Rowing (M & W) | 9/24/2017 10:17:00 PM

MONTREAL – The McGill University rowing club christened seven new racing shells last Saturday, a day before winning the Head of the Rideau regatta in Ottawa.

One of the boats was named the "Boys of 77'" in honour of the first year that McGill had adopted the Olympic rowing basin, used in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, as their home base. The boat was funded in part by alumni donations, primarily those who rowed for the team in 1977.
 
A second boat, "Aaron & Sarah Pape", was named after siblings who rowed at McGill in the 1990s prior to Sarah Pape serving as a coxie in the women's eight at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The third boat was named the "Ben Storey", in honour of the infamous red-headed McGill rower, who competed at five world championships, winning gold in the men's lightweight pair at the 2000 worlds in Zagreb, Croatia.

A fourth shell was named the "Henry Hering", after the former McGill rower and head coach (2002-2006), who also competed at the Olypics in Barcelone (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) . A fifth boat was named the "Alison Korn" after former McGill rower who won silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The last two boats were named "Red Dawn" and "Red Line", both using a common McGill red theme, and reminiscent of the beautiful sunrises at the basin.