OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — While athletes around the world prepare for the Winter Olympics in a few months, several local curlers will be participating in a national championship this week, representing Omaha on a big stage.
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Even on warm fall days, you'll find members of Aksarben Curling at Baxter Arena preparing for competition.
"People are attracted to competition and seeing how far can you push yourself," said Nic Swiercek of Aksarben Curling.
This week, the club is sending a men's team and women's team to the Arena National Championships in Las Vegas. The tournament is for teams that play on ice that's not curling-dedicated, like at Baxter, which is also used for hockey.
"Both teams are trying to understand where those lines are, where is the stone falling off the sheet, where does it hold straight, how much does it actually curve, and so whoever can figure out those lines first has a distinct advantage," Swiercek said.
This is the second straight year he'll participate in the national championship.
The men earned a silver medal last year, so they're hoping for gold this time. The women are also making a repeat appearance.
"The one thing I'm really excited about, especially in this group of the women that are going with some that I've known, the curling community is awesome," Buffy Linke, the skipper on the women's team, said. "People are really supportive. The goal is for people to play well to make the match as competitive as possible and so I am very excited for the opportunity that we're about to have."
The athletes are all paying their own way to compete.
"You do have to have a special group of people who are committed to do it, who have the opportunity to take the time off of work and the funding to go and do this," Linke said. "We had a more intentionality behind what we were doing and the goal was to make it."
The teams hope to put Omaha curling even more on the map.
"This is not only networking to get to know other players, it's networking to represent the club," Linke said. "We're trying to get further into a curling club dedicated facility, so the more exposure you get, the more people who are paying attention and the more people who want to join, which continues to grow the club."
Pool play begins Tuesday, Oct. 14 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 18. Bracket play starts Saturday evening and ends on Sunday.
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