Ice and Sand in Liverpool

The ice conditions are taking shape at the Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool N.S., host of Canada’s Olympic Trials for mixed doubles curling.

The 19-draw event starts on Dec. 30 with a diverse field of competitors vying to be Canada’s MD duo at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy—provided the same winning squad can qualify Canada at the next world championship.

Recent coaching announcements include B.C.’s Melissa Soligo joining the Taylor Reese-Hansen/Corey Chester combo (Kitimat/Victoria) and southern Ontario’s Wayne Tuck, who recently completed his coaching practice evaluation, in time to join the Guelph pairing of Riley Sandham and Brendan Craig.

Also taking shape is the event logo drawn into sand on a local beach.

The drawing measures 66 x 70 feet and was designed by Kya McArthur, and was brought to life via a team headed by Jane Dunlop-Stevenson.

Dunlop-Stevenson’s crew included McArthur, Anne Dunlop, Lorna McPherson, Kim Thorburne-Whalen, Mary MacIntosh and Doug Thompson.

As we reported earlier this month, the 16 teams will be divided into two pools of eight for a round robin running through Jan. 1. The top three teams from each pool advance to a six-team playoff.

Playoff action begins on Jan. 2, with the top two teams from each pool crossing over to compete for a direct spot in the Page 1 vs 2 game. The losers drop down to play the third-placed teams in each pool for the spots in the Page 3 vs 4 game. From there, the winner of the Page 1/2 game advances to the final, while the loser will play the winner of the Page 3/4 game in the semifinal.

The semifinal winner moves on to the gold-medal match on Jan. 4, where the Trials champion will be crowned.

The championship will be streamed on the Curling Canada YouTube channel.