---
title: Giving Curling a Whirl
date: 2022-02-02T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/giving-curling-a-whirl"
section: Articles
---
# Giving Curling a Whirl

*February 2, 2022* — by [Annie Krakower](/author/annie-krakower)


> As Wacky Sport Opens in Winter Olympics, Two Terp Pros Show What It Takes

*Curling 01272022 SC 1842 1920x1080 — Eric Clawson ’83, center, throws the rock as Katherine Gourianova ’23, left, and writer Annie Krakower, right, take off to sweep. The two expert Terp curlers volunteered to show Krakower how the sport works last week at the Potomac Curling Club in Laurel, Md. Below, Krakower tries delivering the stone.*

Crouching on the slightly textured ice at the [Potomac Curling Club](https://curldc.org/), I grab hold of a disk-like granite rock and glance at a giant red-and-blue target just over 40 yards away. As long as I don’t fall—definitely not guaranteed, I think to myself—surely the slick surface should allow me to easily glide the stone into an area big enough to swallow a compact car.

I shift my weight back, lunge forward, release. After a while, the stone glides forlornly to a halt several feet short of where I was aiming.

It’s my first experience with curling, the unique sport that begins in the Winter Olympics in Beijing today and that alternately captivates and confuses viewers worldwide every four years. With its uniquely placid style of play and exotic terminology and gear, the slippery pastime poses plenty of questions for the uninitiated: Why’s it even called curling? What exactly are they doing with those brooms? And who first thought, “This rock needs a handle?”

Luckily for me, on this day in late January, two expert Terps have volunteered to show me the ropes: Katherine Gourianova ’23, a member of Team USA who won the 2019 Mixed National Championship and competed on the world stage, and Eric Clawson ‘83, Team USA coach during that year’s world championship. They make the sliding and sweeping look easy, but I promise, it’s not.

“A lot of people see curling and see the target and just go, ‘Well, why don’t you just put it in the middle?’” says Gourianova, a neuroscience and linguistics double major who took up curling after years of ice skating. “It’s a lot more complicated than that.”


*Curler slides granite rock*



**Sidebar note:**

**A New Sport for a Terp Star** Former Terp and NFL player Vernon Davis isn’t afraid to tackle challenges off the football field, whether he’s giving back through his foundation, delving into film or tangoing on “[Dancing With the Stars](https://today.umd.edu/trading-touchdowns-tangos-38ce7835-4954-4b26-afa1-05428565be37).” Add to the list: championing curling.

The former Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion has embraced his second sport since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver—enough to be named [honorary captain of Team USA](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/sports/beijing-winter-olympics/vernon-davis-curling-diversity-john-shuster-2022-olympics/2726827/).

“You just watch that stone as it starts to spin and it’s going to the destination you want it to go to,” Davis said in an [interview](https://www.lx.com/beijing-olympics/curling-has-been-mostly-white-for-centuries-these-athletes-are-trying-to-expand-its-reach/47271/) with NBC LX’s My New Favorite Olympian series. “It’s just a joy when it actually gets there.”





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