CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - There’s little rest for Peter Gallant these days, though he’s taking a few months off before joining his new team skipped by Swiss curler Silvana Tirinzoni in Ontario in August.
“This is like a vacation for me,” said Gallant with a laugh.
It’s been a whirlwind over the last month for the Charlottetown native after coaching the South Korean women to a silver medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, then watching his son Brett Gallant win his second straight Tim Hortons Brier in Regina Sask., with Team Canada skipped by Brad Gushue.
That was followed by moving his other son Christopher, who played second for Team P.E.I. at the Brier, to Winnipeg, Man.
Now he’s moving on to Team Tirinzoni in a bid to help that foursome the way he helped the South Koreans. Tirinzoni and crew finished 4-5 and seventh overall at the PyeongChang Olympics.
Gallant’s three-year deal with the South Koreans expired after the Olympics making him a free agent.
He’d talked to Tirinzoni as few times since February as his deal wound down and recently decided on a one-year agreement to start.
And it already has differences that Gallant sees as a challenge.
His gig with the Koreans was full-time. It’s part-time with the Swiss, though he’ll guide his team for the Grand Slam tour event in August, the European championships in November in Estonia, the Swiss championships next February and worlds in Denmark next March.
“(Unlike the Koreans) they’re not professionals, they all have day jobs. A little different. There’s very little funding. She’s the skip of the Olympic team certainly, but there wouldn’t be enough to pay for a hotels, travel etc. for a (full-time) coach,” Gallant said. “It’s a new exciting opportunity for me. It will be interesting to work with a team with that kind of talent.”
Along with the coaching move Tirinzoni’s rink is re-vamping as it aims toward the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. Third Manuela Siegrist and lead Marlene Albrecht are leaving the squad after the Players Championship Grand Slam event next week in Toronto.
Once the new season starts in August with Tirinzoni at the helm and Esther Neuenschwander at second, Gallant will join new third Alina Paetz, a two-time world champion skip, and new lead Melanie Barbezat in Toronto.
Gallant admits it’s an interesting mix especially as Paetz will throw skip stones.
“It’s a totally different experience. With the Koreans it was a teaching role, technique and systems and getting them buying into what you were asking,” Gallant said. “This is an experienced team, it will be more of a coaching role than a teaching role. More talk about team dynamics, this is basically a different foursome. I’ll be initiating discussions working through issues. As a coach I need to have those discussions. Work hard early in the season so everybody’s comfortable in their roles.”
And though his new gig sees him spending more at home, Gallant still is a coach and has started already.
“I’ll be sending them training tips, fitness ideas, little snippets over the summer to keep them keen.”
The Road Ahead
A quick at the Silvana Tirinzoni rink to be coached by Peter Gallant next season.
- Silvana Tirinzoni, 28, skip, led 2018 Swiss women’s Olympic team, world championship appearances in 2006, 2007 and 2013.
- Alina Paetz, 28, third, skipped world champion teams in 2012 and 2015.
- Esther Neuenschwander, 34, second, threw second stone on 2018 Swiss women’s Olympic team, world championship appearances in 2006, 2007 and 2013.
- Melanie Barbazat, 27, lead, curled in World Universiade Games and world women’s junior championship.
