Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Reid finds wins at every level

Young luger takes third national title
sports_results2-1-e59e03fba8958c01
On top again Luger Garrett Reid won his third national title in four years at Whistler Sliding Centre earlier this month. Photo submitted

The Reid household is a popular one for sliding.

Parker Reid made headlines earlier this year when he competed at the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway in mono-bobsleigh.

But younger brother Garrett is also making a name for himself on the luge.

The 12-year-old capped his season by winning the Youth B national championship at Whistler Sliding Centre earlier this month, edging out fellow B.C. athlete Brendan Shippit by 0.168 seconds. He later took the provincial title in the division.

"The day of the (nationals) race, I told myself I need to do this just for myself," he said. "What I did was I pulled my hardest start, paddled my hardest and laid as flat as I possibly could. I tried to do my best lines and I ended up beating them."

Reid has now won the national title in every division in which he's been entered, having won the Youth D title in 2013 and the Youth C championship last year.

"It was really exciting to win it the first time and that feeling always comes back every time I win it. It's really exciting to be a national champion in your sport whatever you do," he said.

The younger Reid acknowledges his older brother was an influence on him becoming a slider, as he spent his fair share of time around the track. He was eventually approached to give it a whirl himself. Reid was seven when he started, giving him a distinct advantage on his brother, who was 10 when he began sliding.

"I had to go up there all the times he trained and eventually, his coach just said, 'Do you want to come try the sport?'" he said. "I was hooked after the first run. I was in love with the sport."

The offseason is a short one, Reid said, as he'll spend much of the summer in the gym looking to get stronger for the upcoming season. There will be tests he'll look to pass to jump up to the youth A level, and at this point, feels he is close to meeting the standard.

"Right now, only one of our team (members) has passed it, so all of us are trying to work towards passing the test so we can get stronger and fitter for higher heights on the track."

Looking further into the future, the young luger will hope to reach the world's highest level, though he also has more immediate milestones.

"I would love to make it to the Olympics but it could happen and it could not happen," he said. "What I would love to do if I don't make it is to make the junior national team."