself with the
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national team head coach and that's sort
of where the whole thing kind of kind
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of started that this Pyeong Chang thing
can really can really happen. Right.
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Yeah, so, have you ever
eat like you racing men's singles for the
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loge, but you're one of like
or are you the top ranked loser in
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Canada the moment? Yea, I
am. So have they ever congratulations,
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by the way? Have theyank you
to fire you up with someone else to
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make like a doubles team for lose, or have you ever always just competed
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on your own? It's more of
a thing when you're in the junior levels
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to do both singles and doubles.
So yeah, I did my time on
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the bottom of a double sled with
my that riddle has as the top guy,
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and yeah, it was. It
was a school of hard knocks for
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sure. Had had a lot of
crashes. Doubles is a very interesting event
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and respect to those guys. It's
super tricky right this it's a lot more
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top heavy and just not as easy
to get down the hill. But yeah,
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I spent I believe two seasons,
maybe it was three, two and
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a half on the on the old
double sled. Had A bit of bit
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of success in the Youth World Cup
tour on that, but more or less
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it was just running a bit of
a gauntlet. Lots of the crashing and
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those of the memories I take away
from it. anyways. Right, super
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happy to kind of get on this
single sled I like being in control myself.
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So yeah, so is there any
like type of differentiation between the Rolls?
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I know in Bob slid when there's
more than one person in the sled
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there's like the pilots, the drivers, like the the pushers. When you're
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on the top or on the bottom, like what kind of rolls are you
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taken on? Well, the guy
in the top has the eyes right.
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He's the one who can see what's
coming from the bottom. You don't quite
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have the don't quite have the best
view down there. So the top guy,
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he does more of the more of
the steering with the legs, which
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is usually that. That's the primary
way we drive these sleds, is using
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using our legs on the rounded runners
we call the Kuffin's. So he does
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that. The bottom guy is more
with the shoulders in the body, making
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the making the smaller changes, like
getting the sled onto the corner smooth and
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coming off the corners. That's more
or less the bottom guy's job. But
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the but the top guy definitely does
the most of the driving. He does
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the ground work pretty well and he
does he does the ground work in the
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bottom guys just kind of suspension almost
more or less right in the nice pictures.
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Yeah, I'm absolutely obviously we talked
about how it's a mental aspect of
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this sport. Obviously. So just
before Ron, like what are you thinking
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in your head? Are you are
you hyped or you hyped up or you
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just trying to keep it calm?
And I try to calm. I've tried
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to come in with the super hyped
up approach and needless to say, that
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is never worked out for me at
all. Getting jazz up all excited.
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Usually before a race I like to
of course, within like thirty minutes to
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start that sort of when I start
crushing my warm up and it's around fifteen
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minutes to start where you know,
start getting changed and getting the mind in
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the mind in the race mode.
So of course there's a lot of imagery
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runs, a lot of sharp focus
on it. But something I've worked on
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this year that I've it's actually taken
a lot to a lot to work with,
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is about five minutes to my actual
run, I start doing these breathing
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exercises and stuff to really just calm
the calm the brain, just shut the
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brain off right because at that point
you've done all the training, you know
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how to get down the track fast. You've done all the work and you
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just the goal for me is always
been to just keep the brain off and
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keep it instinctual. So, yeah, just keep the brain quiet, keep
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it calm, try to achieve that
flow, say flow states, so to
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speak. Right. Yeah, yeah, effortless in a way. Right.
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So that's kind of that's kind of
the way I've been going at it.
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One of my teammates calls it easy
speed. That's kind of the easy speed.
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You've done all the train down,
the hard work. It's now it's
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just time to enjoy. Keep it
easy and stains will right. So,
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yeah, so as you're heading down
the track, obviously, like you don't
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want to touch the walls. Besides, that's going to know. You know
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that's slowing you down big time.
But where can you like make up seconds
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if you do, like on a
turn or you trying to like you see,
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sometimes they move higher up and then
lower down on the turn as they're
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going around. Like what's the the
strategy on the big turns? I guess
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it all depends really on what the
corner is. But look at you,
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your professional you already know what to
look for, right. Ideally, normally
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you want to keep it as even
as possible. Right. The more you're
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moving around, the more distance you're
covering. Right. That's hundreds of a
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second right, and you do that
all the way down the track, it
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more or less adds up. But
that's not always the case because you're always
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going through that corner with the goal, with the like absolute objective setting the
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next one up right. So you
gotta it's it's a puzzle. Right.
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If you don't enter this one corner
in the in the right area right,
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you're gonna have to steer it a
little harder to get it online right and
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you have to make all these adjustments
to get it back online as soon as
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possible, all to set yourself up
for the angle into the next one right.
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But normally it's yeah, you want
to keep it as even as possible.
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Right, the more waving it's.
That's not usually good. But there's
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some corners like there's a good example
is this one corner we have on the
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whistler sliding center track, corner eleven, where it's actually super important you get
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that way right so you can come
up from the egg that and cross over
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into the next corner twelve perfectly.
But every every track is different, every
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corner is different, which, you
know, keeps it interesting, right.
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Actually, yeah, that was gonna
be my next question. Actually, are
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there any tracks that like? I'm
assuming the layout is different on all of
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them, but are there any that
you really favor or some that you like
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to stay away from that you struggle
more on? Yeah, there's. Yeah,
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all those are great questions. There's
there's two tracks that really have a
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super special place in my heart.
The one I just went to for the
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first time this year was in Sam
are at, Switzerland, and it's it's
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just this super crazy, unbelievably feel
good track, right that they actually dig
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out of the snow every year,
so it doesn't have it's not like the
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artificial tracks where it's, you know, concrete and artificially cooled with ammonium piping
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and a refrigeration plant. They just
dig this one straight out of the snow,
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like seventeen hundred meters long and you
can get up to like a hundred
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and forty kilometers. Now our there, which is just it's and the the
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track is just so unbelievably smooth.
It's such a real good one. And
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then there's another one which actually got
damaged in a landslide this year, which
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was a tough one for me to
see. It's inconnings, Germany, and
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it's a little bit of the opposite
of the one and Samer at Switzerland.
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Right. It's it's very old school, very flat out and incredibly technical.
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But when you piece of piece of
good run from top to bottom there like
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a really a really nice one,
there's it's just such a rewarding feeling,
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right, because from the pretty much
the second you leave the start handles,
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you have to be on all the
way to the finish and you know,
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makes it makes it really fun.
And there's some tracks, yeah, that
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I don't favor, of course.
There's one in Innsbruck, Austria that,
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for the life of me, I've
just never had a good result there and
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things just never seem to go my
way there and I really got to get
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that little mental block out of my
head. It's yeah, I just never,
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never had it good there. You
know, always, always a bit
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of a struggle, but you know, everyone does. That's that's just the
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nature of the sport, right.
But every track of completely different characteristics,
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right, which makes it interesting.
Some are very glidey, relax e.
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don't have to do much. In
some you just have to be really on
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it. Sometimes there's a mixture of
both. And Yeah, and so would
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you? Would you change your runners
for like the different types of track you
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said? Sometimes, like it's for
more control and less, less friction.
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So yeah, definitely. Oh,
sorry, go on ahead. Yeah,
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like the more technical tracks. Do
you want more sharper blades? They can
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dig in more, more or less? You definitely want a bit more control
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on the on the harder tracks,
and you will change your sled compared or
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to a certain to a certain track. But for me personally, I'm more
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or less change my runners to ice
conditions. Right, that's a that's a
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really big one in our sport,
because the warmer it gets, the softer
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the ice is, the more gripped
the ice has on its own, naturally,
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and then the colder it gets,
the harder the ice gets, which
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presents another challenge of course, because
there's not nearly as much grip. So
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yeah, you'll, you'll tune your
sled to a certain track and stuff,
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but it's definitely for me I change
my setup more to ice temperatures and ice
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conditions. So do you guys have
like an equipment manager or you doing all
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this on your own ill. But
no, I actually I got a I
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got a new sled guy in the
last couple years who's been he's been doing
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the heavy work and he's got this
thing to write. Reason like it's good
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to kind of have a general to
know more or less what's going on with
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this sled. But as an athlete, to you can you can get in
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the mindset of thinking you know everything
and it can get into a pretty dark,
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crazy spiral. So He's been he's
been doing all the head a lot
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of the heavy work. Of course
I do a lot of the stuff too,
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but all the stuff that involves the
brains I leave to him before I,
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you know, make things worse my
crying right. So now he's been
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great. We've been trying some really
cool things and yeah, he's got some
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really, really bright ideas for the
future. Duncan Kennedy showed out, of
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course, and yeah, really excited
to work with him. I don't Boyd
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Duncan. Yeah, yeah, there
you go, Duncan, you get to
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customize your let it all. We
had a ski Jumper Abbey Straight on last
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week and she has like a bumblebee
sticker that she has on her equipment.
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Do you ever like get to put
initials or anything cool like that? Are
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you can, but of course it
all kind of comes down to like certain
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sizes of things. You can really
customize things on your own, for sure,
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but it's the sponsorship logo, is
right, that are kind of the
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kind of the problem area for sure. But yeah, we can't do customizations.
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I keep mind pretty simple, right, red pod with the black coupins
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this year. I thought those a
pretty sleek look and simple. Happy with
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it. kind of the Canadian colors, right. So that that's kind of
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what I did. Right on.
Yeah, ain't go wrong. They're exactly
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keep it simple, right. Oh, you know, you mentioned there that
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obviously you're on little bit of vacation. Your season's dumb. Now that you're
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00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:21.079
back home, what do you get
up to in the offseason a man right
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now in the offseason? Well,
this is my off offseason, so I'M
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gonna start getting up the hill more, do some skiing. I've been I'm
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into mountain by too, so skeing, gun biking, the the Whistler Sports.
323
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I didn't really get up too much
of that last week. I actually
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came back from Mexico with a positive
covid tests. So it was there's a
325
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laylow week. I just got out
of my quarantine on Monday. So exciting
326
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stuff. The weather's beautiful. Might
actually head down to squamish BC and hit
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a quick little ride today. But
yeah, now just kind of just relaxing,
328
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kind of catching up on the on
the mountain sports I've been missing out
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on the last like five months on
the road. So, yeah, you
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got quite the playground in your backyard
that. Yeah, I wouldn't have it
331
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any other way, right. Yeah, yeah, and better to have that
332
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positive covid test after them, before
the Olympics. I can imagine that was
333
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kind of stressful leading up to it. And Yeah, that's a really good
334
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point actually, because you know,
the way the whole Lomacron variant was going
335
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around, it was turning into one
of these things that's like an unavoidable situation,
336
00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:27.640
because normally we could take precautions into
our own hands to kind of,
337
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you know, stay away and keep
keep all the test negative, but the
338
00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:34.799
way it was spreading like wildfire over
in Europe, it made it, it
339
00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:40.160
made it really stressful actually, especially, yeah, the final moments to write,
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because getting into China, they they
have a pretty there. They did
341
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have strict tests, but of course
the rules were changing every day. So
342
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we were told things pretty much from
like after Christmas. Are Like Hey,
343
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guys, don't get covid or else
you might not go to the Olympics,
344
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like good luck and stuff like that. So you know we were taking we're
345
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.839
living a pretty isolated life, doing
things very carefully. Normally the moments leading
346
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into an Olympics or tense, but
when you're not actually sure you can go
347
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:17.799
in there and compete because of something
so out of your control absolutely adds another
348
00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:19.480
stressor to it. But you know, we all made it in safe,
349
00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:23.000
which was really nice. It was
a huge weight off the shoulders net of
350
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US really none of us really knew
about until we were actually in China in
351
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the Olympic Village. Is like wow, like it. We made it,
352
00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:34.240
which was just such a sigh of
relief and it was kind of like now
353
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we can actually focus on the important
stuff right, like all the all the
354
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racing. But I got to give
it to the to the staff of Louge
355
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Canada. They did a great job
all year at dealing with all the nightmare
356
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:52.839
covid logistics so the athletes could focus
on the sliding right. So I really
357
00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:55.400
got to give it to them.
They did a lot of a lot of
358
00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:59.079
really heavy work this year and super
appreciative of that. But still, of
359
00:24:59.079 --> 00:25:03.160
course it's a it's a stress or
two, right. So yeah, especially
360
00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.920
with you guys going all around the
world to lose candle ahead, really hiding
361
00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.279
up their socks for that one,
no kidding, and they did a good
362
00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:15.079
job. We all made it to
the Olympics, all made it back.
363
00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:19.440
So yeah, logistical nightmare, but
it was handled well. Awesome. Nobod
364
00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:25.839
going to the Olympics you like.
Were you with your Luge team, I
365
00:25:25.880 --> 00:25:30.799
assume so. Yeah, we we
traveled the world together. So we are
366
00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:33.200
on the road for five months,
doing a bunch of training, doing the
367
00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:37.440
whole World Cup tour and even going
to the Olympics together. So yeah,
368
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.319
it wasn't like I was meeting any
new faces going to the Olympics. I
369
00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:48.000
knew these guys all along, right. So yeah, in the is there
370
00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.960
any difference between? I'm I'm assuming
obviously there's a pretty large difference between this
371
00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:57.480
Olympics in your last Olympics. But, like covid aside just from being so
372
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much younger the first time around and
coming in as more of maybe a vetter,
373
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and I'm sure there's lots of first
time Olympians every time, but what's
374
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.240
it like just come in as one
of the top dogs instead of a fresh
375
00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:15.200
face? The approach was definitely more
or less the same. Actually it was.
376
00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:21.359
It was actually really similar going into
going into Pyeong Chang as a young
377
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:25.960
kid. I of course, nineteen
years old right first Olympics. Had A
378
00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:29.319
horrible season leading up to it.
I mean, I got my qualification,
379
00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:32.640
which was great, but things other
than that just really fell apart and didn't
380
00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:37.319
go my way. Similar stories this
year. But I went into the Peeong
381
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:41.079
Chang Olympics like things have gone so
wrong. I just I want to focus
382
00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.640
on having like for clean runs,
not not anything special, just for UN
383
00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:51.200
straight down the hill. And of
course, finishing twelve there was massive.
384
00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:55.000
That was a huge result for me, prob and that still to this day.
385
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.039
Pyeong Chang was the best race I've
had in my life, for sure,
386
00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:02.920
but pressure was on and you know, is more or less kind of
387
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:06.400
the same situation heading into China.
Right, I had these expectations of where
388
00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:08.759
I knew I could slide and knew
it, where I knew where I could
389
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:14.079
compete, but I wasn't quite there. So I just went in with a
390
00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.279
super similar mindset. You know,
knowing what it happened in the past,
391
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.640
anything can really happen. You can
always surprise yourself, especially when all the
392
00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:22.200
pressures on right. So it was
just like you know, I just focus
393
00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:27.160
on the clean runs and just try
to have fun with it. Things haven't
394
00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.400
panned out well, this is the
end of it, so go try to
395
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:34.240
have fun. Unfortunately, I had
a really big mistake in the my men
396
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:40.119
singles event on the second run.
That was super costly. I made mistakes
397
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:44.279
on all four my runs, but
it is the mistake I made and run
398
00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:48.240
to that really really cost things big
time. So it was it was a
399
00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:53.400
disappointment, but that's just the just
the way things go. And lose right.
400
00:27:53.400 --> 00:28:00.359
It's a it's a cruel mistress,
but I hear you. So,
401
00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:03.759
like you said, there's the four
runs and one really cost you'd are they
402
00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:08.319
cumulative or are you trying to just
put together one really good run? No,
403
00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:12.359
it's it's all for run combined time. So you got to go up
404
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:18.599
for all of them, which makes
it makes it difficult where it favors consistency
405
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:22.720
so much, right, because in
a normal World Cup situation it's just two
406
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:29.039
runs, so it's to run combined
time. Fastest wins. But over the
407
00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:32.480
Olympics it's for runs over two days. So you have two runs on the
408
00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:37.599
first day and then you gotta got
another day to do another two write.
409
00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.039
So, yeah, makes it makes
it a really interesting one. The track
410
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.880
in China was it was a really
challenging one on its own. It had
411
00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:52.319
a super unique characteristics and yeah,
the people, people who put four runs
412
00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:56.640
down the hill could really surprise himself
with like with a good result. Right.
413
00:28:56.759 --> 00:29:00.920
So that track really favorite consistency.
I definitely, as an athlete,
414
00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.200
struggle a bit with consistency, which
is a you know, easier said than
415
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:11.680
done our sport for sure. But
yeah, unfortunately the big the big mistake
416
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:18.119
on the second runs but really kind
of cost things. But so, I
417
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:22.759
you talked about consistency. There was. I just want to ask the Germans,
418
00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:26.400
like they swept the podium with four
golds. What kind of or like
419
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:30.559
have they just been dominant ever since, way back since, or is there
420
00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:36.480
something they are in the water over
there? What kind of you look up
421
00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:40.480
to? I don't know now,
ever, ever since the the beginning,
422
00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:44.720
right, luge has always been dominated
by the by the Germans. They have
423
00:29:44.839 --> 00:29:48.160
such a strong program they've had a
really strong program for years, right,
424
00:29:48.200 --> 00:29:52.960
and they have they have four tracks
over there that we race World Cup on,
425
00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:56.319
right. So they just have such
a deep program that have so many
426
00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.720
different facilities they get to train on, they have and each one of these
427
00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:04.279
facilities has different clubs of athletes and
it's a huge part. They have so
428
00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:10.119
many athletes, right, so they
can always really filter through to the to
429
00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:14.359
the best ones, the fastest ones. And Yeah, no, great athletes,
430
00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:17.400
great, great slight equipment, for
sure on their part. There's no
431
00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:21.319
there's no denying that. But you
know, strong, strong, strong program
432
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:25.920
and they always show up at the
Olympics and of course they they did it
433
00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:29.160
again too. But no, it's
nothing new. The Germans are always,
434
00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:34.880
always a serious force and in our
sport, obviously you hang out with your
435
00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:38.240
team a lot. You said,
you're with them for five months on the
436
00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:42.119
year, so get to know them
pretty well. But is there any mentors
437
00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:45.880
that you look up to in your
sport that really helped you get to where
438
00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:51.279
you are now? Yeah, I
know, of course. It was always
439
00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:55.200
always the national team athletes when I
was one of the younger guys, so
440
00:30:55.480 --> 00:31:00.000
usually the men's singles guys, of
course. But a really cool thing actually
441
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:06.160
was I just started sliding for I
think it was like within my first season.
442
00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:07.759
Yeah, I was on the sled
for just a year and then,
443
00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:11.880
of course the Olympics happened here,
right. So, yeah, me being
444
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:15.039
a little little loge, loge fanatic
at a young age, right, of
445
00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:18.759
course, I watched like all the
sliding events, especially lose, right,
446
00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:25.440
and it was just super cool to
kind of when I was more like sixteen,
447
00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:30.920
seventeen and I was starting to be
be noticed by the team and started
448
00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.599
training with a bit more, started
doing some races with them. It was
449
00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:37.599
just it was so cool to,
you know, be racing and training with
450
00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:42.319
these guys who I watched as as
heroes at the Vancouver Twenty Ten Olympics,
451
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:45.079
right, the the men, the
women in the doubles. It was just
452
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:48.359
that was a pretty surreal moment for
me to actually be like well, now
453
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:53.640
I'm a part of this group and
you know, super, super exciting and
454
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:57.799
yeah, know that that was kind
of the big thing to definitely the Canadians
455
00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:01.400
on the national team, especially the
ones I watched in the Olympics. Right,
456
00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:06.279
that was just so cool because,
you know, being eleven years old,
457
00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:08.480
Chubby little kid, that was like
Superhero status in my books. Right.
458
00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:14.000
So you're kind in the same bowl. We actually had a BOB's letter
459
00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:16.440
right here from Pi. She was
over there. Name was heather moist and
460
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.119
she came. Oh yeah, we
were cheering on right alongside you. Sure
461
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:27.920
Nice. Right on. Yeah,
so some Pi connections to the track?
462
00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:32.680
Yeah, yeah, right on.
Growing up in whistler like you, obviously
463
00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:37.200
have all these types of extreme sports
around. Did you ever like play hockey
464
00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:42.000
or any of the more normals,
or not normal, but the more common
465
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.559
sports in Canada? I didn't.
I never played hockey, I never played
466
00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:50.240
soccer and yeah, never did really
any of those. It was just kind
467
00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:53.240
of skiing and biking for me.
That was that was kind of it.
468
00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:58.839
I did a bit of golf when
I was young and I'm I'm going to
469
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:00.920
make a I'm going to make a
come back this year. You know,
470
00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:04.359
I put it, I played a
few games last year, kind of embarrass
471
00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.519
myself, but this year I'm committing, going to get myself a set of
472
00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:10.880
clubs and really shape up and become
a become a force on the links,
473
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:15.920
right. So, yeah, just
skiing and biking, a little bit of
474
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:19.039
Golf. Not, not really.
It was just maybe a week out of
475
00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:22.039
the year. But yeah, that's
those are kind of the those are kind
476
00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:24.920
of the things I do. But
golf this year. That's that's the big
477
00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:30.119
goal. I'm want to become a
strong golfer. So, yeah, enjoy
478
00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:34.680
fine tuning your golf game. I'd
say it's probably just as difficult is tuning.
479
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:37.039
That's let up. Yeah, you
know, it's a mind game to
480
00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:40.920
write. You gotta Blow a hole, your shoot one into the right,
481
00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:45.480
into the trees. You gotta shake
it off for the next one, right.
482
00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:49.960
Yeah, that's it's good. It's
good cross training, right. Yeah,
483
00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:53.519
that work on the mental game.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's
484
00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:59.440
cool. So I do you have
any any plans for the future, like
485
00:33:59.480 --> 00:34:02.680
what's next in your in your sights? You've had too Olympic Games. I'm
486
00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:06.200
sure you're going to be looking at
the next one, but is there anything
487
00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:09.280
else on your list for career accolades
that you're trying to knock down? No,
488
00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:12.800
yeah, of course. Still,
yeah, still looking at the next
489
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:15.960
ones, for sure, with a
bit of a different approach. But that's
490
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:20.719
a little conversation for kind of another
time here. But Um, yeah,
491
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:24.159
I want to try flying planes.
That's kind of something I want to I
492
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:28.239
want to get into and I don't
know, right now, I just kind
493
00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:30.880
of want to get in this guy. I'm sure it's going to be something
494
00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:34.960
I'll love it be super interested in. But Yeah, getting this guy and
495
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:37.760
kind of see where things take me
from there. But yeah, right now
496
00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:39.599
I kind of want to start logging
hours. I'm trying to get something going
497
00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:45.880
here with the local flight school and
squamish BC and yeah, see, see
498
00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:50.760
how that goes, see sort of
what what ideas those bring up, and
499
00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:52.599
yeah, see from there. But
of course I'm getting to a point now
500
00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:55.199
where it's like, you know,
loses being great and all, but now
501
00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:00.800
it's, yeah, time to start
looking and seeing. But what what I
502
00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:04.000
want to be doing in the real
life? So that's kind of a loose
503
00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:07.360
plan right now. So, yeah, more to come with that, hopefully
504
00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:10.599
soon. Right on. Yeah,
not shine away from the speed anytime soon
505
00:35:12.039 --> 00:35:15.039
now, exactly. Never know,
maybe you can fly. You're all your
506
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:19.679
teammates, you around the world.
I know I was right and look at
507
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:23.000
that. In a perfect world,
Hey, yeah, Canada lose with some
508
00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:27.239
some tickets at the very least to
pay him back. Look at that,
509
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:31.519
all these bright ideas. Hey,
we got you covered. Love it.
510
00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:37.519
That's awesome. I was not expected
that answer. No, that's dry.
511
00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:42.800
Yeah, because I guess I lose
as a career. Is, you know,
512
00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:45.039
not super realistic, is it?
Is Sport that like, I can't
513
00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:49.760
imagine. You know you're doing it
too late. There's a guy we saw
514
00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:52.320
he won his metal. It was
his first goal at the Olympics, I
515
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:55.000
think, and he was at like
the eight coming on right at the end
516
00:35:55.039 --> 00:36:00.320
of his career and like his mid
S. is when you see yourself doing
517
00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:04.719
that late, it's it's tough to
say. It's tough to say kind of
518
00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:07.320
just taken it year by your point, day at a time, but that
519
00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:10.199
that is the that is the thing
with our sport, right. Is Ages
520
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:15.559
favored, for sure, all the
experience, all that. It's it makes
521
00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:19.239
such a big difference. Right.
There's there's a few young guys that have
522
00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:22.199
done really great in the past,
but this is definitely a sport where it
523
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:28.119
takes it takes a lot of time
to really kind of show up and be
524
00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:31.800
consistent, be a real force.
But yeah, I don't know if that's
525
00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:36.000
really where I want to be right
now. I'm twenty three years old right
526
00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:38.920
now and, like I gotta say, my body it it's not quite doing
527
00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:43.480
the things that used to write.
Like I had some back issues, some
528
00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:47.079
weird shoulder things going on. It's
it's definitely taking a toll. So respect
529
00:36:47.079 --> 00:36:52.159
to those guys in their s right
keep staying on top of it physically right.
530
00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:54.719
So, yeah, I can I
can just picture my mom tone my
531
00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:58.719
shoulders to straighten up, but I've
been going down the track like this.
532
00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:07.800
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely get
the most out of it what you can.
533
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:09.960
For sure. No, exactly,
but yeah, no, right now
534
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:13.960
it's definitely time to have a look
and see what see what's going on the
535
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:16.079
other side. No, check out, check out that part of life.
536
00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:20.719
To write. Yeah, one hundred
percent. And that's unreal, though.
537
00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:25.199
Or could you see yourself like staying
in the game as a coach, or
538
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:29.719
have you ever had any like coaches
that have left a really big impact that
539
00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:34.800
you can see yourself doing for someone
else? It's tough to say. Like,
540
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:37.880
I definitely I'll do a bit of
coaching here and there. Like I
541
00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:42.000
like I'm showing up to the track
in the next couple days, right,
542
00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:45.920
to kind of help the youth group
going on here, right, you know,
543
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:49.280
do a bit of do a bit
of coaching for them. Right,
544
00:37:49.280 --> 00:37:53.119
but right now it's something that actually
then involves like all the traveling, doing
545
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:57.639
all that stuff. It can,
it's all it's a tough job. So
546
00:37:57.920 --> 00:38:00.840
right now, like not in a
serious way, no, but of course
547
00:38:00.840 --> 00:38:06.679
it's like in a way to like
the local youth programs going on here.
548
00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:10.719
Absolutely, right. Always all to
that. Try to get the kids all
549
00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:15.480
excited about Luge, motivate them a
bit, right, get them all jazzed
550
00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:19.480
up and yeah, but as far
as like actual like coaching goes, like
551
00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:22.239
on a serious level, that I
don't I don't think that's for me,
552
00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:25.039
not right now anyways. Right.
So, HMM. Ye Know, I
553
00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:30.639
can imagine as like a such a
niche sport in Canada, that heaven like
554
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:34.199
a trying to grow the sport.
I guess in a country where it's not
555
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:37.360
super popular, having someone who's,
you know, out there on the world
556
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:39.960
circuit can be a pretty big inspiration
for the kids. Yeah, cheers,
557
00:38:39.960 --> 00:38:43.360
man, and that's kind of the
that's kind of the plan. To write.
558
00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:47.239
We recently just lost the track in
Calgary, Alberta, which was definitely
559
00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:52.239
doing all the heavy lifting of recruiting
in our program so now we're kind of
560
00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:57.280
just based out of the whistler track
here, which is taken a taking a
561
00:38:57.280 --> 00:39:00.039
big hit. So right now it's
super important we get all the kids and
562
00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:05.599
we can and you know, they
just, yeah, just have fun with
563
00:39:05.639 --> 00:39:07.039
it. They got to love it, right, and it's super important,
564
00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:09.400
right, keep them motivated and,
you know, just let them know that
565
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:14.159
there's a real shot of making a
super cool career out of this, right,
566
00:39:14.199 --> 00:39:16.199
and it's not just something fun.
It can it can take you all
567
00:39:16.199 --> 00:39:20.000
over the world, even to a
few Olympics, and of course the life
568
00:39:20.039 --> 00:39:22.920
experience is just so rich, right. So always keep them, keep them
569
00:39:22.920 --> 00:39:27.920
interested in that, right. Yeah, definitely. And when you're younger,
570
00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:30.760
like what do you start off doing? Like, I can imagine they don't
571
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:35.679
just throw you down in the main
track right away, zipping around when you're
572
00:39:35.719 --> 00:39:37.400
like six or seven years old.
What do they start you out on?
573
00:39:38.360 --> 00:39:44.880
Um, so they start you out
on like more or less training wheel sleds,
574
00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:49.039
pretty light, super stable, don't
have much driveability. They're kind of
575
00:39:49.079 --> 00:39:52.239
just there and they're of course they're
not just sending you from the top of
576
00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:53.880
the track, right. It's it
takes a takes a lot of years.
577
00:39:53.880 --> 00:39:58.440
So for the track and whistler here, they start you from corner thirteen.
578
00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:01.599
They're sixteen corners, so you only
got to go through like four corners.
579
00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:05.559
But Um, you still get get
a taste of the speed, right,
580
00:40:05.719 --> 00:40:07.000
so you just kind of just kind
of Lai there. You get it.
581
00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:10.320
You get a feel for some of
the corners at a pretty, I say
582
00:40:10.360 --> 00:40:14.719
slow but you can still reach speeds
like seventy kilometers an hour. And from
583
00:40:14.760 --> 00:40:17.280
there they slowly move you up,
like in the in the development years,
584
00:40:17.320 --> 00:40:21.880
corner by corner. So every time
you kind of move up a corner,
585
00:40:21.880 --> 00:40:24.639
things start to come a little faster. Right. It's just a big milestone
586
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:29.440
to achieve and that's that's how they
do all the progression at a young age,
587
00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:32.239
right. So they make sure you
have the fundamentals down nailed at your
588
00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:37.519
start position and then when you're showing
you can slide well consistently, Dan,
589
00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:40.480
they'll talk about moving you at the
corner, right, and that's kind of
590
00:40:40.760 --> 00:40:46.599
step by step, by step by
step into becoming, yeah, just the
591
00:40:46.639 --> 00:40:50.760
full time athlete, because they would. Yeah, can't send you from the
592
00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:54.199
top of the track, right,
that just that's just angel beat ANAPP and
593
00:40:54.280 --> 00:40:58.440
right. Yeah, not gonna,
just got trouble all over it, right.
594
00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:02.440
Yeah, yeah, pretty good.
And timing. It's forty five minutes,
595
00:41:02.440 --> 00:41:07.280
I think so. Yeah, we
that's flies by. I'm glies and
596
00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:14.000
you haven't found nice. Guys.
Well, thank you so much for joining
597
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:17.320
us. Yeah, been great to
speak with you about such a cool sport.
598
00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:22.239
I enjoy the rest of your offseason. Awesome. Yeah, thanks so
599
00:41:22.320 --> 00:41:24.159
much for having me on. Guys, that was that was cool. Will
600
00:41:24.199 --> 00:41:28.480
be falling along now. Yeah,
if you wanted to tune up that golf
601
00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:30.599
game, we got a lot of
courses here on pies. I might have
602
00:41:30.679 --> 00:41:35.760
to take you up on that.
Hey, let's fly over start the new
603
00:41:35.800 --> 00:41:42.400
PGA, PGA crazier, looking great, right, guys. Awesome, sweet.
604
00:41:43.079 --> 00:41:45.639
Yeah, thanks for joining us,
man. Yeah, yeah, no,
605
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:47.719
PROB buzzeers mine shoes. Guys,
and that was awesome. I see
606
00:41:47.719 --> 00:41:51.440
you later. Seem better, guys. He's
1
00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:17.600
All Right, Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome back to this week of Table Buzz
2
00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:22.359
podcast. We have an Olympian on
again this week, read Watts. He's
3
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:25.839
a Luger. Just came back from
Beijing, I guess, week or so
4
00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:29.480
ago. Read, how are you
doing? Great? Thanks. How about
5
00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:33.240
you, guys? We're good.
Man, unreal, unreal. Yeah,
6
00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:37.600
we're you just said you're on vacation
mode after the Olympics. Yeah, I
7
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was on vacation mode. I just
got back like a couple weeks ago.
8
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I was home for a few days
and then headed off with a bunch of
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friends to Mexico. I'm kind of
been back here, honestly, being a
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bit of a loafer right now compared
to some of the other athletes in Beijing
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right, who are you? Know? They're still competing with other World Cups,
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World Championships. But for me that
was the that was the end of
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the season for us. As soon
as I hit the hit the pad and
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the team relay, that was that
was vacation vote for me. So Nice.
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Yeah, well learned. I'm sure
that's so. Your World Cup circuit
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is all over for the season.
It rounds up. It's yeah, it
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ends usually just for the Olympics right
our season is so based around the Olympics.
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So, yeah, Olympics is is
the end of the show for us.
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How did it? How did your
regular season go? Um, to
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be honest, it really didn't go
very well at all for me. I
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I didn't quite have the results I
was looking for. There was a a
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lot of things that didn't quite fall
into place the way I wanted to.
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Whether it was me making my own
mistakes or whether we were trying some crazy
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stuff with the sled that didn't quite
work out. There was there was a
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lot of things that really didn't quite
go my way, but it was a
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it was a solid way to kind
of finish things off, especially with the
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team event in the Olympics, to
kind of and things off on more of
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a high note. But not quite
where I wanted to end up, especially
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in the World Cup circuit, but
at least we were trying stuff and yeah,
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we know now some of it just
doesn't doesn't quite work the way we
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were thinking it was going to.
So yeah, so you had a big
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six plate place finish there at the
Olympics, but you just touched on it.
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Their sec I'm kind of interested in
now. What do you guys do
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to your sleds to alter them up, and so all man, it's where
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do I even start? Right,
and the longer I'm in it the less
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I know too. But a lot
of it is like a big sort of
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basic principle not to get too complicated. Is like with the runners, right,
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the actual steel part that's touching the
ice. That s where, you
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know, we got all our control
from. And just a general rule of
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thumb is like the sharper the steels
are, the more control you have,
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the safer it is, but also
the more friction there is, the slower
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at that's right. So that's kind
of a basic rule of how how we
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run things. But it gets so
unbelievably complicated for these sleds that have no
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moving parts. But you know with
a sport that's time down to the thousandth
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of a second and you know races
are wonder lost within that kind of that
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margin. There's there's so many things
right, like aerodynamics, what kind of
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materials you're building your sleds out of, Kuffins and stuff like that. The
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list just goes on and on and
on. Right. Yeah, just like
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the F one drivers. I'm sure
you guys have your own stuff like that.
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That's awesome. Yeah, he's can
be exactly. It's kind of f
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one ish in a sense. Right. And Yeah, I'm really I'm sure
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you can drive yourself crazy trying to
shave off like a thousandth of a second.
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I couldn't imagine wrapping my brain and
us. Yeah, it's it's the
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beauty of our sport, right.
Well, I'm sure you're thinking about all
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those things when you're flying a hundred
and thirty kilometers down the track to yeah,
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no, kidding, right. And
that's the thing, right, is
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when races are one or lost within
you know it can be thousands of a
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second, hundreds of a second.
Right. It's it's really tough to kind
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of shake off when you when you've
made a mistake down the track and you
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know you've just lost a bunch of
precious time. It can be really hard
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to kind of come back, reproup
and just finished strong, right. But
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that's just, yeah, how it
how it goes in our sport. Yeah,
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the mental side is just down to
the second benuts. Yeah, that's
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the thing with lose, right,
is there's definitely a physical aspect, especially
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up at the start, right,
and there is a physical side. But
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it's more of a game of chess, right, how mentally clear you have
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to be, how on you have
to be and how composed you have to
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be to write like you go want
to be all jacked up going down the
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track. It's kind of like you
want to become cool and collected and you
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know, when you're racing and sliding, sometimes going over a hundred, forty
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kilometers. Now are right, it's
easier said than done. So what kind
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of like off ice training to get
your like you just talked about the mental
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side, but to get your body
ready for like. I know there's a
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huge push at the start to try
and get some speed, but when you're
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flying down the track, like,
is there parts of your body that you're
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using more than others to steer the
slid going down the track? It's definitely
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a little more of a core stability
thing. But and of course neck,
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right, core, and just neck, the way you have to hold your
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hold your head up through these corners. That's the that's the that's the most
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physical part about actually going down the
track is when you're going into some of
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these corners at the bottom of the
track, you could be pulling over five
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Geez so you're trying to lift your
head that's now over five times is heavy,
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and there's this really there's really interesting
thing actually, if your next not
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strong enough and up to up to
snuff. We call it losing our head
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and it's when you go into a
corner and your head can't take the G
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force. It goes down and the
the next really interesting thing is once you're
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once your head's gone, there's no
getting it back. So once it's down
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and locked in, you're pretty much
just staring all throughout the whole corner.
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Can't get it back up. Running
blind. And Yeah, that's a scary
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part. But of course the biggest
physical part to our sport is the start.
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It's you need a combination of like
good snappy upper body strength with some
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flexibility, right coordination to of course, but that's usually what we spend most
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of our summers training. Is the
start. You can't really simulate too much
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of the sliding aspect of our sport
in the summer. Yeah, yeah,
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do you ever travel like outside of
Canada to be able to get on like
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tracks in the winter or in the
summer, but just with winter conditions?
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No, that's that's not really a
thing in the summer. They can't really
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they can't run these tracks in the
summer. We used to do this thing
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called wheel sliding where you know the
tracks, they're these big long concrete snakes,
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right, that they just ice over
in the winter. And we used
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to do this thing where we just
put little like like rollerblading rollers on our
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sleds and you go down the track, the concrete track, on a roller
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sled right, going pretty much just
as fast as you would on ice,
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which is interesting. But we didn't
really find it, or personally I don't
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really find it too beneficial because the
the amount of grip you have on the
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concrete with those those wheels is just
so much more than you get with steel
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on the ice. So I didn't
really find it overly beneficial. But yeah,
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sounds like good fun at the very
least. Yeah, it is fun,
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but also pretty dangerous to write,
because tipping over or the risk of
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tipping over and hitting walls when it's
concrete the seat of ice right, that
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it can take some skin off.
Yeah, yeah, pretty been around in
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June class on the Little Square scooter. Yeah, that's it. Pretty much
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the same thing, right, exactly. Yeah, so assumed you just didn't
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wake up one day and you're suddenly
all interest and luge. Like. What
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got you into this for? Well, I'm born and raised in Whistler BC,
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right, so of course the Vancouver
twousd ten Olympics have been here,
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which was a huge part of my
story. But anyways, it was before
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the actual Olympics they were doing trading
runs down the down the track here in
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Whistler, which was newly built.
Heading it was like the the fall of
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two thousand and eight I believe,
and my dad was like hey, read
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you want to go check this this
sledding stuff out on this new track?
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And of course, you know,
I went with him and I just thought
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seeing those slots go down the track
at like a hundred and fifty kilomme there's
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an hour, was the coolest thing
in the world, right, and I
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was just I was so hooked,
I was so perplexed by the whole thing,
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right, and I was lucky enough
that at the time they were starting
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out with a BC loge program and
of course they they pick, they pick
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kids young, they start you young
and you know, over years develop you
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into into being able to race at
the next level. But yeah, no,
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just watching the sleds go down if
I was a coolest thing in the
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world. That was lucky enough that
they were starting a little program here and
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of course I just took the first
run and was like this is it,
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funnest thing in the world. Right. So never really never really looked back.
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And did it take any time to
decide, you know, do I
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want to do lose or skeleton,
or did you end up trying both?
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Or even Bob stood the honest honest
truth that not many people say. Actually
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is the only reason I really picked
loses because they're the only one that start
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recruiting when you're nine years old,
right. Yeah, skeleton, they're not
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really getting kids involved when you're that
young because you can kind of just kind
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of just it doesn't it doesn't take
the driveability same as Bob Sleigh. You
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know, you can pretty much come
right from a track and field or football
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background and you know, couple years
behind the D rings, you can,
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you can kind of drive, but
lose it just has such a it takes
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a lot more precision, a lot
more finesse. So that's why I started
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out so young. But, you
know, don't regret it at all.
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Definitely not. I wouldn't regret it
when you had the the kind of early
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success you had either at the Youth
Olympics community. Yeah, that's right now.
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That was a that was a really
good season for me. I of
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course, the Youth Olympics is such
a that was a that was a really
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cool moment. Of course, being
able to take the bronze medal with me.
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That was that was really cool.
And that was also the year,
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the season I was kind of longlisting
Pyeong Chang. I was young, I
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was kind of an underdog, but
I knew that season I had a real
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shot in making that Olympic team and
I made some massive, massive steps that
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season and it was just, yeah, huge part to huge part to the
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success. Yeah, I'm sure that
would definitely launch you into the conversation,
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for sure. Yeah, exactly.
But even that season two, that's where
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I sort of made a made a
bit of a name for myself with the
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00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:03.639
national team head coach and that's sort
of where the whole thing kind of kind
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of started that this Pyeong Chang thing
can really can really happen. Right.
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Yeah, so, have you ever
eat like you racing men's singles for the
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loge, but you're one of like
or are you the top ranked loser in
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Canada the moment? Yea, I
am. So have they ever congratulations,
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00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:28.039
by the way? Have theyank you
to fire you up with someone else to
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make like a doubles team for lose, or have you ever always just competed
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on your own? It's more of
a thing when you're in the junior levels
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to do both singles and doubles.
So yeah, I did my time on
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the bottom of a double sled with
my that riddle has as the top guy,
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and yeah, it was. It
was a school of hard knocks for
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sure. Had had a lot of
crashes. Doubles is a very interesting event
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and respect to those guys. It's
super tricky right this it's a lot more
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top heavy and just not as easy
to get down the hill. But yeah,
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I spent I believe two seasons,
maybe it was three, two and
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a half on the on the old
double sled. Had A bit of bit
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of success in the Youth World Cup
tour on that, but more or less
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it was just running a bit of
a gauntlet. Lots of the crashing and
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those of the memories I take away
from it. anyways. Right, super
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happy to kind of get on this
single sled I like being in control myself.
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So yeah, so is there any
like type of differentiation between the Rolls?
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I know in Bob slid when there's
more than one person in the sled
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there's like the pilots, the drivers, like the the pushers. When you're
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on the top or on the bottom, like what kind of rolls are you
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taken on? Well, the guy
in the top has the eyes right.
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He's the one who can see what's
coming from the bottom. You don't quite
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have the don't quite have the best
view down there. So the top guy,
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he does more of the more of
the steering with the legs, which
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is usually that. That's the primary
way we drive these sleds, is using
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using our legs on the rounded runners
we call the Kuffin's. So he does
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that. The bottom guy is more
with the shoulders in the body, making
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the making the smaller changes, like
getting the sled onto the corner smooth and
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coming off the corners. That's more
or less the bottom guy's job. But
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the but the top guy definitely does
the most of the driving. He does
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00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:30.000
the ground work pretty well and he
does he does the ground work in the
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bottom guys just kind of suspension almost
more or less right in the nice pictures.
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Yeah, I'm absolutely obviously we talked
about how it's a mental aspect of
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this sport. Obviously. So just
before Ron, like what are you thinking
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in your head? Are you are
you hyped or you hyped up or you
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00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:56.480
just trying to keep it calm?
And I try to calm. I've tried
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to come in with the super hyped
up approach and needless to say, that
200
00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:05.399
is never worked out for me at
all. Getting jazz up all excited.
201
00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:11.159
Usually before a race I like to
of course, within like thirty minutes to
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00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:16.000
start that sort of when I start
crushing my warm up and it's around fifteen
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00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.559
minutes to start where you know,
start getting changed and getting the mind in
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the mind in the race mode.
So of course there's a lot of imagery
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00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.039
runs, a lot of sharp focus
on it. But something I've worked on
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00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.120
this year that I've it's actually taken
a lot to a lot to work with,
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is about five minutes to my actual
run, I start doing these breathing
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00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:41.440
exercises and stuff to really just calm
the calm the brain, just shut the
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brain off right because at that point
you've done all the training, you know
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how to get down the track fast. You've done all the work and you
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just the goal for me is always
been to just keep the brain off and
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keep it instinctual. So, yeah, just keep the brain quiet, keep
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it calm, try to achieve that
flow, say flow states, so to
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speak. Right. Yeah, yeah, effortless in a way. Right.
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So that's kind of that's kind of
the way I've been going at it.
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One of my teammates calls it easy
speed. That's kind of the easy speed.
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You've done all the train down,
the hard work. It's now it's
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just time to enjoy. Keep it
easy and stains will right. So,
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yeah, so as you're heading down
the track, obviously, like you don't
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want to touch the walls. Besides, that's going to know. You know
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that's slowing you down big time.
But where can you like make up seconds
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if you do, like on a
turn or you trying to like you see,
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sometimes they move higher up and then
lower down on the turn as they're
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going around. Like what's the the
strategy on the big turns? I guess
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it all depends really on what the
corner is. But look at you,
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your professional you already know what to
look for, right. Ideally, normally
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you want to keep it as even
as possible. Right. The more you're
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moving around, the more distance you're
covering. Right. That's hundreds of a
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second right, and you do that
all the way down the track, it
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more or less adds up. But
that's not always the case because you're always
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going through that corner with the goal, with the like absolute objective setting the
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next one up right. So you
gotta it's it's a puzzle. Right.
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If you don't enter this one corner
in the in the right area right,
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you're gonna have to steer it a
little harder to get it online right and
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you have to make all these adjustments
to get it back online as soon as
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possible, all to set yourself up
for the angle into the next one right.
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But normally it's yeah, you want
to keep it as even as possible.
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Right, the more waving it's.
That's not usually good. But there's
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some corners like there's a good example
is this one corner we have on the
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whistler sliding center track, corner eleven, where it's actually super important you get
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that way right so you can come
up from the egg that and cross over
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into the next corner twelve perfectly.
But every every track is different, every
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corner is different, which, you
know, keeps it interesting, right.
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Actually, yeah, that was gonna
be my next question. Actually, are
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there any tracks that like? I'm
assuming the layout is different on all of
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them, but are there any that
you really favor or some that you like
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to stay away from that you struggle
more on? Yeah, there's. Yeah,
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all those are great questions. There's
there's two tracks that really have a
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super special place in my heart.
The one I just went to for the
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first time this year was in Sam
are at, Switzerland, and it's it's
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just this super crazy, unbelievably feel
good track, right that they actually dig
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out of the snow every year,
so it doesn't have it's not like the
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artificial tracks where it's, you know, concrete and artificially cooled with ammonium piping
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and a refrigeration plant. They just
dig this one straight out of the snow,
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like seventeen hundred meters long and you
can get up to like a hundred
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and forty kilometers. Now our there, which is just it's and the the
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track is just so unbelievably smooth.
It's such a real good one. And
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then there's another one which actually got
damaged in a landslide this year, which
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was a tough one for me to
see. It's inconnings, Germany, and
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it's a little bit of the opposite
of the one and Samer at Switzerland.
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Right. It's it's very old school, very flat out and incredibly technical.
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But when you piece of piece of
good run from top to bottom there like
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a really a really nice one,
there's it's just such a rewarding feeling,
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right, because from the pretty much
the second you leave the start handles,
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you have to be on all the
way to the finish and you know,
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makes it makes it really fun.
And there's some tracks, yeah, that
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I don't favor, of course.
There's one in Innsbruck, Austria that,
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for the life of me, I've
just never had a good result there and
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things just never seem to go my
way there and I really got to get
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that little mental block out of my
head. It's yeah, I just never,
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never had it good there. You
know, always, always a bit
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of a struggle, but you know, everyone does. That's that's just the
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nature of the sport, right.
But every track of completely different characteristics,
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right, which makes it interesting.
Some are very glidey, relax e.
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don't have to do much. In
some you just have to be really on
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it. Sometimes there's a mixture of
both. And Yeah, and so would
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you? Would you change your runners
for like the different types of track you
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said? Sometimes, like it's for
more control and less, less friction.
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So yeah, definitely. Oh,
sorry, go on ahead. Yeah,
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like the more technical tracks. Do
you want more sharper blades? They can
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dig in more, more or less? You definitely want a bit more control
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on the on the harder tracks,
and you will change your sled compared or
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to a certain to a certain track. But for me personally, I'm more
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or less change my runners to ice
conditions. Right, that's a that's a
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really big one in our sport,
because the warmer it gets, the softer
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the ice is, the more gripped
the ice has on its own, naturally,
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and then the colder it gets,
the harder the ice gets, which
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presents another challenge of course, because
there's not nearly as much grip. So
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yeah, you'll, you'll tune your
sled to a certain track and stuff,
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but it's definitely for me I change
my setup more to ice temperatures and ice
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conditions. So do you guys have
like an equipment manager or you doing all
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this on your own ill. But
no, I actually I got a I
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got a new sled guy in the
last couple years who's been he's been doing
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the heavy work and he's got this
thing to write. Reason like it's good
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to kind of have a general to
know more or less what's going on with
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this sled. But as an athlete, to you can you can get in
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the mindset of thinking you know everything
and it can get into a pretty dark,
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crazy spiral. So He's been he's
been doing all the head a lot
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of the heavy work. Of course
I do a lot of the stuff too,
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but all the stuff that involves the
brains I leave to him before I,
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you know, make things worse my
crying right. So now he's been
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great. We've been trying some really
cool things and yeah, he's got some
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really, really bright ideas for the
future. Duncan Kennedy showed out, of
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course, and yeah, really excited
to work with him. I don't Boyd
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Duncan. Yeah, yeah, there
you go, Duncan, you get to
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customize your let it all. We
had a ski Jumper Abbey Straight on last
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week and she has like a bumblebee
sticker that she has on her equipment.
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Do you ever like get to put
initials or anything cool like that? Are
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you can, but of course it
all kind of comes down to like certain
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sizes of things. You can really
customize things on your own, for sure,
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but it's the sponsorship logo, is
right, that are kind of the
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kind of the problem area for sure. But yeah, we can't do customizations.
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I keep mind pretty simple, right, red pod with the black coupins
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this year. I thought those a
pretty sleek look and simple. Happy with
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it. kind of the Canadian colors, right. So that that's kind of
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what I did. Right on.
Yeah, ain't go wrong. They're exactly
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keep it simple, right. Oh, you know, you mentioned there that
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obviously you're on little bit of vacation. Your season's dumb. Now that you're
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00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:21.079
back home, what do you get
up to in the offseason a man right
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now in the offseason? Well,
this is my off offseason, so I'M
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gonna start getting up the hill more, do some skiing. I've been I'm
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into mountain by too, so skeing, gun biking, the the Whistler Sports.
323
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I didn't really get up too much
of that last week. I actually
324
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came back from Mexico with a positive
covid tests. So it was there's a
325
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laylow week. I just got out
of my quarantine on Monday. So exciting
326
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stuff. The weather's beautiful. Might
actually head down to squamish BC and hit
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a quick little ride today. But
yeah, now just kind of just relaxing,
328
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kind of catching up on the on
the mountain sports I've been missing out
329
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on the last like five months on
the road. So, yeah, you
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got quite the playground in your backyard
that. Yeah, I wouldn't have it
331
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any other way, right. Yeah, yeah, and better to have that
332
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positive covid test after them, before
the Olympics. I can imagine that was
333
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kind of stressful leading up to it. And Yeah, that's a really good
334
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point actually, because you know,
the way the whole Lomacron variant was going
335
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around, it was turning into one
of these things that's like an unavoidable situation,
336
00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:27.640
because normally we could take precautions into
our own hands to kind of,
337
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you know, stay away and keep
keep all the test negative, but the
338
00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:34.799
way it was spreading like wildfire over
in Europe, it made it, it
339
00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:40.160
made it really stressful actually, especially, yeah, the final moments to write,
340
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because getting into China, they they
have a pretty there. They did
341
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have strict tests, but of course
the rules were changing every day. So
342
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we were told things pretty much from
like after Christmas. Are Like Hey,
343
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guys, don't get covid or else
you might not go to the Olympics,
344
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like good luck and stuff like that. So you know we were taking we're
345
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.839
living a pretty isolated life, doing
things very carefully. Normally the moments leading
346
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into an Olympics or tense, but
when you're not actually sure you can go
347
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:17.799
in there and compete because of something
so out of your control absolutely adds another
348
00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:19.480
stressor to it. But you know, we all made it in safe,
349
00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:23.000
which was really nice. It was
a huge weight off the shoulders net of
350
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US really none of us really knew
about until we were actually in China in
351
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the Olympic Village. Is like wow, like it. We made it,
352
00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:34.240
which was just such a sigh of
relief and it was kind of like now
353
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we can actually focus on the important
stuff right, like all the all the
354
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racing. But I got to give
it to the to the staff of Louge
355
00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:47.440
Canada. They did a great job
all year at dealing with all the nightmare
356
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:52.839
covid logistics so the athletes could focus
on the sliding right. So I really
357
00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:55.400
got to give it to them.
They did a lot of a lot of
358
00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:59.079
really heavy work this year and super
appreciative of that. But still, of
359
00:24:59.079 --> 00:25:03.160
course it's a it's a stress or
two, right. So yeah, especially
360
00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.920
with you guys going all around the
world to lose candle ahead, really hiding
361
00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.279
up their socks for that one,
no kidding, and they did a good
362
00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:15.079
job. We all made it to
the Olympics, all made it back.
363
00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:19.440
So yeah, logistical nightmare, but
it was handled well. Awesome. Nobod
364
00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:25.839
going to the Olympics you like.
Were you with your Luge team, I
365
00:25:25.880 --> 00:25:30.799
assume so. Yeah, we we
traveled the world together. So we are
366
00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:33.200
on the road for five months,
doing a bunch of training, doing the
367
00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:37.440
whole World Cup tour and even going
to the Olympics together. So yeah,
368
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.319
it wasn't like I was meeting any
new faces going to the Olympics. I
369
00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:48.000
knew these guys all along, right. So yeah, in the is there
370
00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.960
any difference between? I'm I'm assuming
obviously there's a pretty large difference between this
371
00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:57.480
Olympics in your last Olympics. But, like covid aside just from being so
372
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:02.440
much younger the first time around and
coming in as more of maybe a vetter,
373
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and I'm sure there's lots of first
time Olympians every time, but what's
374
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.240
it like just come in as one
of the top dogs instead of a fresh
375
00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:15.200
face? The approach was definitely more
or less the same. Actually it was.
376
00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:21.359
It was actually really similar going into
going into Pyeong Chang as a young
377
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:25.960
kid. I of course, nineteen
years old right first Olympics. Had A
378
00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:29.319
horrible season leading up to it.
I mean, I got my qualification,
379
00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:32.640
which was great, but things other
than that just really fell apart and didn't
380
00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:37.319
go my way. Similar stories this
year. But I went into the Peeong
381
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:41.079
Chang Olympics like things have gone so
wrong. I just I want to focus
382
00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.640
on having like for clean runs,
not not anything special, just for UN
383
00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:51.200
straight down the hill. And of
course, finishing twelve there was massive.
384
00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:55.000
That was a huge result for me, prob and that still to this day.
385
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.039
Pyeong Chang was the best race I've
had in my life, for sure,
386
00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:02.920
but pressure was on and you know, is more or less kind of
387
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:06.400
the same situation heading into China.
Right, I had these expectations of where
388
00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:08.759
I knew I could slide and knew
it, where I knew where I could
389
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:14.079
compete, but I wasn't quite there. So I just went in with a
390
00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.279
super similar mindset. You know,
knowing what it happened in the past,
391
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.640
anything can really happen. You can
always surprise yourself, especially when all the
392
00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:22.200
pressures on right. So it was
just like you know, I just focus
393
00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:27.160
on the clean runs and just try
to have fun with it. Things haven't
394
00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.400
panned out well, this is the
end of it, so go try to
395
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:34.240
have fun. Unfortunately, I had
a really big mistake in the my men
396
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:40.119
singles event on the second run.
That was super costly. I made mistakes
397
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:44.279
on all four my runs, but
it is the mistake I made and run
398
00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:48.240
to that really really cost things big
time. So it was it was a
399
00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:53.400
disappointment, but that's just the just
the way things go. And lose right.
400
00:27:53.400 --> 00:28:00.359
It's a it's a cruel mistress,
but I hear you. So,
401
00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:03.759
like you said, there's the four
runs and one really cost you'd are they
402
00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:08.319
cumulative or are you trying to just
put together one really good run? No,
403
00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:12.359
it's it's all for run combined time. So you got to go up
404
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:18.599
for all of them, which makes
it makes it difficult where it favors consistency
405
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:22.720
so much, right, because in
a normal World Cup situation it's just two
406
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:29.039
runs, so it's to run combined
time. Fastest wins. But over the
407
00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:32.480
Olympics it's for runs over two days. So you have two runs on the
408
00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:37.599
first day and then you gotta got
another day to do another two write.
409
00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.039
So, yeah, makes it makes
it a really interesting one. The track
410
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.880
in China was it was a really
challenging one on its own. It had
411
00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:52.319
a super unique characteristics and yeah,
the people, people who put four runs
412
00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:56.640
down the hill could really surprise himself
with like with a good result. Right.
413
00:28:56.759 --> 00:29:00.920
So that track really favorite consistency.
I definitely, as an athlete,
414
00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.200
struggle a bit with consistency, which
is a you know, easier said than
415
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:11.680
done our sport for sure. But
yeah, unfortunately the big the big mistake
416
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:18.119
on the second runs but really kind
of cost things. But so, I
417
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:22.759
you talked about consistency. There was. I just want to ask the Germans,
418
00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:26.400
like they swept the podium with four
golds. What kind of or like
419
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:30.559
have they just been dominant ever since, way back since, or is there
420
00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:36.480
something they are in the water over
there? What kind of you look up
421
00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:40.480
to? I don't know now,
ever, ever since the the beginning,
422
00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:44.720
right, luge has always been dominated
by the by the Germans. They have
423
00:29:44.839 --> 00:29:48.160
such a strong program they've had a
really strong program for years, right,
424
00:29:48.200 --> 00:29:52.960
and they have they have four tracks
over there that we race World Cup on,
425
00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:56.319
right. So they just have such
a deep program that have so many
426
00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.720
different facilities they get to train on, they have and each one of these
427
00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:04.279
facilities has different clubs of athletes and
it's a huge part. They have so
428
00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:10.119
many athletes, right, so they
can always really filter through to the to
429
00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:14.359
the best ones, the fastest ones. And Yeah, no, great athletes,
430
00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:17.400
great, great slight equipment, for
sure on their part. There's no
431
00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:21.319
there's no denying that. But you
know, strong, strong, strong program
432
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:25.920
and they always show up at the
Olympics and of course they they did it
433
00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:29.160
again too. But no, it's
nothing new. The Germans are always,
434
00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:34.880
always a serious force and in our
sport, obviously you hang out with your
435
00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:38.240
team a lot. You said,
you're with them for five months on the
436
00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:42.119
year, so get to know them
pretty well. But is there any mentors
437
00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:45.880
that you look up to in your
sport that really helped you get to where
438
00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:51.279
you are now? Yeah, I
know, of course. It was always
439
00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:55.200
always the national team athletes when I
was one of the younger guys, so
440
00:30:55.480 --> 00:31:00.000
usually the men's singles guys, of
course. But a really cool thing actually
441
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:06.160
was I just started sliding for I
think it was like within my first season.
442
00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:07.759
Yeah, I was on the sled
for just a year and then,
443
00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:11.880
of course the Olympics happened here,
right. So, yeah, me being
444
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:15.039
a little little loge, loge fanatic
at a young age, right, of
445
00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:18.759
course, I watched like all the
sliding events, especially lose, right,
446
00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:25.440
and it was just super cool to
kind of when I was more like sixteen,
447
00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:30.920
seventeen and I was starting to be
be noticed by the team and started
448
00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.599
training with a bit more, started
doing some races with them. It was
449
00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:37.599
just it was so cool to,
you know, be racing and training with
450
00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:42.319
these guys who I watched as as
heroes at the Vancouver Twenty Ten Olympics,
451
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:45.079
right, the the men, the
women in the doubles. It was just
452
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:48.359
that was a pretty surreal moment for
me to actually be like well, now
453
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:53.640
I'm a part of this group and
you know, super, super exciting and
454
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:57.799
yeah, know that that was kind
of the big thing to definitely the Canadians
455
00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:01.400
on the national team, especially the
ones I watched in the Olympics. Right,
456
00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:06.279
that was just so cool because,
you know, being eleven years old,
457
00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:08.480
Chubby little kid, that was like
Superhero status in my books. Right.
458
00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:14.000
So you're kind in the same bowl. We actually had a BOB's letter
459
00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:16.440
right here from Pi. She was
over there. Name was heather moist and
460
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.119
she came. Oh yeah, we
were cheering on right alongside you. Sure
461
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:27.920
Nice. Right on. Yeah,
so some Pi connections to the track?
462
00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:32.680
Yeah, yeah, right on.
Growing up in whistler like you, obviously
463
00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:37.200
have all these types of extreme sports
around. Did you ever like play hockey
464
00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:42.000
or any of the more normals,
or not normal, but the more common
465
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.559
sports in Canada? I didn't.
I never played hockey, I never played
466
00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:50.240
soccer and yeah, never did really
any of those. It was just kind
467
00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:53.240
of skiing and biking for me.
That was that was kind of it.
468
00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:58.839
I did a bit of golf when
I was young and I'm I'm going to
469
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:00.920
make a I'm going to make a
come back this year. You know,
470
00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:04.359
I put it, I played a
few games last year, kind of embarrass
471
00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.519
myself, but this year I'm committing, going to get myself a set of
472
00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:10.880
clubs and really shape up and become
a become a force on the links,
473
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:15.920
right. So, yeah, just
skiing and biking, a little bit of
474
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:19.039
Golf. Not, not really.
It was just maybe a week out of
475
00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:22.039
the year. But yeah, that's
those are kind of the those are kind
476
00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:24.920
of the things I do. But
golf this year. That's that's the big
477
00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:30.119
goal. I'm want to become a
strong golfer. So, yeah, enjoy
478
00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:34.680
fine tuning your golf game. I'd
say it's probably just as difficult is tuning.
479
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:37.039
That's let up. Yeah, you
know, it's a mind game to
480
00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:40.920
write. You gotta Blow a hole, your shoot one into the right,
481
00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:45.480
into the trees. You gotta shake
it off for the next one, right.
482
00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:49.960
Yeah, that's it's good. It's
good cross training, right. Yeah,
483
00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:53.519
that work on the mental game.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's
484
00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:59.440
cool. So I do you have
any any plans for the future, like
485
00:33:59.480 --> 00:34:02.680
what's next in your in your sights? You've had too Olympic Games. I'm
486
00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:06.200
sure you're going to be looking at
the next one, but is there anything
487
00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:09.280
else on your list for career accolades
that you're trying to knock down? No,
488
00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:12.800
yeah, of course. Still,
yeah, still looking at the next
489
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:15.960
ones, for sure, with a
bit of a different approach. But that's
490
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:20.719
a little conversation for kind of another
time here. But Um, yeah,
491
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:24.159
I want to try flying planes.
That's kind of something I want to I
492
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:28.239
want to get into and I don't
know, right now, I just kind
493
00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:30.880
of want to get in this guy. I'm sure it's going to be something
494
00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:34.960
I'll love it be super interested in. But Yeah, getting this guy and
495
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:37.760
kind of see where things take me
from there. But yeah, right now
496
00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:39.599
I kind of want to start logging
hours. I'm trying to get something going
497
00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:45.880
here with the local flight school and
squamish BC and yeah, see, see
498
00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:50.760
how that goes, see sort of
what what ideas those bring up, and
499
00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:52.599
yeah, see from there. But
of course I'm getting to a point now
500
00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:55.199
where it's like, you know,
loses being great and all, but now
501
00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:00.800
it's, yeah, time to start
looking and seeing. But what what I
502
00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:04.000
want to be doing in the real
life? So that's kind of a loose
503
00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:07.360
plan right now. So, yeah, more to come with that, hopefully
504
00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:10.599
soon. Right on. Yeah,
not shine away from the speed anytime soon
505
00:35:12.039 --> 00:35:15.039
now, exactly. Never know,
maybe you can fly. You're all your
506
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:19.679
teammates, you around the world.
I know I was right and look at
507
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:23.000
that. In a perfect world,
Hey, yeah, Canada lose with some
508
00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:27.239
some tickets at the very least to
pay him back. Look at that,
509
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:31.519
all these bright ideas. Hey,
we got you covered. Love it.
510
00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:37.519
That's awesome. I was not expected
that answer. No, that's dry.
511
00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:42.800
Yeah, because I guess I lose
as a career. Is, you know,
512
00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:45.039
not super realistic, is it?
Is Sport that like, I can't
513
00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:49.760
imagine. You know you're doing it
too late. There's a guy we saw
514
00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:52.320
he won his metal. It was
his first goal at the Olympics, I
515
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:55.000
think, and he was at like
the eight coming on right at the end
516
00:35:55.039 --> 00:36:00.320
of his career and like his mid
S. is when you see yourself doing
517
00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:04.719
that late, it's it's tough to
say. It's tough to say kind of
518
00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:07.320
just taken it year by your point, day at a time, but that
519
00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:10.199
that is the that is the thing
with our sport, right. Is Ages
520
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:15.559
favored, for sure, all the
experience, all that. It's it makes
521
00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:19.239
such a big difference. Right.
There's there's a few young guys that have
522
00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:22.199
done really great in the past,
but this is definitely a sport where it
523
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:28.119
takes it takes a lot of time
to really kind of show up and be
524
00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:31.800
consistent, be a real force.
But yeah, I don't know if that's
525
00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:36.000
really where I want to be right
now. I'm twenty three years old right
526
00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:38.920
now and, like I gotta say, my body it it's not quite doing
527
00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:43.480
the things that used to write.
Like I had some back issues, some
528
00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:47.079
weird shoulder things going on. It's
it's definitely taking a toll. So respect
529
00:36:47.079 --> 00:36:52.159
to those guys in their s right
keep staying on top of it physically right.
530
00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:54.719
So, yeah, I can I
can just picture my mom tone my
531
00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:58.719
shoulders to straighten up, but I've
been going down the track like this.
532
00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:07.800
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely get
the most out of it what you can.
533
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:09.960
For sure. No, exactly,
but yeah, no, right now
534
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:13.960
it's definitely time to have a look
and see what see what's going on the
535
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:16.079
other side. No, check out, check out that part of life.
536
00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:20.719
To write. Yeah, one hundred
percent. And that's unreal, though.
537
00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:25.199
Or could you see yourself like staying
in the game as a coach, or
538
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:29.719
have you ever had any like coaches
that have left a really big impact that
539
00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:34.800
you can see yourself doing for someone
else? It's tough to say. Like,
540
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:37.880
I definitely I'll do a bit of
coaching here and there. Like I
541
00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:42.000
like I'm showing up to the track
in the next couple days, right,
542
00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:45.920
to kind of help the youth group
going on here, right, you know,
543
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:49.280
do a bit of do a bit
of coaching for them. Right,
544
00:37:49.280 --> 00:37:53.119
but right now it's something that actually
then involves like all the traveling, doing
545
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:57.639
all that stuff. It can,
it's all it's a tough job. So
546
00:37:57.920 --> 00:38:00.840
right now, like not in a
serious way, no, but of course
547
00:38:00.840 --> 00:38:06.679
it's like in a way to like
the local youth programs going on here.
548
00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:10.719
Absolutely, right. Always all to
that. Try to get the kids all
549
00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:15.480
excited about Luge, motivate them a
bit, right, get them all jazzed
550
00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:19.480
up and yeah, but as far
as like actual like coaching goes, like
551
00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:22.239
on a serious level, that I
don't I don't think that's for me,
552
00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:25.039
not right now anyways. Right.
So, HMM. Ye Know, I
553
00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:30.639
can imagine as like a such a
niche sport in Canada, that heaven like
554
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:34.199
a trying to grow the sport.
I guess in a country where it's not
555
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:37.360
super popular, having someone who's,
you know, out there on the world
556
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:39.960
circuit can be a pretty big inspiration
for the kids. Yeah, cheers,
557
00:38:39.960 --> 00:38:43.360
man, and that's kind of the
that's kind of the plan. To write.
558
00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:47.239
We recently just lost the track in
Calgary, Alberta, which was definitely
559
00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:52.239
doing all the heavy lifting of recruiting
in our program so now we're kind of
560
00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:57.280
just based out of the whistler track
here, which is taken a taking a
561
00:38:57.280 --> 00:39:00.039
big hit. So right now it's
super important we get all the kids and
562
00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:05.599
we can and you know, they
just, yeah, just have fun with
563
00:39:05.639 --> 00:39:07.039
it. They got to love it, right, and it's super important,
564
00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:09.400
right, keep them motivated and,
you know, just let them know that
565
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:14.159
there's a real shot of making a
super cool career out of this, right,
566
00:39:14.199 --> 00:39:16.199
and it's not just something fun.
It can it can take you all
567
00:39:16.199 --> 00:39:20.000
over the world, even to a
few Olympics, and of course the life
568
00:39:20.039 --> 00:39:22.920
experience is just so rich, right. So always keep them, keep them
569
00:39:22.920 --> 00:39:27.920
interested in that, right. Yeah, definitely. And when you're younger,
570
00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:30.760
like what do you start off doing? Like, I can imagine they don't
571
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:35.679
just throw you down in the main
track right away, zipping around when you're
572
00:39:35.719 --> 00:39:37.400
like six or seven years old.
What do they start you out on?
573
00:39:38.360 --> 00:39:44.880
Um, so they start you out
on like more or less training wheel sleds,
574
00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:49.039
pretty light, super stable, don't
have much driveability. They're kind of
575
00:39:49.079 --> 00:39:52.239
just there and they're of course they're
not just sending you from the top of
576
00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:53.880
the track, right. It's it
takes a takes a lot of years.
577
00:39:53.880 --> 00:39:58.440
So for the track and whistler here, they start you from corner thirteen.
578
00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:01.599
They're sixteen corners, so you only
got to go through like four corners.
579
00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:05.559
But Um, you still get get
a taste of the speed, right,
580
00:40:05.719 --> 00:40:07.000
so you just kind of just kind
of Lai there. You get it.
581
00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:10.320
You get a feel for some of
the corners at a pretty, I say
582
00:40:10.360 --> 00:40:14.719
slow but you can still reach speeds
like seventy kilometers an hour. And from
583
00:40:14.760 --> 00:40:17.280
there they slowly move you up,
like in the in the development years,
584
00:40:17.320 --> 00:40:21.880
corner by corner. So every time
you kind of move up a corner,
585
00:40:21.880 --> 00:40:24.639
things start to come a little faster. Right. It's just a big milestone
586
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:29.440
to achieve and that's that's how they
do all the progression at a young age,
587
00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:32.239
right. So they make sure you
have the fundamentals down nailed at your
588
00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:37.519
start position and then when you're showing
you can slide well consistently, Dan,
589
00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:40.480
they'll talk about moving you at the
corner, right, and that's kind of
590
00:40:40.760 --> 00:40:46.599
step by step, by step by
step into becoming, yeah, just the
591
00:40:46.639 --> 00:40:50.760
full time athlete, because they would. Yeah, can't send you from the
592
00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:54.199
top of the track, right,
that just that's just angel beat ANAPP and
593
00:40:54.280 --> 00:40:58.440
right. Yeah, not gonna,
just got trouble all over it, right.
594
00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:02.440
Yeah, yeah, pretty good.
And timing. It's forty five minutes,
595
00:41:02.440 --> 00:41:07.280
I think so. Yeah, we
that's flies by. I'm glies and
596
00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:14.000
you haven't found nice. Guys.
Well, thank you so much for joining
597
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:17.320
us. Yeah, been great to
speak with you about such a cool sport.
598
00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:22.239
I enjoy the rest of your offseason. Awesome. Yeah, thanks so
599
00:41:22.320 --> 00:41:24.159
much for having me on. Guys, that was that was cool. Will
600
00:41:24.199 --> 00:41:28.480
be falling along now. Yeah,
if you wanted to tune up that golf
601
00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:30.599
game, we got a lot of
courses here on pies. I might have
602
00:41:30.679 --> 00:41:35.760
to take you up on that.
Hey, let's fly over start the new
603
00:41:35.800 --> 00:41:42.400
PGA, PGA crazier, looking great, right, guys. Awesome, sweet.
604
00:41:43.079 --> 00:41:45.639
Yeah, thanks for joining us,
man. Yeah, yeah, no,
605
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:47.719
PROB buzzeers mine shoes. Guys,
and that was awesome. I see
606
00:41:47.719 --> 00:41:51.440
you later. Seem better, guys. He's
