“We hit the skintrack early in hopes of shoot-ing sunrise in the Whistler, BC backcountry. The snow conditions were great and Stan showcased his powerful skiing over a sea of morning clouds.” Photo: Guy Fattal SERWA REMEMBERS when she and teammate and silver medalist, Brittany Phelan, were walking through downtown Vancouver in 2018 during their post-Games media tour. Stan had accompanied them and the trio was crossing an intersection at 8 a.m. A guy yelled, “Hey!” and Phelan and Serwa, fresh from the podium, figured he’d seen their race and turned to greet him. He wasn’t the least bit interested in a couple of Olympic medalists. “Are you Stan Rey?” he asked. Serwa and Stan met long before either earned any degree of fame. They’d known each other since they were 12 years old, a couple of little ski racers riding the same chairlift together. “We were always around each other through our teenage years,” says Serwa, who is currently pursuing a mas-ter’s in physiotherapy. “He’s that person you always wanted to be around because he’s so much fun. He makes people feel really comfortable and break out of their shell.” The pair dated for nine years before he finally proposed. “She told me I had to file my taxes before she’d even think about marrying me,” Stan says. They tied the knot at Big White, BC—Serwa’s home hill— in September 2019. She’s started to change her name to Rey on her emails and figures as her other documents come up for expiry, she’ll change them too. When asked why she’d give up the name that stood atop podiums at two successive Olympic Games, she laughs and says, “There’s probably more brand value in Stan’s name.” Stan’s fan base is devoted. There’s something about his everyman persona, his goofy humor, his willingness to be vulnerable—not to mention the Stanimal stamina and huge lines he drops—that make him easy to love. Olivia and Serwa attest that when it comes to Stan, what you see is what you get. The guy on the camera? That’s just who he is. Stan Rey 047
The Ski Journal Volume 15, Issue 2: Page 47
