Gold medallist promoting wheelchair curling

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This article was published 27/11/2017 (3080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dennis Thiessen has enjoyed great success in wheelchair curling and his gold medals from the 2013 world championship and 2014 Paralympic Games — both in Sochi, Russia — highlight his accomplishments.

However, the 54-year-old born and raised in Crystal City, who now calls Winnipeg home, is big on expanding interest in the sport. It’s why he and 2017 Canadian champion teammate Mark Wherrett were at the Brandon Curling Club on Saturday afternoon for a clinic.

“I want to share my experience and my knowledge of wheelchair curling to the people that want to learn and form teams and hopefully we can grow the sport,” Thiessen said. “I believe I need to give back. I’ve been blessed with all of my accomplishments and I just want to give back.”

Injured in a farm accident when he was 17 years old that resulted in the loss of his left leg, Thiessen doesn’t lament his condition. Instead, he has embraced it.

“I got injured and I thought there was nothing else out there for me and when I met Mark — first in basketball and then I got into wheelchair curling — and that has really changed things for me in my life,” Thiessen said. “I feel it has a great value, sports always does. It opens up a lot of avenues for a person and when you see that avenue opening up it’s important to take it.”

Thiessen began wheelchair curling in 2005 and his steady progression earned him a spot on the national team following a two-year tryout process. He also captured Canadian titles in 2011 and 2014, the latter year with Wherrett, to go with the championship won last May.

Nonetheless, the Paralympic gold stands out on its own.

“It’s very hard to describe but it was overwhelming. I was there in 2013 for the worlds first and we won gold,” Thiessen said. “Going back for the Paralympics I didn’t know what to expect but when we got there it was just over the top.

“It’s an experience that is very hard to describe. It’s very surreal. It was just wonderful and winning the gold was the cherry on the cake.”

He’s also optimistic that he will be selected to represent Canada again at the upcoming Paralympic Games in South Korea and defend the gold medal. The team will be announced on Dec. 8.

Wherrett doesn’t have the experience his good friend Thiessen has as a Paralympic wheelchair curler, but the 61-year-old from Dryden, Ont., who also lives in Winnipeg, has competed at a high level internationally in other wheelchair sports, including tennis, basketball and racquetball.

In fact, Wherrett and Thiessen represented Manitoba at past wheelchair basketball nationals and it’s on the hardwood where they first met.

A self-described “rink rat,” Wherrett grew up a block from his local curling club in northwestern Ontario, and even after falling four stories in an industrial accident at Dryden’s pulp and paper mill 40 years ago he returned to the sport, albeit in a wheelchair.

“I went to training sessions similar to the one held here in Thunder Bay and we got a team together between Dryden and Kenora and we managed to win Northern Ontario four years in a row,” Wherrett said.

An incomplete paraplegic working for the Canadian Paraplegic Association, Wherrett has been to 11 straight national curling championships representing either Northern Ontario or Manitoba, and like Thiessen he wants to pass along knowledge and advice to those interested in wheelchair curling.

“I’m a rehab councillor with (the CPA) so I know the benefits of recreation, I know the benefits of getting out and doing things,” he said. “I’m definitely here to promote that and the benefits of wheelchair curling in Manitoba.”

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