team einarson settled for silver after a 7-5 loss to Switzerland in the world women’s final and announced a roster shake-up days later, parting ways with longstanding third Val Sweeting, coach Reid Carruthers and alternate Krysten Karwacki while retaining Shannon Birchard and Karlee Burgess.
What Happens to Team Einarson’s Roster?
The team announced the departures after the final in Calgary. Val Sweeting, who joined the rink at its formation ahead of the 2018-19 season and helped the team win five Canadian titles including this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Mississauga, will leave the group. Reid Carruthers, who had coached the team since 2022 and under whom the rink won three national titles, will also depart. Krysten Karwacki, who joined in 2021 and filled in as lead following a suspension situation that later saw a player cleared but not rejoin the team, is likewise moving on. Shannon Birchard and Karlee Burgess remain with the skip.
What If Canada’s Costly Misses Redefine the Next Cycle?
The final was decided by two specific misses by the Canadian skip that opened scoring swings in the fifth and eighth ends; those misses, combined with a conservative approach that limited multi-point ends, allowed Switzerland repeated chances to score. Kerri Einarson described coming up “a hair too light” on a couple of shots and acknowledged the team had difficulty generating deuces, though she also noted silver is her best finish at a world championship after previously winning bronze twice. Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller, a 22-year-old whose rink has an average age of 22. 5 and who won the world junior title two years earlier, capitalized on the openings and converted late to win gold.
Who Wins and Who Loses?
- Winners: The Swiss rink led by Xenia Schwaller, who converted scoring opportunities and claimed gold in their first world appearance after an unbeaten run following an opening-round loss.
- Winners: Remaining members of the Canadian lineup, Shannon Birchard and Karlee Burgess, who retain their positions and the experience of a world final.
- Losers: The departing personnel—Val Sweeting, Reid Carruthers and Krysten Karwacki—whose roles with the rink concluded after the championship.
- Ambiguous: Kerri Einarson, who leaves with a career-best world silver and a clear decision point about how to rebuild or retool going forward.
Given the explicit errors that swung the final and the immediate personnel changes announced afterward, the near-term trajectory for the rink will be defined by how leadership and remaining members choose to replace departed roles and address execution on lengthy ends. The Swiss victory, led by a young skip who described being “speechless” and pointed to the eighth end as a turning point, underscores that opponents are converting opportunities when Canada does not.
For readers tracking elite curling dynamics and Olympic-calibre pipelines, the immediate facts are clear: team einarson leaves Calgary with silver and a slimmer core that must decide its next composition and strategy. The coming weeks will reveal whether the departures spark a rapid rebuild or a slower reconfiguration, but the moment after the 2026 worlds final belongs to team einarson
