I think it's, the strategy of it.

A lot of times people call it kind of like chess on ice.

I think it's just kind of fun.

You're trying to outsmart your opponent, trying to figure things out first.

So it's sort of like a puzzle, sort of a game.

And so just kind of, I naturally fit in it.

Oh.

Touch wide.

Let it curl.

Let it curl.

I'm Dan Rose and I'm a Paralympic curling athlete.

I started curling in 201 when my, friend, who was a rec therapist back in Wisconsi just texted me out of the blue.

She was sending a couple, athletes out here to try curling, and they were looking for more people, and I had just moved out to Denver, and she asked if I wanted to give it a try.

And, you know, I said, why not?

I ended up performing really well at that camp.

And then a year later, I made the national team.

And I've been on the national team since.

So for able bodied curling, they, they have, you know, like, you'll see the people sweeping the stones, for wheelchair curling.

We don't have any sweepers, s our game is much more accurate.

We have to be very controlled.

in how har we're pushing the rock to get it to stop in the house where we want it.

So for us, once we let go of that roc and it's going down the sheet, we just sit back and watch it all unfold.

which is great if it's an amazing shot.

But sometimes when you screw up, it's, like watching the train wreck unfold before your eyes.

it's the same game, but just play it a little bit differently.

So obviously my league that I'm playing in today is with able bodied people, but, you know, I can still compete with them and, you know, contribute to the team.

So I was injured 2011.

And so when I got back home to Wisconsin, I went back to, like my small town that I grew up in, And it just felt like I was like the only person in a wheelchair, you know, it wasn't the most accessible place.

kind of felt like being a kid again where, you know, like, m parents have to drive me around.

I was back living at home with them.

So, I mean, it was just a really dark period but luckily, before I left, my recreational therapist dow in Tampa had come into my room and just basically told me, hey, there's a ski trip out to Colorado in December.

you know, I was real negative about it, like just on a driv even up, you know, I was like, I'm not gonna be able to ski, you know?

I'm, like, paralyzed.

There's no way.

But luckily, you know, like the instructors that they have out there.

Amazing.

Able to get me into a ski.

You know, I was skiing independently after the first day, you know, just got hooked, you know?

And I realized at that moment it was like, you know, if I can do this, what else is there I can do?

And So it was just kind of, like, became my outlet.

So once I had the opportunity to try curling, that's kind of why I jumped at it, because I trie so many different other sports, and you never know what's going to click.

Go on.

the competition is awesome.

I guess you're not like, hoping that your opponent misses their shot.

Like, at least I'm not.

Like, I would rather them make all their shots, and mine are just better.

you know, if your opponent makes a great shot, it's like you're congratulating them, you know, you're like, wow, that was amazing.

That was a good shot.

So it's, it's a really nice community and it's great to be a part of it.

go.