Male Athlete of the Week

Jon Beuk, Curling

Skip Jon Beuk led the men’s curling team to a Canadian championship title last weekend.

While most of the guys on the team have superstitions, Beuk said he faced bigger problems.

“I was skipping so I was yelling a lot,” he said. “You try to keep your throat lubricated. I was drinking water which worked for the first half of the tournament, but when we were getting closer to the finals I don’t know if it was the water or nervousness but I had to pee the entire game. It seemed like as soon as I got back on the ice I had to go back to the washroom.”

Beuk said his thought process as a skip wasn’t complicated.

“Generally I’m thinking; ‘let’s try to not lose the game’,” he said. “My biggest concern was not giving up a big end.”

He said the most exciting part of the national competition was interacting with a large pool of talented curlers.

“It was really good to meet all the future potential Olympians and get to know them a little better.”

Beuk said there weren’t the temper tantrums often occur in high-stress curling situations.

“Mentally it’s as fatiguing as any other sport. A lot of people are different. People can get intense, they slam brooms, kick rocks, but most of the people we played were really friendly,” he said, adding he remained calm during the tournament because there wasn’t much going wrong for the team.

The second-year PhD student in neuroscience completed his master’s and undergraduate degrees at Queen’s. He’s played on the team for seven of his eight years at the university.

Beuk said what made this team a national championship team was the bond between the players.

“I think the biggest difference is that this team is really mature,” he said. “The key is that we were really comfortable playing with each other and we liked each other. You don’t get that with university curling because usually the coach just throws together a team.”

Beuk said he’s been curling longer than some first-year students have been alive. At age 10 he was torn between hockey and curling but tried curling first because it was less of an investment.

“All you had to do was put a piece of tape on your shoe… I never got around to hockey.”

He said he’s stuck with curling because of the social aspect.

“I had a couple girlfriends through curling,” he said. “You get a lot of people together that you wouldn’t generally meet.”

What reality show do you most want to go on?

Survivor.

Team’s favourite movie to watch on the bus?

The Band of Brothers Series. We’re really looking forward to The Pacific.

Most won on roll-up the rim?

This year I’m about one for 10. I won a coffee.

What did you do on St. Patrick’s day?

On the record, celebrated.

One sneeze, two sneezes, or several?

Generally two.

De Niro or Pacino?

Pacino.

Best show on TV?

How I Met Your Mother.

Best late-night food spot in Kingston?

Pita Grill. Bubba’s is fine in undergrad but eventually you feel a lot worse the next day.

Sport you most want to try?

Skeleton. How do you even get into that?

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