PHOTO BY: Jan Vailhé, SportPhotography.ca

 

 

MONTREAL - McGill oarsmen Jonathan Rinaldi of Montreal and Renaud Garon-Gendron of Boucherville, Que., teamed up for an unlikely finish atop the podium in the men's lightweight double at the Canadian University Rowing Association championships, held at the Olympic rowing basin at Ile Notre-Dame, Sunday.

 

It marked the first-ever gold medal performance for the McGill crew at the championships, which have been held every fall since 1981.

 

The Victoria Vikes were declared overall men's champions with 95 points, edging out UBC (89) and Brock (70). McGill placed seventh of 17 schools overall, winning the aforementioned gold and posting fifth and sixth-place results in the finals of the lightweight coxed four and open pair, respectively.

 

The Western Ontario Mustangs took the women's title with 96 points, to finish ahead of Queen's (75) and UBC (74). McGill ended up and 11th of 18 crews overall, capturing bronze in the lightweight coxed four.

 

Rinaldi is a 22-year-old marketing junior, while Garon-Gendron, 21, is a science sophomore majoring in microbiology and immunology. The duo completed the two-kilometre race in seven minutes and 0.6 seconds, crossing the finish line exactly two second faster than the University of British Columbia boat (7:02.6). Victoria was third in 7:03.0.

 

"We really didn't expect to win," said Garon-Gendron, who normally rows in the eights but was partnered with Rinaldi recently in the hopes that McGill might have a shot at a medal in the double. "During the season, the team's priority was on the eight and the lightweight four, so we hadn't trained together in this boat for more than five sessions. Our game plan was to combine cadence and power, which resulted in gold and we're very happy."

 

Due to unsafe weather conditions on Saturday, the time trials were postponed until Sunday morning, followed almost immediately by the finals in each event, which left little recovery time for the crews.

 

"Despite the weather problems which wiped out the entire first day, this regatta was a huge success," said Dr. Philip Hedrei, McGill's 33-year-old head coach from the Town of Mt. Royal, Que., who received the CURA President's Award, presented annually to a person deemed to have contributed significantly towards the development of rowing.

 

"I'm extremely impressed with the way we found a solution to a very difficult scheduling scenario and made a two-day event work in one day. Our volunteers and officials did a phenomenal job and our performaces here demonstrated that hard work can pay off. I'm very proud of how well we did."

 

Other awards were handed out to Michael Braithwaite from the University of Toronto and Western's Sarah Black. They were voted oarsmen of the year. Victoria's Howard Campbell and Western's Mindy Bullen received coach-of-the-year honours.

 

In the women's lightweight double, McMaster was first (7:55.5), followed by Victoria (7:58.7) and Queen's (8:02.1).

 

In the elite men's open coxed eight, Victoria clocked the day's top time in 6:03.8, followed by UBC (6:07.1) and Western (6:09.2). In the women's race, Western was golden in 7:05.1, followed by Victoria (7:07.1) and Queen's (7:20.7).

 

In the lightweight coxed four, the Brock Badgers swept both events, winning the men's race in 6:49.9, followed by UBC (6:51.1) and Victoria (6:51.9). On the women's side, Brock posted a winning time of 7:52.8, followed by Queen's (7:53.0) and McGill (7:56.3). The McGill boat was composed of Montreal natives Claire Gowdy and Jennifer Allan, plus Emma Sheehan of St. Catharines, Ont., and Marie-Christine Razaire of Montclair, N.J. The coxswain was Stephanie Peruzzi of Weymouth, Mass.

 

In the open pair, Trent finished atop the men's podium in 7:21.0, followed by Victoria (7:23.4) and Western (7:27.9). McGill qualified for finals, where they placed sixth in 7:59.6. The women's competition was won by UBC, who registered a winning time of 8:01.8, followed by Western (8:12.4) and Brock (8:15.2).

 

In the open single, the Toronto Varsity Blues claimed gold in the men's competition (7:38.8), followed by Trent (7:52.6) and Queen's (7:56.2). Alberta garnered gold in the women's race (8:30.4), followed by UBC (8:31.0) and Ottawa (8:39.1)

 

In the lightweight single, the UBC men were first (7:46.3), followed by Brock  (7:49.1) and Western (7:49.8). The women's race was all Queen's (8:42.6), which finished almost five seconds faster than Western (8:47.0). McMaster took the bronze (8:50.0).

 

COMPLETE RESULTS FOR THE "A" FINALS ARE POSTED BELOW. The FINAL ORDER OF FINISH FOR THE TEAM STANDINGS WILL BE POSTED ON MONDAY EVENING.

 

Lightweight Double

 

MEN:

1. McGill, 7:00.6

2. UBC, 7:02.6

3. Victoria, 7:03.0

4. Guelph, 7:10.7

5. Western Ontario, 7:17.1

6. Trent, 7:30.7

 

WOMEN:

1. McMaster, 7:55.5

2. Victoria, 7:58.7

3. Queen's, 8:02.1

4. Brock, 8:03.4

5. Western, 8:12.0

6. Guelph 8:16.3

 

Open Coxed Eight

MEN:

1. Victoria, 6:03.8

2. UBC, 6:07.1

3. Western, 6:09.2

4. Trent, 6:16.1

5. Queen's, 6:17.5

6. Brock, 6:22.1

 

WOMEN:

1. Western, 7:05.1

2. Victoria, 7:07.1

3. Queen's, 7:20.7

4. UBC, 7:21.0

5. Brock, 7:22.8

6. Ottawa, 7:31.9

 

Lightweight Coxed Four

MEN:

1. Brock, 6:49.9

2. UBC, 6:51.1

3. Victoria, 6:51.9

4. Queen's, 6:56.7

5. McGill, 6:57.0

6. Western, 7:04.8

 

WOMEN:

1. Brock, 7:52.8

2. Queen's, 7:53.0

3. McGill, 7:56.3

4. Western Ontario, 8:01.4

5. Victoria, 8:03.8

6. Toronto, 8:08.7

 

 

Open Pair

MEN:

1. Trent, 7:21.0

2. Victoria, 7:23.4

3. Western, 7:27.9

4. Brock, 7:38.5

5. Queen's, 7:42.6

6. McGill, 7:59.6

 

WOMEN:

1. UBC, 8:01.8

2. Western, 8:12.4

3. Brock, 8:15.2

4. Victoria, 8:16.8

5. Calgary, 8:26.8

6. Queen's, 8:31.9

 

Open Single

MEN:

1. Toronto, 7:38.8

2. Trent, 7:52.6

3. Queen's, 7:56.2

4. Victoria, 7:59.6

5. Ryerson, 8:01.7

6. UBC, 8:51.2

 

WOMEN:

1. Alberta, 8:30.4

2. UBC, 8:31.0

3. Ottawa, 8:39.1

4. Fraser Valley, 8:51.5

5. Western, 9:02.0

6. Calgary, 9:04.5

 

Lightweight Single

MEN:

1. UBC, 7:46.3

2. Brock, 7:49.1

3. Western, 7:49.8

4. Victoria, 7:50.0

5. Queen's, 7:52.6

6. Guelph (scratched)

 

WOMEN:

1. Queen's, 8:42.6

2. Western, 8:47.0

3. McMaster, 8:50.0

4. UBC, 8:52.3

5. Guelph, 9:08.1

6. Toronto, 9:13.5

 

CANADIAN UNIVERSITY ROWING ASSOCIATION MAJOR AWARDS

 

OARSMAN OF THE YEAR

MEN: Michael Braithwaite, Toronto Varsity Blues

WOMEN: Sarah Black, Western Ontario Mustangs

 

COACH OF THE YEAR

MEN: Howard Campbell, Victoria Vikes

WOMEN: Mindy Bullen, Western Ontario Mustangs

 

PRESIDENT'S TROPHY

(largest contribution to development of rowing)

Philip Hedrei, McGill

 

CURA TEAM CHAMPIONS

MEN: University of Victoria Vikes

WOMEN: Western Ontario Mustangs

 

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

MEN:

1.   Victoria, 95 points

2.   UBC, 89

3.   Brock, 70

4.   Trent, 67

5.   Western, 66

6.   Queen's, 63

7. McGill, 55

8.   Carleton, 29

9.   Toronto, 20

10.  Alberta, 19

11.  Ottawa, 19

12.  Guelph, 18

13.  McMaster, 15

14.  Ryerson, 12

15.  Montreal, 9

16.  Fraser Valley, 4

17.  Concordia, 2

 

WOMEN

1.  Western, 96 points

2.  Queen's, 75

3.  UBC, 74

4.  Victoria, 71

5.  Brock, 70

6.  Toronto, 43

7.  Ottawa, 42

8.  Calgary, 36

9.  Guelph, 36

10. McMaster, 34

11. McGill, 33

12.  Alberta, 29

13.  Trent, 13

14.  Fraser Valley, 12

15.  Regina, 7

16.  Outaouais (UQAO), 4

17.  Simon Fraser, 3

18.  Ryerson, 2

 

 

 

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012