Don WALCHUK

By 1989 Don Walchuk was already a member of the Northern Alberta Curling Association’s Hall of Fame, having played the positions of lead and second under the Pat Ryan rink (team) since 1985. He won the Alberta provincial championship four times (1985, 1987, 1988, 1989), the Canadian national championship twice (1988 and 1989), and received silver and gold medals at the 1988 and 1989 World Championships respectively. In 1990 he joined Randy Ferbey as third, and then completed his cycle through all of the positions by skipping (captaining) his own rink from 1992 through 1994. Deciding that he preferred third, he became part of the lineup under Kevin Martin. With the team he would capture four more Alberta provincial championships (1996, 1997, 2000, 2006) and place fourth at the 1997 World Championships. Team Martin was the runner up at the 1997 Canadian Curling Olympic Trials, but managed to win the event in 2001, earning them the right to represent their country at the 2002 Winter Olympics. The foursome won the silver medal, losing to the Norwegians in the final, and was split up shortly after posting a losing record at the 2005 Olympic trials. Since 2008 he has played third under Manitoba’s Kerry Burtnyk, but he has yet to see any major successes with the rink. When not curling he works as an investment advisor at Union Securities Limited.