Adding to a long-standing rivalry series between the University of Toronto and McGill University, Varsity Blues rowing claimed the Terry & Aileen Stevens Cup as overall winners of 'The Challenge' on Saturday (May 3) morning at the Lachine Rowing Club.

The event marked the 99th anniversary of the first-ever confrontation between two of the oldest rowing clubs in North America in 1926. 'The Challenge' made a re-emergence in 2023, pitting U of T and McGill rowing against each other in a series of four races. The overall victory marks the third consecutive overall win for Toronto, earning the Terry & Aileen Stevens Cup as the team with the lowest cumulative tim from all four races. The Blues clocked a combined time of 32:51.90 to finish ahead of McGill's 32:59.35.

U of T was able to earn the overall win via victories in three of the four races.

Toronto won the Varsity Cup as victors in the women's eight race as the crew of Dhalia Rostom, Elena Eberhardt, Mia Penney, Jane Paterson, Fortune David, Guinevere Reaume, Olivia Ruffolo, Sophie Corradini, and cox Elizabeth Yeoh crossed the finish line in a time of 8:14.13, besting McGill's time of 8:18.16.

The Blues women's reserve eight also earned the win, posting a time of 9:09.51 which placed them nearly 11-seconds clear of their McGill counterparts to bring home the Spirit of 1980 Trophy. The U of T women's reserve eight crew consisted of Taryn Fenton-Stickle, Charlotte Stein, Alice Calugar, Augusta Monte, Lauren Pearson, Maddy Glowinski, Anastasija Petrovic, Emily Rosevear, and cox Emily Boeva.

The final winning crew for Toronto was in the men's reserve eight claiming the Chancellor Edward Beatty Cup with a time of 8:09.72, while McGill crossed the line in 8:19.47. The victorious crew was composed of John McDonald, Devanch Singhi, Liam McFarland, Aref Alkouatli, Cole Hilmer, Daniel Pinto, Aleksander Budzinski, Sami Ahmed, and cox Jack Edwards.

In the men's eight, McGill was able to capture The Barber Pole by almost 18-seconds following an oar breaking in the Blues boat just past the midway mark of the course. The race, which featured the U of T crew of Lysander Weekes, Jack Bon, Sebastien Psarianos, Orlando Weekes, Kalan Couch, Youssef El-Mays, Navraj Brar, Simon Bettle, and cox Peter Hansen was all-square before the oar collision with a buoy forced the Blues to finish the final 800 metre with only seven oars. McGill crossed in 7:00.74, while U of T followed at 7:18.54.

"The weather conditions were impeccable, we could not have hoped for better, especially considering that we canceled our practice yesterday (Friday) because it was too windy," said McGill head coach Stéphanie Marchand. "It was really good competitive racing, everyone worked hard to make this a successful event. We are already super excited for this event in Toronto next season."

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

 

Year	Host	Venue	Event	Winner	Time
1926	McGill	Lachine Canal	Men's Eights	McGill	Unknown
1927	Toronto	Toronto Harbour	Men's Eights	McGill	Unknown
1928	Neutral	Martindale Pond	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1929	Neutral	Martindale Pond	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1930	McGill	Lachine Canal	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1931	McGill	Lachine Canal	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1932	McGill	Lachine Canal	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1933	McGill	Lachine Canal	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1934	McGill	Lachine Canal	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1935	McGill	Lachine Canal	Men's Eights	Toronto	Unknown
1937-2022	Challenge Not Held
2023	McGill	Olympic Basin	Men's Eights	Toronto	6:15.0
			Women's Eights	Toronto	7:22.0
			Mixed Reserve Eights	Toronto	7:05.0
2024	Toronto	Argonaut Rowing Club	Men's Eights	McGill	7:34.4
			Women's Eights	Toronto	8:21.9
			Men's Reserve Eights	Toronto	8:08.0
			Women's Reserve Eights	Toronto	9:03.1
2025	McGill	Lachine Rowing Club	Men's Eights	McGill	7:00.74
			Women's Eights	Toronto	8:14.13
			Men's Reserve Eights	Toronto	8:09.72
			Women's Reserve Eights	Toronto	9:09.51