Our Team
At Rowing The World TM, we have a philosophy of partnership and collaboration. We are proud of our amazing team, especially our rowing guides, many of whom are local rowers. Meet our team!
Ruth Marr
Ruth Marr is the founder and President of Rowing The World™ and The Rowing Concierge™, Travel2Row, Rowing The World USA and The Thoughtful Rower. Ruth started rowing as a graduate student in Saskatoon and has been a long-time member of the Prairie Fire Rowing Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She has enjoyed rowing in dozens of beautiful destinations around the world, both on the trips that she operates and on other rowing travel experiences such as FISA World Rowing Tours and private tours organized by friends.
Ruth is a passionate traveller with more than 25 years of experience in the adventure travel and tourism industry. She was the co-founder and owner of Randonnée Tours Ltd. for 15 years, specializing in self-guided cycling and walking trips in Europe and North America. Ruth also has extensive experience as a consultant specializing in tourism, active transportation, public consultation and environmental assessment. She is the author of two guidebooks and an active volunteer, especially in organizations supporting outdoor adventures, such as the Trans Canada Trail. She has been a speaker at Rowing Canada and USRowing conferences, as well as tourism conferences and workshops. www.marrcc.com
The Web Gecko Team
At The Web Gecko, we design custom WordPress Websites that are Fast, Fully Responsive & SEO Friendly no matter what device you use and provide Web Maintenance & Hosting. In addition, we create Custom Graphic Designs to brand your business and quality print designs with a Clean & Modern Layout.
WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY
Cathy Senecal
Cathy Senecal is Rowing The World's content strategist. Amassing a career of pushing boundaries through global media relations strategy in domestic and international markets, Cathy Senecal has mastered content and now advises destination and experiential entities on rich media relations and content strategy by combining curiosity, tourism experience and boundless creativity.
When she isn't busy with her company, Senecal Travel Marketing & PR, she is travelling or writing, something she did as a freelance writer in the 90s. Cathy has travelled to every continent and has visited more than 40 countries, covering culture, outdoor adventure and wildlife experiences. She authored the bestselling wildlife book Pelicans to Polar Bears, and has written hundreds of articles for dozens of outlets including The Washington Post, The Globe & Mail, enRoute, Michelin Guides, Reader's Digest Atlas and Expedia.ca.
Our Rowing Guides
Alper Ertubey - Turkey, Istanbul & South Aegean
Alper is an active member of the adventure travel community since 1988 and the only active member of ATTA from Turkey, and a founder of the World Heritage Guides Unesco Club. He hosts travelers of small groups and families in Turkey and in the Dodecanese Islands of Greece for active experiences such as hiking, sailing, culinary, sea-kayaking, and also for botanical, cultural, and historical trips. He designs his itineraries with the principles of Slow/Responsible Travel.He is a wildflower enthusiast and shares about 1150 wildflower images categorized in 60 plant families at his site www.floraofturkey.com He also has a travel blog at www.hikeandsail.com/blog, where you can find a lot of insight into what he does and why.
Nikos Gkountoulas - Greece
Nikolaos Gkountoulas is a Greek rower from Thessaloniki.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the men's pair with his twin brother, Apostolos Gkountoulas. They also won men's lightweight pairs at the 2008 World Championship and the open weight pair at the 2009 and 2011 European Championship. He works with his twin brother, Apostolis to promote all types of rowing in Greece. His move from 2k rowing into Coastal and Beach Sprint Rowing is an opportunity he thinks other athletes could enjoy.
Nikos is a leading world Coastal Rowing coach.
Apostolis Gkountoulas- Greece, Ionian Sea
Apostolis Gkountoulas is a Greek rower from Igoumenitsa.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the men's pair with his identical twin brother, Nikos Gkountoulas. Nikos is also a Rowing The World guide. They won men's lightweight pairs at the 2008 World Championship and the open weight pair at the 2009 and 2011 European Championship. The two work to promote all types of rowing in Greece. Apostolis is married to Alexandra, who won silver for Greece at the London Olympics. Together they have four children – enough for a quad! Apostolis is a leading rowing coach in Greece.
Julien Bahain - Canada, British Columbia
French Canadian – 3 time Olympian – Competed for France in 2008, and 2012, then for Canada in 2016 – Olympic medal winner – Rowed successfully across the Atlantic Ocean in 2013 – Motivational Speaker, Project Manager and Senior Associate at Partnerships BC, Victoria, Canada
Born in France to a Canadian mother and French father, Julien grew up in Angers. After competing for France at the World Championships and two Olympic Games, which included winning the bronze medal in Beijing, 2008, Julien turned to ocean rowing. In 2013, he rowed across one of the most challenging bodies of water on Earth: the Atlantic Ocean. After a successful, yet harrowing 49-day crossing, Julien went back to calmer water. Permanently crossing the ocean this time, it was in Canada that the next chapter of his adventure was written, and in 2014, he moved to Canada with his wife Katie and joined Canada’s National Rowing Team. In 2015, Julien experienced a major medical setback, and was told he would never compete again. However, through intensive rehabilitation, he defied medical opinion by going on to compete one final time in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In 2018, Julien co-organized the 2018 World Rowing Coastal Championships in Victoria, Canada and won the Men’s Double Scull with his brother-in-law. He now lives with his family on a small island off Vancouver Island, and, together with his wife, he is a coastal rowing guide including their own tours in the Gulf Islands. Julien’s motto: “The Adventure goes on…”
Luigi Manzo - Italy, Lago Maggiore and elsewhere
Since boyhood he “belongs” to Rowing, a discipline that has seen him covering a multitude of roles. From athlete, to coach, to rowing club president, to local Italian Olympic Committee manager, to manager of the Schools Sector for the Italian Rowing Federation and to the organisational manager of major international and national rowing events. One of the most important figures in the development of Coastal Rowing in Italy.
Director in an important Italian banking group with particular professional skills and responsibilities in credit, finance, balance, budgets, legal and commercial areas.
From 2013 to 2017 General Manager of the Varese Organizing Committee for the World Rowing events. Luigi and his team will be running a World Cup event in Sabaudia in 2021. President of Canottieri Luino rowing club. Also Council member of the Lombardy Regional Committee of the Italian Rowing Federation.
Brian Whelton - Ireland
Brian Whelton is the President of Courtmacsherry Rowing Club, a very successful club since its inception in 1991. The club has a fleet of both traditional (fixed seat) boats and coastal boats. Along with their strong community focus, the club has been very successful at regattas with junior and masters rowers. Crews, including Brian, have travelled to international regattas in Europe, Canada and Hong Kong. Brian spearheaded the construction of their new clubhouse, an impressive structure not only housing boats but serving as a community hub. With a young family, busy job and dedicated volunteer work at the club, Brian has less time to row his coastal single than he would usually like. Brian will be supported by guides from Kilmacsimon Rowing Club as well as Courtmacsherry Rowing Club.