Rookie roller from Yukon scores perfect game in duckpin bowling at Canada 55+ games

Helen Dewell of Dawson City, Yukon, was on an impressive roll this week at the Canada 55 Plus Games in Quebec City, when she scored a perfect game in duckpin bowling.

The feat was all the more remarkable because it was her first time competing in that particular sport.

"I decided on duckpin bowling because I used to bowl competitively as a teenager," said Dewell. "That was 50 years ago."

Duckpin bowling is similar to ten-pin bowling in that the pins are arranged in a triangle, but they're shorter and lighter — and that makes strikes harder to achieve.

No one passed that memo on to Dewell.

And Dewell had minimal training time in the lead-up to the games — there's no bowling alley in her hometown of Dawson City.

"I practiced by looking for a bowling alley whenever we'd go to a town with one," said Dewell. "So I was able to bowl about three times, leading up to the games."

Dewell tossed 12 consecutive strikes in her perfect game on Wednesday. She admits the nerves did start to set in once she hit her sixth strike.

"It's surreal actually," said Dewell. "It was a lot of fun with my coach and my cheerleaders there to help me. Not to sound cliché, but I just got in the zone."

Dewell says as the possibility of a perfect game inched closer, the people watching her game really started to pay attention.

"That was pretty crazy," said Dewell. "A fellow bowler from Saskatchewan told me the perfect game was rare, and to enjoy it as it may only happen once in a lifetime."

Dewell was presented with a gold medal for her impeccable performance.

"Some might call it muscle memory," said Dewell. "I call it a good deal of luck and concentration." 

Dewell may have had one secret weapon aiding her excellence. She's an avid gardener, and she says she kept thinking of a phrase on one of her aprons back home: "Romaine calm and carrot on."