As I said a couple of weeks ago, it’s not a comeback.
And my brief return into the world of competitive tournament certainly isn’t about winning either.
But it does feel nice to have been part of a victory on day one of the Women’s Euro Super Series.
It’s not Team Muirhead anymore, it’s Team Jaeggi!
It’s three Swiss girls (who thankfully speak very good English) and one retired Scot trying to help out.
I’ve been playing third for team skip, Michele, and we did a good job in beating Scotland’s Team Henderson 5-3.
I didn’t really know what to expect but it’s been great seeing familiar faces back at the National Curling Academy.
When I went in for a bit of practice with Vicky Drummond earlier in the week it was a big relief to not fall flat on my face on the ice apart from anything else!
Then finding out that there’s still some muscle memory for curling was reassuring as well.
Euro Super Series Results:
Draw 1
Blair-Strouse 2-9
Jaeggi – Henderson 5-3
Roervik – Abbes 9-4
Next LIVE streamed game @RecastTV at 1800
Munro v Henderson
📺https://t.co/c9QafXmPye
📸WCF/Stephen Fisher#curling pic.twitter.com/wIFZLizNxe— British Curling (@BritishCurling) August 17, 2023
I suppose, when I think about it – yes, Beijing was a long time ago but earlier in my career I was used to curling shutting down for four months basically.
You’d compete in the Oslo Cup without any real preparation.
It was your first slides since March.
I must admit, though, I did think ‘will I have lost it?’
I had to do a bit more sweeping than I was used to in the game so we’ll see how my body is feeling at the end of the week.
So far, so good, though.
The girls are lovely.
A couple of them are young curlers and they’ve been asking lots of questions.
It’s been nice to pass on a few bits of advice here and there.
I don’t want to change anything they do. It’s about me fitting in with them and helping out after they found themselves short of a player a couple of months ago.
For the Scottish teams, I’ve been putting myself in their shoes.
I know the pressure – there are some new line-ups and the coaches are all watching them, even though you can’t get spectators into the academy.
This is a very important year for curling in the Olympic cycle.
I’m enjoying having this tiny taste of competition again – maybe even a bit more than I thought I would.
But I’ll be quite happy to step back off the ice and leave it to the others after this weekend!
It was an absolute pleasure spending a day at the AIG Women’s Open last Friday.
I took part in a Q&A with the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill and got the chance to have a good walk around the course at Walton Heath before watching some golf down the 18th.
What a few days of sport! 👀
Women’s Open Golf at Walton Heath ⛳️ and Cycling World Champs on my doorstep 🚴🏽♀️
Congrats to #GlasgowScotland2023 👏🏼
Amazing seeing the worlds best riders coming to 🏴@AIGWomensOpen @UCI_cycling @CyclingWorlds pic.twitter.com/Drh08HlIiq— Eve Muirhead OBE (@evemuirhead) August 13, 2023
I came away feeling really positive about the direction of the women’s game.
The men’s Open has become so huge these days – both in terms of the size of the infrastructure around it and the galleries.
Last week felt much more relatable to the ordinary golfer.
The competition was great and the number of families with young kids there was the biggest thing I picked up on.
It’s coming to St Andrews in 2024 and I’ll be doing my best to make sure I’m there.
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