Olympic dream a long time coming

by Alison Stucke

Whenthe torch was lit for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Duluthian Aileen Geving was set to be there as a member of the U.S. Women’s Curling Team. The games, taking place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will be televised on NBC networks and digital platforms.

“We’re leaving February 1, training in Japan a couple days, and then we go to Korea,” Aileen said weeks before the games. She was referring to the U.S. women’s team, which includes four curlers and one alternate. “The opening ceremonies are on February 9, and our first game is February 14.”

Years of dedication helped Aileen reach her goal of playing on the U.S. team.

“I’ve put a ton of time and effort into this goal,” she said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s definitely paid off.”

Aileen, who will celebrate her 31st birthday while at the Olympics, started curling at age 10. Her parents curled, so she thought she’d give it a try.

“My dad always encouraged me to try,” she said. “I had no interest because it was their thing, but when I tried it, I loved it.”

Aileen then became involved in the Duluth Curling Club’s junior program.

“Every Tuesday and Thursday night, they had instructors for anyone age 21 and under,” she said. “I also played as an after-school thing, a couple days a week. A few years later, three other girls in the program and I decided to start a competitive team together. We went to junior tournaments a couple times a year to play and learn.

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I also started playing with my parents recreationally in the adult league.”

Trying out for the 2018 games was not Aileen’s first effort to go to the Olympics. Competition is great, she said, because curling has a large number of competitive athletes in the Midwest.

“This was my fourth Olympic trial,” she said.

“When I was 13, during our first year with junior team, we went to junior nationals and took third place. This was unheard of for how young we were. I went to the junior world competition as an alternate. In 2001, at age 14, I was added in World Juniors to Team U.S.A. for one event. My thirdplace team continued to play after that.

Later, my team managed to get into Olympic trials when I was 16. I didn’t realize the severity of what we were doing. We could hardly fathom it. After a few more years, we started realizing this is a very serious thing.”

The fourth time was the charm. Aileen was a member of one of three teams selected (out of many teams who tried out) to go to Pyeongchang. There, teams from 10 countries will compete for one Olympic gold medal.

During the weeks before leaving for Korea, Aileen and her teammates kept a vigorous workout schedule, including playing in tournaments, practicing curling for 45 minutes a day, and spending several hours in the gym five days each week, including strength training, cardio sessions and yoga.

“It’s a matter of keeping moving and just keeping what muscle we have as we go for the gold,” Aileen said. “It’s not about putting on a lot of muscle right now.”

Aileen said she wasn’t sure how much time she would have for sightseeing in Korea. “It really depends how much curling we’ll be doing,” both in practicing and as official games, Aileen said. She was thrilled that her husband, Garrett, was planning to go to Korea as a spectator, as well as Aileen’s father, and her brother and his girlfriend.

“It will be awesome,” Aileen said.” I don’t know how much I will be able to talk with them, but it will be great to have them there to cheer me on and experience it with me.”

Aileen would also like to thank her employer, Marsh & McLennan Insurance Agency in Duluth.

“They’ve been super supportive,” she said. “They’ve sponsored our team, and they let me have time off. They’ve been wonderful.”

Aileen is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth, and she called herself “a very normal person.”

“I like to do outdoor, Duluth-type things,” she said. “I like to hike, camp and fish.”

Visit nbcolympics.com to view a schedule of the televised Olympic Games, and watch for Aileen’s jersey during the curling competitions. She’ll have travelled a long way from Duluth to get there! D

Alison Stucke is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to The Woman Today.