University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's curler Danielle Serra represented Team Mexico alongside partner Diego Tompkins at the World Mixed Doubles Qualification event in Lafayette, Colorado this past week.

Serra first learned of the opportunity to compete as a member of Team Mexico in 2022 when she met her partner, Diego.

"He (Diego) was competing representing York University while I was representing U of T at our annual bonspiel event, when I noticed his Team Mexico broom," said Serra. "I was naturally curious about Mexican curling since I am Mexican and I didn't know there were other Mexican curlers, so I proceeded to ask him about the team. He was already representing Mexico on the Men's team, but my interest in joining sparked an interest in trying out as a Mixed Doubles team together."

The duo placed fifth overall at the international showcase in Colorado. The duo faired well, finishing with a 5-2 record after round-robin matches. This included wins over Puerto Rico, Portugal, Belgium, Turkey, and Ireland. However, their journey came to an end in the quarter-finals where they fell to the Olympic silver medalists from USA.

"Representing Mexico on an international stage has brought me a tremendous amount of joy and gratitude," expressed Serra. "Growing up in Canada with my parents and sister, the rest of my family has always been a distance away in Mexico. Being able to connect with my roots and share my love of a Canadian winter sport with an entire country is an honour I train hard to uphold."

Currently completing her PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Serra will now turn her sights on representing U of T once again. A veteran Varsity Blues curler, first joining the program during the 2018-19 season, she recognized the impact it has had on her U of T journey.

"U of T curling holds a special place in my life. I have been involved with the U of T curling program for almost a decade, from the first year in undergrad, to now in my PhD as a graduate student. U of T curling has helped my training immensely, providing opportunities to satisfy my competitive drive, benefit from technical coaching, take a break from academics, and most importantly, the translatability of learning how to prepare myself for World Curling competitions by competing in major tournaments such as the OUA Championships."

And while the Varsity Blues 2026-27 campaign is set to begin in early November, Serra still has big aspirations for her opportunity with Team Mexico as well.

"The deep friendships and their support throughout Team Mexico training throughout the years do not go unnoticed and have been instrumental to me and Diego's success thus far. Travelling to these world events has unlocked a new international community of friendships that we hope to continue building while on this journey. The ultimate goal is to expand the Mexican repertoire of represented sports at the Winter Olympics!"