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For this Mother’s Day edition of Know Her, we wanted to do something a little different, so we had Team Canada Athlete Maïa Schwinghammer interview her Mom, Marie-Claire. What ensued was the kind of funny, heartfelt chat only a mother and daughter can have. Topics ranged from how to best support your kid’s dreams, to watching your daughter flip through the air at high speeds, to Maïa’s dad’s viral moment at the Olympic Games in Italy. Let’s get to know Marie-Claire with the help of Maïa.
M: What do you think makes our connection so special?
M-C: You're my best friend. We're best friends.
M: Yeah, I think so too.
M-C: We just understand each other. We're there for each other. I love you. And you're friends with my friends, and I'm friends with your friends. You and your friends come for drinks when I go out with my girlfriends. It’s really fun.
M: Okay, what was the weirdest thing about me as a kid?
M-C: That's an easy one. You used to do your homework at the kitchen table with a ski helmet on. For quite a while, actually.
M: Other than that, what moment did you realize I'd fallen in love with the sport?
M-C: Well, you always loved to ski. You were always going “Woohoo! Oh, this is so much fun! Let's do this again!” You never cried. You were always like, “Let's go,” yep, sunny, snowy, windy, stormy. “Let’s go.” You loved to be outside.
Maïa: What was it like owning a ski hill in Saskatchewan as a family?
Marie-Claire: Everybody pitched in, everyone, from the little cousins to the grandpas. You, your brother and sister, our nephews and nieces, everyone helped with everything because it was a lot of work. Parker learned how to operate a T-bar when he was 15 years old. Rick was snowmaking. It was just us doing everything, so it was really fun.
M: What are some of your favourite memories from that time?
M-C: I remember one year when we were getting everything ready to open to the public, and everybody was there, the whole family. I think 25 Schwinghammers were there, and the kids were getting a little tired from doing chores all day, so Rick used the grooming machine and some snowmobiles with ropes to bring everybody to the top of the little beginner hill. All the kids and the dogs were running around, and then everybody skied down. It was so, so fun.
M: When did you realize I had a serious ambition to ski at the highest level?
M-C: When Rick and I were driving back to Saskatoon one time, we were at a motel, and you’d gone to your first competition outside of Canada by yourself at 16. You flew to Sweden with your coach for the Junior World Championships. It was a duel format, so you’d win a round, go back up, win another round, go back up, and we were like, “Wow, this is the first time she's competing with everybody her age from around the world, and she just got second place!” We were screaming in the motel. It was like two in the morning because of the time change. Rick was like, “Whoa, the neighbours are going to complain.” But yeah, that's when we said, “Okay, I think she's going to do this for a while.”
M: What are your thoughts on how to support kids chasing their dreams?
M-C: You have to encourage them to reach their full potential because it's amazing to see them realize their dreams. Your role has to be a mom, not a coach, though. We've seen so many kids with potential give up because their parents are too pushy. You have to let them go. If they're playing piano, trust the teacher. Let them do their practice and their recital, and don't get involved. Just go watch, and give them a big hug after.
M: As an athlete, I see a lot of parents who push their kids super hard. I always felt so grateful because you guys just supported me no matter what, every day, all day.
M-C: Your coach always said to me, "This is great, you never talk to her about her skiing, it’s great.”
M: But how do you support your kids chasing their dreams when there's a certain amount of risk involved?
M-C: Like when you do a giant front Superman flip?
M: Yes.
M-C: 100 miles an hour going down a ski hill?
M: Precisely.
M-C: I’ve learned over the years. What I practiced a lot at the Olympics was the 4-4-4 breathing. You take your breath in for four seconds, you hold it for four seconds, and you let go for four seconds. That really, really works. But I also trust that you've trained, you’re prepared, and you’ve been coached well. You know what you're doing, so I trust you’ll do great. I also often go back and watch your best runs before your competition.
M: Really? You've never told me that. You do?
M-C: Yeah. I just watch and go, “Oh yeah, there you go, she's got this.”
Maïa: What’s something you’ve sacrificed that I might not have realized?
M-C: When you decided to continue after not going for the Olympics in 2022, we said, "Hmm, I guess we're not going to retire just yet. Rick was turning 65, and we said, well, we're going to need to work a few more years. So yeah, we pushed our retirement, but now it's all happening, and we wouldn't change anything. It’s amazing.
M: Okay, what did it feel like to watch me compete at my first-ever Olympics?
M-C: I was holding Rick's hand, and Heidi was holding me, and Parker was holding my shoulder. We watched you come down, and you did amazing, and you were the 30th skier to go, so we knew, boom, like “She's in. She qualified.” When you got to the bottom, you had the biggest smile on your face, and then Papa said, “She's an Olympian,” and we were all like, “She's an Olympian.” It was so official. It was all done. There it is. It was just a dream come true for us to watch you. You'd worked so, so hard for this. And we were all there together as a family, I mean, it was so emotional. We were all crying.
M: Yeah, it was so cool. It's been my journey. But at the same time, it's been your journey, too. And to have you guys all there at the bottom and to see how much it affected you—that feeling is something hard to describe.
M-C: Another mom who was there, who had seen her daughter in the Olympics a few times, came over and gave me a big hug and a kiss and said, “You're the mother of an Olympian. Don't forget that.” That was special.
M: Why do the Olympics elicit such an emotional response as a parent?
M-C: You can't go any higher than that. It’s the top. And I think Papa, especially, in that video that went viral on the first day, he really just realized it all, like, “My little girl is at the Olympics,” you know? We’re just so proud of you and all the work you've done. I think that's why it's so emotional. M: Okay. What's your definition of success?
M-C: You. Next question.
M: What advice do you have for other parents raising or hoping to raise passionate, ambitious children?
M-C: Not to forget that their first role is to be parents. Not to forget that it's your child's dream, not yours. I'm not at the top of the mountain. My role is to be at the bottom and to be a mother. When you cross the finish line, no matter if it was a good run or a bad run, I'm there to give you a big, big, big hug. That's my role.
M: I have one more question: Are you ready to do it all again in 2030?
M-C: Yes. I wouldn't miss it for the world. I’ll bring Kleenex for Papa.
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