After serving as host last spring, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues rowing team will head to Montreal this weekend for the annual competition versus McGill known as 'The Challenge'.

Scheduled to take place on Saturday (May 3) morning at Lachine Rowing Club, 'The Challenge' features four separate races where Toronto and McGill compete in men's eights (The Barber Pole), 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. Blues rowing has claimed the overall cup in both meetings between the two teams since the re-emergence of the historic regatta in 2023.

A century-old head-to-head rivalry, the U of T and McGill rowing competition was first held in 1926 between the men's rowing teams, marking the first intercollegiate rowing challenge between two Canadian universities. 'The Challenge' featured a decade of competition, but was then not contested from 1937-2022 due to the onset of the Second World War and subsequent loss of institutional memory of the race. 2023 marked the rebirth of 'The Challenge' with the addition of women's eights and reserve eights for both genders. On odd years, the race is set to be held in Montreal and on even years, Toronto will serve as host. 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 clash of Red and Blue.

Historical Records