MONTREAL – The McGill University rowing team will celebrate its 99th anniversary with an old foe when they confront the Toronto Varsity Blues in a head-to-head meeting on Saturday morning (May 3) in Lachine, Que. This will be the third annual modern-day edition of the McGill-Toronto Challenge, an event that was initiated in 1926, halted in 1937 and resumed in 2023.
 
This rendezvous is arguably the Canadian equivalent of England's historic Oxford-Cambridge confrontation and the epic Harvard-Yale race in the U.S.
 
Saturday's competition will take place at the Lachine Rowing Club, site of Canada's oldest rowing group, which was founded in 1872. The first of four separate races is slated to begin with a 7:30 a.m. start. The course is 2.4 kilometres in distance and expected to take about 15 minutes to complete. Boats start on the lake at Dorval Island and finish at the Lachine Rowing Club venue, located at 2801 Boulevard Saint-Joseph in Lachine. The best spot to watch from is the finish line, in front of the clubhouse. The Longhouse Pier is also a good spot to view the proceedings. Admission is free of charge.
 
"The Challenge" features Toronto and McGill competing for five prizes: in men's eights (The Barber Pole Trophy), women's eights (The Varsity Cup), men's reserve eights (Chancellor Edward Beatty Cup), and women's reserve eights (Spirit of 1980 Trophy). In addition, the Terry & Aileen Stevens Cup is handed out to the team with the lowest cumulative time from all four races.
 
Live streaming coverage of the competition will be provided by a chase boat and broadcast on the @mcgillrowing Instagram account. Post-race recaps will be produced for the McGill Athletics and Toronto Athletics websites. Official results will also be posted online.
 
Since the re-emergence of the inaugural 1926 regatta two years ago, the Varsity Blues won the Challenge in 2023, 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.
 
Last year, U of T hosted the event at the Argonaut Rowing Club, along the northwest shore of Lake Ontario. McGill's elite heavyweight men's eight pulled away down the stretch to defeat U of T by 11 seconds and capture the Barber Pole Trophy on the final race of the day.  Although the Varsity Blues lost that battle, they won the war, claiming victory in three of four races, including the women's varsity eight, men's reserve eight and women's reserve eight.

This year's third edition of the Challenge will showcase a varsity eight and reserve eight from each school, for both men and women, over 3,400 metres, with gold medals and trophies awarded to the winning crew of each event.

"We are excited to have four competitive boats for the race against U of T," said Stéphanie Marchand, a former McGill rower and assistant coach who is now in her second year as head coach of the Montreal-based institution. "This challenge helps build a strong team goal and a great opportunity for our 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 (see lineups below) is led by head coach Mark Williams, who donated the Barber Pole Trophy in 2023. Two of the other trophies were donated by Dr. Philip Hedrei, a former McGill rower who served as the team's head coach from 2009 from 2023.

Crews are scheduled to arrive at 6 a.m. to rig their boats, followed by a coaches meeting and a 6:30 a.m. coin-toss to decide racing lanes. The first crews launch at 7:15 a.m. and the women's reserve eight race is set for 7:30 a.m., followed by the men's reserves at 8:15 a.m., the women's varsity eight at 9 a.m., and the men's varsity boat at 9:45 a.m. An awards ceremony is slated for 10:15 a.m., followed by a celebratory brunch.

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 to its founding meeting in December 1925, followed by the first competition, against Toronto at the Lachine Canal on Oct. 16, 1926.

A centennial celebration of that event was the impetus for McGill being recently selected to host the Canadian University Rowing Association's (CURA) national championships, at the Olympic basin on Île Notre-Dame, just south of Montreal, Nov. 1-2, 2025.

Over the past century, 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 24 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 1926 with chilly, windy conditions at Lachine, Que. The McGill eight, under the guidance of coxie/coach Urban Molmans, a celebrated Belgian oarsman, defeated Toronto by 1.5 boat lengths.

In that era, the 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 team, ideally at the Lachine venue, due to its historical significance.  Depending on weather 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 2024 McGill team roster page)

VARSITY MEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. Ayoub Sabri – Rabat (MOROCCO)
7. Patrice Légaré – Montreal, QC
6. Jacob Lofaro – Grimsby, ON
5. Edison Luke – Vancouver, BC
4. Markus Maile – Vancouver, BC
3. Angus Burke – Lisbon Falls, ME (USA)
2. Brennan King – Vancouver, BC
1. Nicholas Bacon – Witham, ESSEX (UK)
(cox) Paige McCallum – Villanova, PA (USA)

VARSITY WOMEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. Naomi Fandrich – Fort Langley, BC
7. Abigail Powell – Warwick (BERMUDA)
6. Juliette Olley – Montreal, QC
5. Lily Dinwoodie – Terrace, BC
4. Mariam Anwar – Cairo (EGYPT)
3. Eloise Doesserich – Washington, DC (USA)
2. Emilie Reid – Kamloops, BC
1. Kaitlin Puddy – Calgary, AB
(cox) Varya Kataria – Ottawa, ON

RESERVE MEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. Oliver Snoxell – Ottawa, ON
7. Rand Ripple – Bedford, NH (USA)
6. Cole Allen – St. Lambert, QC
5. Kyler Bellamy – Toronto, ON
4. William Hansen-Baird – Brussels (BELGIUM)
3. Maxim DeJong – Jericho, NY (USA)
2. Ryan Kara – Montreal, QC
1. Vala Shahi – Montreal, QC
(cox) Paige McCallum – Villanova, PA (USA)

RESERVE WOMEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. Bekkah Celikkanat – Halifax, NS
7. Gabrielle Bouffard – Montreal, QC
6. Isabel Burns – Vancouver, BC
5. Rachel Halko – Leoville, SK
4. Alice de Vlieger – Ottawa, ON
3. Lindsay Scott – Burlington, ON
2. Sofia Campos-Gutierrez – Summerside, PEI
1. Juno Cox – Brooklyn, NY (USA)
(cox) Varya Kataria – Ottawa, ON


LINEUPS FOR TORONTO CREW THIS WEEKEND:
 (more biographical details available from the 2024 Toronto team roster page)

VARSITY MEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. Lysander Weekes – Ottawa, ON
7. Jack Bon – Ottawa, ON
6. Sebastien Psarianos – Vancouver, BC
5. Orlando Weekes – Ottawa, ON
4. Kalan Couch – Vancouver, BC
3. Youssef El-Mays – Calgary, AB
2. Navraj Brar – Beeton, ON
1. Simon Bettle – Ottawa, ON
(cox) Peter Hansen – Evanston, IL (USA)
 
VARSITY WOMEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. Dhalia Rostom – Ottawa, ON
7. Elena Eberhardt – Idstein (GERMANY)
6. Mia Penney – Sidney, BC
5. Jane Paterson – Toronto, ON
4. Fortune David – Brampton, ON
3. Guinevere Reaume – Wayne, PA (USA)
2. Olivia Ruffolo – Markham, ON
1. Sophie Corradini – Carlisle, ON
(cox) Elizabeth Yeoh – Markham, ON

RESERVE MEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. John McDonald – New Albany, OH (USA)
7. Devansh Singhi – Dubai (UAE)
6. Liam McFarland – St. Catharines, ON
5. Aref Alkouatli – Vancouver, BC
4. Cole Hilmer – Toronto, ON
3. Daniel Pinto – Toronto, ON
2. Aleksander Budzinski – Warsaw (POLAND)
1. Sami Ahmed – Singapore (ROS)
(cox) Jack Edwards – Shrewsbury, MA (USA)
 
RESERVE WOMEN'S EIGHT: 
SEAT / NAME / HOMETOWN
8. Taryn Fention-Stickle – Barrie, ON
7. Charlotte Stein – Sarajevo (BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA)
6. Alice Calugar – Etobicoke, ON
5. Augusta Monte – Oakville, ON
4. Lauren Pearson – Burlington, ON
3. Maddy Glowinski – Victoria, BC
2. Anatasija Petrovic – New Westminster, BC
1. Emily Rosevear – Mount Albert, ON
(cox) Emily Boeva – Mississauga, ON


SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca