Karlee Burgess brings the power and the party to Kerri Einarson’s curling team

CALGARY – Her teammates say she’s either the life of the party or fast asleep.

Karlee Burgess has been a workhorse on the broom given the volume of draws she’s dragged into the rings at the women’s world curling championship in Calgary.

Canada’s lead also brought enthusiastic rookie energy to her world championship debut, which her teammates have fed upon.

“She sweeps hard and keeps us laughing out there,” said Canada’s second Shannon Birchard. 

“She’s super-goofy. You know why she’s got to nap. She’s working pretty hard on the brush. We’ve definitely been playing a lot more in-turns, so she’s been having to hold the line quite a bit. She’s held quite a few of my own, too. She’s just a powerhouse to have on the team.”

The 27-year-old Burgess from Winnipeg has also placed her guards and come-around draws with precision. 

Her 93.1 per cent shooting accuracy ranked first among leads heading into Friday.

The “Energizer Bunny”, as her teammates call her, has to recoup her spent energy somehow. Burgess is a champion sleeper.

“I can nap anywhere. If you told me to lay down right here, I could probably fall asleep in five minutes,” Burgess declared as she pointed to the carpet beneath her feet. 

Added her skip Kerri Einarson: “You look back in the car and she’s out cold. She can fall asleep anywhere that girl.”

Burgess is relatively new to throwing first stones and the sweeping load after merging with Einarson’s team just over a year ago in January of 2025.

Einarson, vice Val Sweeting and Birchard, who have been teammates since 2018, won world championship bronze medals together in 2023 and 2022 with Briane Harris.

Burgess had spent most of her career at vice, including the two years she played that position for decorated curler Jennifer Jones.

The three-time world junior champion made sure she was in the best shape of her life coming into this curling season. 

She worked with a personal trainer last summer. Burgess also runs half-marathons, which helps her recovery between hard sweeps.

Her endurance was nevertheless tested on Canada’s three straight days of split draws — playing in the morning and the evening — from Tuesday to Thursday in Calgary. Even for a good sleeper, those were short nights.

“I looked at the schedule and I was like ‘you’re kidding me, right? This is for real?'” Burgess said. “Being a sweeper, you burn a lot of calories all week. It’s really hard on your body too. I’m just keeping the energy up and rolling with it, but yeah, it is a marathon.

“Being a lead, you gotta be ready to sweep.”

She has access to a physiotherapist who goes to their rented accommodation near the WinSport Event Centre. Burgess also puts her feet up in compression boots between draws.

“I find after sweeping and just being on my feet I get a little soreness or achiness,” she explained. “The compression or keeping my legs up in the air helps with blood flow and flushes out any lactic acid in my legs.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2026.