Despite kicking off his sliding career at the Whistler Sliding Centre over a decade ago, hometown luge athlete Reid Watts is more familiar with Blackcomb Mountain’s iciest chute than he’s ever been.
“I haven’t had this many runs on my home track in probably over six years,” said Watts with a laugh.
Normally at this time of year, the 22-year-old Olympian would be bouncing from track to track, racing in a new location each weekend as the International Luge Federation’s World Cup circuit gets underway for another winter. But thanks to the global pandemic, he and his Canadian teammates have been living and training at the Whistler Sliding Centre “in a controlled bubble” since mid-October.
The extra time at home appears to have done Watts good. He successfully defended his Canadian Championship title at the Sliding Centre on Saturday, Dec. 5, in what marked his first official race of the 2020-21 season. Watts put down the fastest run in both heats of the senior men’s singles race, clocking a combined time of 1 minute, 42.270 seconds (1:42.270) for the win.
“It’s been a really busy last seven weeks of just high volume training out here and trying out a lot of new [equipment,] but it’s good to finally get the race bib on and get into the racing atmosphere again,” he said.
In the women’s event, Calgary’s Makena Hodgson took the top spot with a combined time of 1:18.353, followed by teammate Carolyn Maxwell, who slid into the silver medal position with a time of 1:18.365.
Whistler locals also performed well in the women’s race. Trinity Ellis claimed third with her two-run combined time of 1:18:586, while 15-year-old local Embyr Susko—the youngest competitor in Saturday's race—finished in fourth place, after taking home the Whistler Youth Canadian Championship title in March of this year.
Whistler-based doubles partners Natalie Corless and Caitlin Nash placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the women’s singles division on Dec. 5.
Watts acknowledged that the field of competition among senior men at the Canadian Championships isn’t exactly deep, with just two other luge athletes competing in the division on Saturday. Calgary teen Cole Zakanski slid into second place with a two-run time of 1:42.50, while Devin Wardrope, also from Calgary, rolled into third at 1:43.896.
“It’s not quite a World Cup,” Watts admitted, “but in the end I try to keep my mindset the same, you know? Because we’re missing the first half of the World Cup season I’m just trying to get any opportunity I can to just put myself into the race day mentality and mindset.”
That said, the win is still “obviously the best way I can start things off,” he added.
“But I’m really looking forward to racing World Cup and getting into the bigger scene over the New Year.”
Watts leaves for Europe on Boxing Day. After missing the first four World Cup events of the season, he and the rest of Team Canada will re-join the circuit in Konigssee, Germany, according to a news release from Luge Canada. The athletes are scheduled to don their world cup bibs for the first time on Jan. 2-3.
Throughout the past two months of training, Watts and his teammates have been busy acclimating to new sleds, as well as a new assistant coach in Duncan Kennedy. Since retiring from international competition, the American luger and sled developer has cultivated a reputation for excelling when it comes to the technical side of the sport.
“He’s the guy who’s bringing in all the new sled tech stuff,” said Watts. “We’ve been working together really well and I’m really excited to have a future with him.”
Getting comfortable with the new equipment is a theme Watts said he expects to continue for the foreseeable future, even through his return to the World Cup circuit. “I think this year’s going to be definitely more about getting this new stuff dialed in on all of the different tracks,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean Watts doesn’t have some big goals. With the 2022 Winter Olympics on the horizon, “Ideally, I want to start pushing the top-12 range more consistently, and be more competitive this year,” he said.
As Watts prepares for a return to international competition that will look unlike any of his previous seasons—complete with ever-changing protocols and weekly COVID-19 tests—his feet are still firmly planted on the bright side.
“Racing is still racing, and even though we do have to jump through all these hurdles, I’m just really fortunate to have the opportunity to actually race this year,” he said.
“There’s so many other people that have had their seasons cancelled and haven’t been able to compete, so at the end of the day, I’m just really happy I get to go out there.”
