Diving in!

Marine Engineering Technician and Nova Scotia vice-skip finds work-life balance while chasing gold at 2023 Everest Candian Curling Club Championships 

Heather Whiteway smiled when she was asked the question. Perhaps she’s been asked it a million times before. 

Yes, she loves sub sandwiches. Particularly a grilled chicken pesto. 

Of course she would. After all, what would you expect from a woman who works on subs — nautical ones — if you please. 

Whiteway, who is throwing third stones for Team Nova Scotia’s women’s team at the Everest Canadian Curling Club Championships in Winnipeg this week, admits it’s not that odd for women to be working on submarines. 

“Actually, there’s quite a few females,” says Whiteway who is a Project Leader for Canadian Submarines. “In the past, army, navy, air force was dominated by males but in the past 10-15 years more females are getting involved.” 

Whiteway’s work is mostly confined to the HMCS Windsor, a long-range hunter-killer purchased by the government when the United Kingdom decided to move to an all-nuclear power fleet. 

She’s been in her current position for a couple of years. Prior to that she worked for more than 16 years as a Marine Engineering Technician for the Canadian Navy. 

Her job is planning and executing work periods for maintenance crews so the submarine can continue back to sea. 

She says her work has nothing to do with being onboard the sub, cruising under the waves. 

“I’ve been on the sub but never for a dive,” she says. 

As good as she is at her job, she’s pretty skilled in her favourite sport of curling. Her team, skipped by Tanya Phillips and playing out of the CFB Halifax Curling Club, is 3-1 after three and a half days of play and among the early leaders. The Bluenosers won their first two games before falling 8-4 to B.C.’s Carley Sandwith-Craig in the afternoon draw Tuesday. Undeterred, they then went on to win their next match, defeating the Northwest Territories’ Deb Stanley 12-4 on Wednesday afternoon at the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club.  

Whiteway, who has lived in Nova Scotia for 20 years and calls herself a true Bluenoser, was born in Hamilton where she learned the game at age nine from her grandparents and dad. She moved to the Maritimes at 18 to join the Navy to pursue an engineering/mechanical career. 

This is the second trip to the Everest Canadian Curling Club championship for the Nova Scotia team. They played in the event in Leduc, Alta., in 2019, and finished second, losing to Alberta’s Team Nanette Dupont, who is also competing this week. 

It’s doubtful you will see the team on the tour or Scotties Tournament of Hearts anytime soon. They’re all too busy in their highly specialized careers. Skip Phillips is the manager of By-Law Standards for the regional Municipality of Halifax; second Angela Pettipas is a Senior Systems Analyst for Nova Scotia Health; and lead Christine Keddy is a CPA and financial comptroller for a company in Dartmouth. 

The team is happy with their work, families and a bit of bonspieling. 

“We decided with our work schedules and family we weren’t ready to do that,” she says. 

The club championship, she assures, is reward enough. 

Recapping standings in women’s Pool A play, British Columbia’s Carley Sandwith-Craig (4-0; Duncan) leads the way with an unblemished record while Nova Scotia’s Tanya Phillips (3-1; Halifax) follows closely behind. Northern Ontario’s Robyn Despins (3-1; Thunder Bay) provisionally occupies the third-place position. 

Women’s Pool B play sees Alberta’s Nanette Dupont (4-0; Lethbridge) leading the charge with Ontario’s Lindsay Thorne (4-1; Ottawa) and Saskatchewan’s Allison McMillan (3-1; Saskatoon) rounding out the top three.  

In Men’s play, Pool A is led by Alberta’s Dan Sherrard (4-0; Beaumont) who remains undefeated with two games remaining in pool play. Closely following is Ontario’s Noel Herron (3-1; Kingston) and Nova Scotia’s Shea Steele (3-1; Halifax), who complete the top three. 

Men’s Pool B still has much left to be decided, but Manitoba’s Derrick Anderson (3-1; Gimli) leads with a game in hand over Québec’s David Maheux (3-2; Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville) and Nunavut’s Peter Van Strien (3-2; Iqaluit). 

Action resumes from the 2023 Everest Canadian Curling Club Championships at 4 p.m. (all times Central). 

Fourteen men’s teams and 14 women’s teams are competing this week. The fields are divided into two pools of seven teams. After the round robin, the top three teams in each pool will qualify for modified double-knockout playoffs, which begin Thursday, Nov. 23, and conclude with the gold- and bronze-medal games on Saturday, Nov. 25. 

Live-streaming coverage of selected games at the 2023 Everest Canadian Curling Club Championships will be available on Curling Canada’s streaming platform, Curling Canada + as well as on TSN+.  

Scores and standings from the event will be available at by CLICKING HERE.  

For draw times, team lineups and other event info, CLICK HERE.