McGill rowing grads 4th and 7th at World Cup regatta in Lucerne

(L to R: Doug Vandor and Derek O'Farrell)

LUCERNE, Switzerland -- Doug Vandor, a Canadian Olympian who began his rowing career more than a decade ago with the novice crew at McGill University, finished fourth in the lightweight men's double at the Samsung World Rowing Cup competition in Lucerne, Sunday. It marked the second straight year that Vandor just missed the podium at the Swiss regatta.

Earlier Sunday, Derek O'Farrell, another McGill grad, won the B final to finish seventh overall in the Canadian men's four (6:01.47), along with Vancouver natives Anthony Jacob and Mike Wilkinson, as well as Peter McClelland of Aurora, Ont.

O'Farrell, who turns 29 on June 5 and hails from Unionville, Ont., graduated from McGill with a science degree in 2007.

Both, Vandor and O'Farrell captured silver medals at Lucerne in 2009.

Vandor teamed up with Morgan Jarvis of Winnipeg. The duo looked strong through the preliminaries and were in medal contention in the final, until the finish when they were edged out by Denmark for the final medal position. France won in six minutes, 22.78 seconds, followed by New Zealand in 6:24.32 and the Danes in 6:24.97. Canada was clocked in 6:25.18.

"We've been learning a lot this weekend," said Vandor, a 37-year-old native of Dewittville, Que., who graduated from McGill with a B.Sc. '98 and an M.Sc. '02 in experimental surgery. "We were progressively getting better and it felt really strong (Sunday) morning. We tried to take the best of our first race in the heat and the best of our second race, the semi, and combine them. The only place that we stumbled was the last 200 metres... falling apart a bit. We were leading for most of the race; it's just learning how to hold onto that lead - stay composed under pressure and do what we have to do. I guess it's a good step forward, it's better to come fourth here than in two months time at the Olympics."

Canada has qualified seven boats for the London 2012 Olympics. Most of the Canadian team will now head home to train, while the women’s eight will remain in Europe to train and compete.

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012