CurlingZone: Carey Enjoying Super-Spare Lifestyle

For a super-spare, Chelsea Carey is certainly keeping a busy curling schedule. She's getting decent results too.
Carey filled in for skip Jennifer Jones at this week's Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic and led the Winnipeg-based squad to the final before falling to top-ranked Silvana Tirinzoni. The Swiss side edged the Canadians 5-4 at the Halifax Curling Club.

"The final was obviously not our best work but we had an awesome week," Carey said. "We played really well overall, went on a good run and just ran out of steam a little bit in the final but that happens."

It was Carey's second final appearance this season with Team Jones, third Karlee Burgess, second Emily Zacharias and lead Lauren Lenentine. She also guided the young squad to the Saville Shootout final last September, falling to Team Rachel Homan in an extra end.

In the semifinals, the team defeated Seungyoun Ha (Chuncheon, KOR) 9-6 and while Tirinzoni won 7-3 over Italy's Stefania Constantini. In the quarterfinals, Carey defeated Clancy Grandy (Vancouver, BC) 8-3, while Constantini defeated Christina Black (Halifax, NS) 4-3.

Carey has also filled in for Team Michelle Jaeggi, playing third for the Switzerland-based side on three occasions. She's slated to fill in for them again next month.

"I've played a fair amount so it's not really anything different than I would normally do," Carey told CurlingZone. "I'm at home practising by myself but that's been the case with my last several teams anyway. I haven't had a teammate that's lived in Calgary for years."

Carey finished 3-1 in the 15-team qualifying round. In their opening game, Carey defeated Katelyn Wasylkiw (Milton, ON) 8-6, then won 7-4 against Jessica Daigle (Halifax, NS) and 11-1 against Stacie Curtis (St. John's, NL). Carey next lost 6-2 against Constantini in their final qualifying round match.

Carey played with Jolene Campbell, Liz Fyfe and Rachel Erickson last season. The team called it quits a few weeks after falling in the Manitoba playdowns.

The longtime skip has thrown third rock for Jaeggi, a refreshing change and something Carey hasn't done since her first two years out of juniors.

"I always liked playing third," she said. "You get to do a little bit of everything, which is what I always really enjoyed about it."

Carey and mixed doubles teammate Colin Hodgson may also team up for an event or two in the New Year or next season, but she has "no idea" what her four-player future might hold in 2024 or beyond.

"If I had an opportunity to join a team, maybe, if it made sense," she said. "But this quad I doubt that there's going to be anything like that."

For now, she's enjoying her substitute role in both the third- and fourth-rock positions.

"You kind of just get to show up and play," she said. "So that part is nice but it'll kill me this week to sit there and watch the (Grand) Slam on TV. So that's the downside is that you don't necessarily get to dictate your own schedule ... but it's been fun because it's a bit different. I have been enjoying it."

Carey and Hodgson have played several events together over the last two quadrennials. They won the Canad Inns Mixed Doubles Classic in 2017.

"I think there's something to be said for having a back-end player and a front-end player on a mixed doubles team," Carey said. "Colin is an insanely good sweeper. He's an incredible weight judge. He can shape rocks better than most of the men's sweepers I've seen.

"He's very skilled at and I've spent a lot of time calling line in my life. I think having that combo is definitely a benefit."

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