Scottish skip Murdoch named Curling Canada high-performance director

OTTAWA — Curling Canada has gone international to find a replacement for longtime high-performance director Gerry Peckham.

Two-time world champion David Murdoch, who has served as national and Olympic coach for British Curling since September 2018, was named to the post on Thursday.

He'll begin his new duties at the end of the 2022-23 season, Curling Canada said Thursday in a release.

"It truly is a privilege and an honour to have this opportunity, and it’s not one I will take for granted," Murdoch said. "Canadian curling has been the benchmark for excellence around the world and I’m looking forward to being a part of this amazing team of athletes and coaches, and being a part of the Canadian curling community."

Peckham, who spent over three decades with the organization, has been transitioning to retirement this season. He oversaw an Olympic/Paralympic program that excelled for many years but underperformed at top international events over the last two quadrennials.

Murdoch skipped Scotland to world titles in 2006 and 2009. He also skipped Britain to a silver medal at the Sochi Games in 2014, the last year that Canada reached the top of the Olympic podium in four-player curling.

"There’s work to be done, but I feel that there are opportunities for growth and accountability and I believe the pieces are in place for Canada to excel on the world stage and to continue (to) meet the expectations of Canadian curling fans," Murdoch said.

Murdoch retired as a player in 2017 and moved into coaching. He helped establish British Curling’s National Curling Academy and has worked closely with Scotland's top teams.

Eve Muirhead won Olympic gold last year in Beijing and fellow Scot Bruce Mouat took men's silver. Mouat and Jenn Dodds just missed the mixed doubles podium with a fourth-place finish.

“We are so fortunate to have landed the most qualified high performance director on the planet,” Peckham said. "His accomplishments as an athlete and as a coach are unparalleled. At this moment in time, I truly believe he is the best possible leader of our high-performance program.

"It is an ideal opportunity for Canadian curlers to take advantage of the opportunity to learn from a world-leading performance expert.”

Curling Canada started a high-performance program review last year. Canada's lone curling medal at the Beijing Olympics was a men's bronze and the gold shutout continued at the world championships.

Canada won gold in the Olympic debut of mixed doubles at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games but missed the podium in the team events.

Canada's last women's world title came in 2018, a year after the country's last men's world title. Canada's best result at the world mixed doubles championship has been silver (in 2017 and '19).

"We wanted to cast as wide a net as possible to make sure we found the right person to fill this position because there are high standards and expectations attached to our high-performance program,” said Curling Canada board chair Michael Szajewski. “This process brought some incredibly talented applicants and we’re thankful that they made our final decision so difficult.

"But in the end, David’s commitment to excellence, his passion and, of course, his track record, made him the right person to take us forward as an organization."

Murdoch, 44, plans to move to Canada with his wife and three children after he starts his new role. His wife, Stephanie, is from Vancouver Island.

Murdoch also won two silver and two bronze medals at the world championship over his playing career.

“The Scottish teams have been playing at a very high level, and David clearly was an important part of that,” said top-ranked Canadian skip Kerri Einarson. “We’re looking forward to working with David and learning from him.”