Sandra Schmirler
Rachel Homan
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Rachel Homan leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Sandra Schmirler at #3 and Rachel Homan at #4.
The case for Sandra Schmirler
The most influential women's skip the sport has produced, and the reason curling had a face when it entered the Olympic programme. Schmirler's Regina rink of Jan Betker, Joan McCusker and Marcia Gudereit won the Canadian championship and then the world title in 1993, 1994 and 1997, a treble no other women's team had managed, and in 1998 she skipped Canada to the first Olympic women's gold at Nagano, finishing 8-1 and beating Denmark in the final. Her shot-making under pressure, particularly a series of last-stone doubles in Canadian playoffs, is still used as coaching footage. She died of cancer in March 2000, aged 36, less than two years after the Olympic title. The foundation established in her name has since raised millions for neonatal intensive care units across Canada, and the Sandra Schmirler Foundation broadcast remains a fixture of the Canadian curling calendar.
The case for Rachel Homan
The dominant women's skip of the 2020s and the most prolific winner in the professional era of the sport. Homan won the world championship in 2017 with an undefeated run, then took back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025, making her Canadian rink the first to defend the women's world crown since Schmirler in 1993-94. Domestically she has five Scotties Tournament of Hearts titles, and her 2023-24 season produced a 67-7 overall record widely described as the best any women's team has posted. She won 22 consecutive Scotties games across 2024 and 2025 and shot a perfect 100 percent in the 2025 final. Her 20 Grand Slam titles are the most by any woman. The one gap closed only partly at Milano Cortina 2026, where she took bronze at her third Olympics after finishing sixth in 2018.