Bryan Cochrane (born October 9, 1957 in Winchester, Ontario) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

curler from

Russell, Ontario The Township of Russell is a municipal township, located south-east of Canada's capital of Ottawa in eastern Ontario, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, on the Castor River. The township had a population of 16,520 in the 2016 Cana ...

. Cochrane is most notable for winning the

2019 World Senior Curling Championships The 2019 World Senior Curling Championships was held in Stavanger, Norway from April 20 to 27, 2019. The event was held in conjunction with the 2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship The 2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship was h ...

for Canada, and skipping team Ontario at the

2003 Nokia Brier The 2003 Nokia Brier was held at the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia from March 1–9. The defending champion, Randy Ferbey and his team from Alberta were the winners, winning their third Brier in a row. At the Worlds they went on ...

and later team PEI at the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier.

Curling career

After repeatedly making it to provincial championships, and failing to win, finally Cochrane in 2003 became only the fourth Ottawa-based team to play in

the Brier The Tim Hortons Brier, or simply (and more commonly) the Brier (''french: Le Brier''), is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The current event name refers to its main sponsor, the Tim Hortons coffee and ...

. Cochrane, playing out of the RCMP Curling Club at the time, and his team of Bill Gamble,

Ian MacAulay Ian MacAulay (born March 25, 1964 in Souris, Prince Edward Island) is a Canadian curler and ice technician from Ottawa, Ontario. He played second for team Ontario at the 2003 Nokia Brier. Earlier in his career, MacAulay won the 1993 Fairfield M ...

and John Steski defeated

Peter Corner Peter J. Corner2017 Brier Media Guide: Previous Rosters (born May 20, 1968 in Brampton, Ontario) is a Canadian curler from Burlington, Ontario. Career Corner was a member of the 1993 "dream team" of his cousin Wayne Middaugh and the brothers of ...

in the provincial final. At the 2003 Brier, Cochrane had to get special permission from the

Canadian Curling Association Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of Curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes C ...

to use a whistle whilst skipping. Whistles, and other communication devices are banned from national play. However, due to a throat disorder laryngeal papilloma, which causes recurring growths on his vocal cords and requires him to get surgery every six to eight months, he could not effectively communicate with his team using his voice, and needed a whistle to communicate

At the Brier, the team finished with a disappointing 5-6 record, failing to make the playoffs. Until failing to qualify for the 2008 provincials, Cochrane had played in ten straight tournaments. 2014 Travelers Tankard, As of 2014, Cochrane has played in 16 provincial championships. Cochrane won the

Canadian Senior Curling Championships The Canadian Senior Curling Championships are an annual bonspiel held to determine the national champions in senior curling for Canada. Seniors are defined as being people over the age of 50. The championship teams play at the World Senior Curlin ...

in 2016 and again in 2018. He won a silver medal at the

2017 World Senior Curling Championships The 2017 World Senior Curling Championships was held from April 22 to 29 at the Lethbridge Curling Club in Lethbridge, Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one ...

, and the gold medal at the

. Two of Cochrane's seniors team - MacAulay and Morgan Currie were born on Prince Edward Island, meaning both players are eligible to represent the province thanks to Curling Canada's new "birth right" rules. Given this new rule, Cochrane, MacAulay and Currie picked up a lead from the island (

Mark O'Rourke Mark William O'Rourke (born July 7, 1962 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) is a Canadian curler.

) to play in the 2020 PEI Tankard, the provincial men's championship. Cochrane being the team's "import" player. The team easily swept through the event, and will go on to represent PEI at the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier. Cochrane will again be using a whistle and occasional hand signals to communicate sweeping orders to his team due to his chronic throat condition, although since his retirement from teaching his surgeries have been reduced to about once a year.

Personal life

Cochrane is a retired principal at Russell High School, a high school in the Ottawa area, from 2004 until 2009. He is married and has four children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, Bryan Living people 1957 births People from the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry People from Russell, Ontario Curlers from Ottawa Canadian male curlers Canadian curling coaches