TORONTO – The McGill University Rowing Club will renew a century-old rivalry with an old foe when they confront the Toronto Varsity Blues in a head-to-head meeting on Saturday morning (May 4). The competition will take place at the Argonaut Rowing Club, founded in 1872 and located at 1225 Lake Shore Boulevard West in Toronto.
This second annual Toronto-McGill Challenge is the Canadian equivalent of England's historic Oxford-Cambridge confrontation and the epic Harvard-Yale race in the U.S. The Varsity Blues won
last year's inaugural Challenge, sweeping all three races that took place at Montreal's Olympic Rowing Basin on May 6, 2023. It was a memorable day that coincided with the Coronation of King Charles in the United Kingdom.
Live streaming coverage of the 2024 Challenge will be provided by a chase boat and broadcast on the
@uoftrowing Instagram account. Post-race recaps will be produced for the
McGill Athletics and
Toronto Athletics websites. Official results will also be posted on
RegattaCentral.
The 2024 Challenge will showcase a varsity eight and reserve eight from each school, for both men and women, over a distance of 2,400 metres, with gold medals and trophies awarded to the winning crew of each event. A formal awards ceremony will be presented 30 minutes upon conclusion of the final race.
"We are thrilled to have four boats for the race against U of T," said
Stéphanie Marchand, a former McGill rower and assistant coach who is in her first year as head coach of the Montreal-based institution. "This challenge helps build a strong team goal and a great opportunity for the student-athletes to keep working hard during the long indoors winter months, and for our graduating athletes to have one final race under their school's colors."
The U of T crew is led by head coach
Mark Williams, who donated the Barber Pole Trophy, which goes to the winning men's eight. The winning women's varsity crew will receive the Varsity Cup. The winning reserves boat on the men's side will receive the Chancellor Edward Beatty Cup, named in honour of the sixth chancellor at McGill, who was a staunch supporter of rowing. The Spirit of 1980 Trophy will go to the winning boat in the women's reserves race. The school with the lowest combined race time from all four events will be awarded the Terry and Aileen Stevens Cup for overall efficiency.
Crews are scheduled to arrive at 6 a.m. to rig their boats, followed by a coaches meeting and coin-toss to decide racing lanes. The first crews launch at 6:45 a.m. The women's reserve eights race is set for 7:15 a.m., followed by the men's reserves at 8 a.m., the women's varsity eight at 8:45 a.m., and the men's varsity eight at 9:30 a.m. An awards ceremony is slated for 10 a.m., followed by a celebratory brunch.
There will be two starting stations (i.e. lanes): Sunnyside (closest to the shore) and lakeside (closest to the breakwall). At the finish line, an air horn will sound with one beep for the winning crew and two beeps for the second crew.
The McGill rowing club dates back 99 years to its founding meeting in December, 1925, followed by the first competition, against Toronto at the Lachine Canal on Oct. 16, 1926. McGill has featured many athletes who have represented Canada on the international scene, including 18 Olympians. The Varsity Blues rowing program, which dates to 1897, has produced 25 Olympians.
Renewal of the Toronto-McGill clash adds another dimension to a long-standing athletic rivalry that has existed between these two schools since 1881 when the first rugby-football confrontation began. The initial rowing matchup between the two schools – billed as the first-ever intercollegiate rowing competition on Canadian waters – took place in chilly, windy conditions at Lachine, Que., on Oct. 16, 1926. The McGill eight, under the guidance of coxie/coach Urban Molmans, a celebrated Belgian oarsmen, defeated Toronto by 1.5 boat lengths.
The long-time rivals would traditionally bet their crew shirts on a sprint, with the winner receiving the shirt off the back of the losing side.
This annual competition is an entirely student-organized, coach-run, out of season event with alternating hosts each spring. When in Montreal, it will be hosted by the McGill club ideally at the Lachine venue, due to its historical significance. Depending on conditions, the Lachine Canal itself would normally be the first choice, with the Lachine Rowing Club second and the Olympic Rowing Basin as a contingency backup plan in case of bad weather.
LINK TO HISTORY OF THE TORONTO-McGILL CHALLENGE
LINEUPS FOR McGILL CREW THIS WEEKEND:
(more biographical details available from the
2023 McGill team roster page)
MEN'S EIGHT:
Harrison Roy (coxswain),
Victor Rolland,
Markus Maile,
Patrice Légaré,
Brennan King,
Angus Burke,
Ayoub Sabri,
Edison Luke,
Jacob Lofaro.
WOMEN'S EIGHT:
Varya Kataria (coxswain),
Abigail Powell,
Emily Lindquist,
Amalia Tinmouth,
Mariam Anwar,
Eloise Doesserich,
Emilie Reid,
Astrid Scarth-Lella,
Alice Saito.
RESERVE MEN'S EIGHT:
Edison Luke (coxswain),
Paul Speciel,
Zackary Murphy,
Paul Hollander,
Logan Salpeter,
Cole Allen,
Adam Prus-Czarnecki,
Sinan Bankaci,
Harrison Roy.
RESERVE WOMEN'S EIGHT:
Varya Kataria (coxswain),
Sofia Campos-Gutierrez,
Sophie Waller,
Kaitlin Puddy,
Naomi Fandrich,
Caroline Zimmer,
Meredith Midgett,
Amélie Evans,
Mariam Anwar
LINEUPS FOR TORONTO CREW THIS WEEKEND:
(more biographical details available from the
2023 Toronto team roster page)
MEN'S EIGHT: Sebastien Psarianos, Jack Bon, Noah Campbell, Eric Liu, Navraj Brar, Youssef El Mays, John McDonald, Kenny Kimmins, Katy Myler (coxswain)
WOMEN'S EIGHT: Claudia Makhanko-Tang, Jane Paterson, Roksolana Nazar, Sarah Armstrong, Fortune David, Maia Stelfox, Dahlia Rostom, Vanessa Lin, Jack Pankratz (coxswain)
RESERVE MEN'S EIGHT: Lysander Weekes, Devansh Singhi, Antoine Vilain, Manit Butalia, Sam Bolton, Charlie Kozar, Kalan Couch, Thomas Carnell-Derenyi, Peter Hansen (coxswain)
RESERVE WOMEN'S EIGHT: Daniella Caldwell, Emily Thompson, Elena Eberhardt, Mia Penney, Melanie Stibbard, Olivia Ruffolo, Kayla Chow, Caitlin Terry, Elizabeth Yeoh (coxswain)
