HIGH ACHIEVERS: Rideau Curling Club’s Brian Lewis rink captures second Ontario masters title in three years

By Martin Cleary

Retirement is good for Brian Lewis. No, make that great.

When you look at his calendar, curling appears on his agenda for almost every day. Ah, life doesn’t get much better for someone who started curling as a 10-year-old at the Navy Curling Club and has continued that roaring tradition for 53 years.

Curling is life for Lewis, who now represents the Rideau Curling Club.

When he’s not coaching the Brett Lyon-Hatcher men’s rink, which includes his son Chris, he skips a masters (60-plus) team, competes on a senior team (50-plus), and plays in three leagues – the Tuesday night Rideau Curling Club cash league, the Wednesday night mixed league at the Rideau, and the Thursday morning senior cash league at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

But as much as he loves curling, sometimes the stones don’t always line up as planned and all of a sudden one of your curling seasons is in serious jeopardy.

But sometimes, every stone seems to have the right weight and destination and winning is contagious.

The 2025 Ontario men’s masters curling championship last weekend at the Granite Curling Club of West Ottawa was a perfect example of those two contrasting scenarios.

After escaping from the regional qualifying event by the skin of his teeth in November, Lewis and his Rideau rink executed an undefeated performance of eight straight wins at the Ontario championships to earn his second provincial title in three years.

There were five teams at the men’s masters regional competition at the Napanee and District Curling Club and the top two advanced to the provincials.

The Lewis rink, which is completed by Graham Sinclair at third, Michael Johansen at second and Dave Stanley at lead, won its first match 7-4 over Marc Tremblay of the Huntley Curling Club. But in a back-and-forth second match, Lewis lost to defending champion Howard Rajala of Rideau by surrendering three in the seventh end and losing 8-7.

Lewis needed to win its third and final match to qualify for provincials, but it wouldn’t be easy. In a high-scoring game against Wayne Williams of the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club, Lewis needed to rally three times to post a 10-9 win. Williams scored four in the seventh end to lead 9-7 with one end remaining. But Lewis counted three in the eighth for the comeback victory.

“Our team is darn good when our backs are up against the wall,” Lewis said in a phone interview this week. “They’re resilient. They never give up.”

When it came time for the Ontario championships, the Lewis rink, which has been together for the past four seasons, was untouchable. Its first match was a challenge, but that result provided unstoppable momentum.

Trailing 7-3 after five ends to Dan Cleutinx of the York Curling Club, Team Lewis tapped into its winning formula from the qualifying event and rebounded to score four in the sixth end and steal one in each of the seventh and eighth ends for a 9-7 decision.

Lewis completed the round-robin in the eight-team championship with six more wins – 9-4 over Dave Nigh of Lindsay, 7-5 over Rick Thurston of Dundas Granite, 8-2 over Rajala, 7-6 over Tim Meadows of Collingwood, 4-3 over Bruce Webster of Oakville and 6-5 over Jim Brackett of Sydenham.

By winning the round robin, Lewis earned the hammer to start the final and the team charged out of the hack. Lewis scored three in the first end against Webster, one in the second end and proceeded to steal one, two and one points over the final three ends respectively for an 8-1 win in six ends.

“At the 2024 championships, we weren’t great at 4-3 and (we had) no playoffs,” Lewis explained. “We came into the provincials hungry to win this year.

“I didn’t expect to go 8-0 and we had a big win in our first game. It was the best we’ve played in four years.”

The Lewis rink will represent Ontario at the 2025 Canadian men’s masters championship in Sault Ste. Marie from March 30 to April 6.

When Lewis went to the national championships in 2023, his rink finished first in its round-robin pool at 9-1, but lost in the semifinals. Lewis held a two-point lead without the hammer entering the final end in his semis, but gave up four to miss an opportunity to play in the final. That shot still leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

“We all want to get back (to nationals) for another crack at it. We’re all motivated,” Lewis added.

The Lewis rink is the fourth Ottawa Valley Curling Association team to win the Ontario men’s masters championship twice. The others are Bruce Delaney of the Russell Curling Club (2017, 2016), Layne Noble (2014 with Rideau, 2011 with Ottawa Curling Club) and Rod Matheson of Ottawa (2005, 1997).

When it comes to curling, the Lewis rink has fun on the ice, but they also take a serious, scientific approach to it.

When it comes to practising several times a week, every minute of the one-hour session is accounted for in detail, working on specific shots and the timing of shots. Off the ice, the players will spend 60 to 90 minutes after each practice to work on game strategy and discuss all kinds of scenarios.

“We talk about what we should do in this situation and work it out. It’s really important at provincial and national competitions because they use a time clock,” Lewis said.

“When it’s our time to throw … there’s only so much thinking time. You don’t want to take too much time.”

All four members of the team subscribe to this proactive approach.

“I credit Graham Sinclair for this because he’s a national-level coach,” Lewis continued. “He brought this to our team. It’s very strict. But the practices are down to the minute. Everything is pre-planned. We have it down to a science.

“It sets us apart from the rest of the teams. We take it more seriously than most teams, but we do have fun. Credit to Graham for making it more businesslike and not leaving anything to chance.”