Thirty celebrity curling skips teamed with nearly 100 other curlers/fundraisers at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club to push the total amount of monies raised to $143,000 in just two years.

“We are thrilled with the response from the event participants and our growing pool of sponsors,” said event co-chair Jeff Steski.

Left to right: Jeff Steski, Kevin McCafferty, Ryan Baillie (SickKids Foundation), Ian Cunningham (Capital One) and Peter Steski celebrate another outstanding Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel.

“In particular, we are delighted to announce the third annual Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel will take place on June 1 and 2, 2012, once again at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club.”

Sara Carlsson of Sweden, a member of Anette Norberg’s 2011 world championship foursome, captured the main event title with an emphatic win over two-time Northern Ontario men’s champion E.J. Harnden of Sudbury, Ontario.

Second event honours went to 2011 Ontario women’s champion skip Rachel Homan of Ottawa, who dispatched city rival Craig Savill of the six-time provincial champion Glenn Howard men’s foursome.

In the third event finale, Mike McEwen of Winnipeg, Manitoba prevented a clean playoff sweep by women’s skips with a come-from-behind victory over Heather Smith-Dacey of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Each of the 30 participating teams consisted of one celebrity skip, or captain, who teamed with three novice curlers – including first-time rookies – who registered individually for the event.

Carlsson’s victorious teammates were Leaside curler Mike Butler, Toronto radio host Don Landry and the Cricket’s own Carol Martin.

“On behalf of SickKids, our sincere gratitude goes out to all those who have helped to ensure the success of the Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel,” said Ryan Baillie, Development Coordinator for SickKids Foundation.

“It is because of community leaders like Jeff, Kevin and Peter that SickKids remains as one of the top paediatric hospitals in the world. Furthermore, the funds raised will help to build the highly anticipated Research and Learning Tower that will improve health outcomes around the world by transforming the way we approach child health research and knowledge transfer.”

In addition to major sponsors Capital One and The Dominion, the event was supported by Callaway Golf Canada, iShares, Equifax, Raymond James, Goldline, Bruno’s Fine Foods, Red Tag Vacations and Paulin, plus a host of team sponsors including The Curling News.

Event photographs from the 2011 Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel are now available for viewing at: celebritybonspiel.com

Online registrations for the 2012 Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel will be open via the website this coming fall.