Friday, April 28, 2000McGill gunning to capture fourth trophyMONTREAL -- The McGill University rowing club is gunning to capture its fourth consecutive Lorne Gales Blade Trophy when they host the fourth annual McGill-Queen's Challenge boat race on Sunday, April 30 from 12 noon until 4 p.m at the Laval rowing basin, located on Boulevard Levesque Ouest in Laval, Que. Admission to the event is free of charge. Eight races will be run, beginning with 5-kilometre head races in both men's and women's eights, plus men's novice eights and women's novice fours. The same boats will then engage in the exciting 500m sprints, beginning at 2 p.m. There will be a trophy ceremony following the event at the Bistro Room of the Marche Movenpick at the corner of University and Cathcart streets at 6 p.m. The McGill-Queen's Challenge is the Canadian equivalent of the prestigious Oxford-Cambridge and Harvard-Yale races. The event has grown to become a popular tradition, adding another dimension to the intense rivalry that exists between the two schools. McGill has dominated the event since its inception in 1997, sweeping Queen's in both men's and women's categories. Originally established in 1924, the McGill rowing club thrived under the guidance of the world-renowned oarsman and coach Urbain Molmans until being disbanded during World War II. Over the decades, the McGill lightweight and heavyweight men consistently established themselves as a rowing power. These crews met the best on the American continent and won with ease. This winning attitude was extended into the modern-day rebirth of the club in 1976. Building on the traditions and successes of the 1920's and '30's, the present-day club is long past its infancy. Strength, dedication and gold-medal confidence and skill mark the McGill crew. The distinctive red McGill 'M' is no stranger to national and international podiums and six members have gone onto the Canadian national team in recent years, including Derek Porter of Victoria and Alison Korn of Nepean, Ont., both silver medalists at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 in addition to Rachel Starr of Montreal, who won gold in the women's lightweight double sculls at the 1997 World Cup rowing regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. Among the two most recent McGill products to move on to the Canadian national team is Genevieve Meredith of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., and Ben Storey of Whitehorse in the Yukon. Meredith has been selected as an alternate with the Canadian olympic team which will compete at the Sydney Olympics this summer. Storey and Korn will also be competing for Canada in Australia. The McGill rowing club runs highly-competitive programs from the novice through the elite levels. Development crews help to feed the elite system, contributing to all of the boats: lightweight and heavyweight, male and female, rowers and coxswains alike. The club is a high-spirited, high-calibre group of over 100 members. |