Bill Leslie

Bill, originally from Philadelphia PA, has taken residence in Canada in his quest for women, land, and loot. Bill can be found on the river running Zodiac tours this year - check out Ottawa River Adventures. His favorite rivers to work on would be the Ottawa river ON, the Gauley river WV, and the Mohaka river, NZ. When not on the water Bill can typically be found rock climbing with his wife Jenny, a nurse at a local hospital.

Favourite position; middle left

Graham Ball

After completing a degree in Outdoor education from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Graham has worked several summers at River Run on the Ottawa River as a safety kayaker and raft guide, as well as being a primary/junior teacher. In his spare time, Graham enjoys running, kayaking, camping, and most other outdoor pursuits that require pushing his physical limits.

Favourite position; front left

Andy Hill

Andy has been working on the Ottawa for River Run as a safety/video kayaker and raft guide for over 8 years. Since learning to kayak at the age of 14, Andy's busied himself by chasing big water around the world in Uganda, New Zealand, the United States and in Canada. He has recently finished his Paramedic schooling in Winnipeg, and is now working as a part-time paramedic.

Favourite position; back left

Lars Romeskie

Lars spent many summers on the Ottawa River as a raft guide and River Manager for River Run, and has also represented Canada as a squirtboater at many international competitions. He is now a proper Ottawa Valley local, having bought a house within sight of the put-in. Off of the water, Lars works as an Advanced Care Paramedic for Renfrew County, and spends his spare time cross country skiing and mountain biking.

Favourite position; back right

Jon Booren

Jon Booren discovered raft guiding in 2006, and quickly realized it was one of the best things he's ever done. In the past few years, he has been paddling throughout North America, New Zealand and Uganda. Off the water, he has completed a degree in business administration and a graduate diploma in environmental impact assessments. Most recently he has been researching climate change vulnerability.

Favourite position; middle right

Tim Wintoniw

Tim has been working as a whitewater canoe instructor in the Winnipeg area for the last 10 years. Tim brings with him a great wealth of knowledge and experience from the competitive worlds of adventure, ski and canoe racing. When he's not racing, Tim can be found rock climbing, mountain biking and trail running.

Favourite position; middle/back left

Tyler Fox

Tyler is our international man of mystery - we are never really sure when or where he will turn up next. He has been based in NZ and competing on the international extreme race scene for a while now, but comes back to the Ottawa to train when he can. He can be seen occasionally in the back of a Wilderness Tours raft, or teaching kayaking with Ottawa Kayak School.

Favourite position; middle/back left

Westley Etherington

West, originally a farmer from Peterborough has discovered his true vocation on the river. He also worked on the Ottawa for River Run as a raftguide and safetyboater. His other interests include kayaking, karate and pressing wild flowers.

Favourite position; front left

Matt Stanfield

Matt is a paramedic in Toronto, but regularly makes the drive to the Ottawa to spend some time on the river. He is a keen riverboarder, and regularly swims things that most people wouldn't kayak down.

Favourite position; middle left

Blake Mahoney

Blake is another Ottawa regular, working rafting and kayaking for Wilderness Tours. He is originally from Carleton place.

Favourite position; back right

Drew Sellen

Drew grew up in Toronto, Canada. He got his start in whitewater through the kayak club at university which eventually led him to the Ottawa River where he began rafting in 2009. Since then rafting has kept him traveling around the world experiencing many wonderful places and cultures. Drew has participated in two previous World Rafting Championships, and looks forward to gaining more experience in the raft racing world in Australia. To keep himself in shape he shouts quotes from Dirty Dancing off mountain tops then bikes down in Rotorua, New Zealand, the place he currently calls home. Drew has been raft guiding on the Kaituna River this season, and has ample opportunities in the evenings to kayak and raft for training purposes.

Favourite position; front left

Jake Suchorab

Hailing from the nation’s capital of Ottawa, Jake has had trouble in staying one place for too long; partially due to enjoying the nomad lifestyle and partially because he believes he has been following Big Foot’s trail. This will be Jake’s third world rafting championship after attending Brazil in 2014 and Japan in 2017. He started on the Ottawa river working for River Run, but has since worked in New Zealand and on the Kicking horse in Golden, BC. Jake has been training daily with teammate Aj and hopes to be in the best shape he has ever competed in.

Favourite position; front right

Gwyn Ashcroft

Gwyn has been chasing summers rafting for OWL and River Run on the Ottawa, and Mohaka Rafting in New Zealand for the past few years. When he is not on the water he is busy running Shaggy Designs, making canoes and paddles. Gwyn also finds time to go trail running and canoeing.

Favourite position; front right

Marc Godbout

Marc is a 22 year old passionate whitewater paddler. He has been rafting on the Ottawa River for 4 seasons which has led him to join Team Canada and push his rafting to the next level. He has been competing on the C1 and OC1 Canadian Freestyle teams for 3 years now, and will be heading to Spain this summer for World Freestyle Championships. Marc also has a fascination with pedal boats and continues to pedal his way into many firsts and into our hearts. He spent this winter cross-training off the water with ice and alpine climbing in the Rockies to come into paddling season stronger than ever.

AJ Morawski

AJ is from the GTA and started rafting in 2011 on the Ottawa river with RiverRun Rafting and has enjoyed plenty of rivers around the world since. His passion for white water continues to burn as does his love for skiing and beer. AJ can usually be found accompanied by his faithful companion Disco Duck. He is excited to compete for the first time and represent the maple leaf. He is coming into the competition hungry and with a refreshing new point of view.

Chris Scotten

Chris has been training on the near frozen waters of Canada, paddling in temperatures down to -10 Celsius. When the weather has been too cold, he has been biting the bullet and taking the training indoors to the bike and erg. Luckily he has been able to escape the frozen wasteland for a month long rafting trip through the Grand Canyon and a surf trip to Costa Rica. Christian has an overwhelmingly large love for snowmen.

Ian Stokes

Ian has been researching the hydrology of rocks and if it will ever be possible to create a rock raft. So far the research says decidedly no but he shook a magic 8 ball and it gave him enough confidence to continue his cutting edge research. Ian works on the Ottawa river for OWL rafting and has been training with fellow teammate Christian rafting the grand canyon.