McGill rowing grads earn medals at World Cup meet in Spain

BANYOLES, Spain -- Doug Vandor and Derek O’Farrell, two McGill rowing graduates, were among the Canadians that won four medals Sunday at Banyoles, Spain, in the first World Cup regatta of the 2009 season.

It was the national team’s first major event since winning four medals last August at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Vandor, a 34-year-old native of Victoria, B.C., teamed up with Cam Sylvester of Caledon, Ont., to win silver in the lightweight men’s double behind a crew from Italy. Vandor rowed for McGill in the mid-1990s while earning a science degree in 1998 and a master’s in experimental surgery in 2001.

O’Farrell of Unionville, Ont., paired up with James Dunaway of Duncan, B.C., to take bronze in the men’s pair final behind Great Britain and South Africa in a Commonwealth medals sweep. O’Farrell, who turns 26 on June 5, graduated with a science degree in 2007.

“I am pleased with the [Canadian] results from today’s finalists,” said head coach Mike Spracklen, in a Rowing Canada release. “It showed good effect from a hard winter’s training and has given us a basis to move on. But the World Cup performances also showed that we have a lot of work to do.”

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Earl Zukerman Communications Officer Athletics & Recreation McGill UniversityMontreal, QC  514-398-7012 (Tel.)