Saskatchewan rink shooting for record-setting win at Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championships

Saskatchewan's Marie Wright and British Columbia's Ina Forrest have a lot in common. They're both national team-level curlers, they're longtime friends and they're both competing at this week's Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championships in Moose Jaw.

For this week, they're also roommates.

It's a common para-sport story — top rivals hanging out together off the ice. Both are longtime top-level competitors, with at least one of Wright's teammates calling her the face of Saskatchewan wheelchair curling. She relishes the moniker.

"I've actually been called that a few times this year. And it just makes me feel proud to be representing Saskatchewan, our province, and our city, Moose Jaw. To be that well known is amazing."

For Forrest, the choice to share a home with Wright was a no-brainer.

"Last year, nationals were here as well and I stayed with Marie. And so I thought, 'Hey, that just worked out so good.' And it's such a wonderful opportunity to spend more time together," Forrest said.

Wright has a 2018 Paralympic medal to her name and has won four national championships, but her career can be traced back to Forrest, a four-time Paralympian who has been with the national team in some capacity since 2007. Wright said that she was a reluctant curler when she first started, having been recruited to fill out the first Saskatchewan rink to go to nationals in 2009, but that changed once she started competing with, and watching, Forrest.

"I had grown up a hockey player. So hockey and curling doesn't really mix.… But they twisted my arm and they got me to go give it a try," Wright said. 

"From the very first time that I got on the ice, I just fell in love with the sport, and just wanted to aspire to be better and better. Every year,