Homam Michael – The Row Tourer
Community News/ Jan 27

Homam Michael – The Row Tourer


Is Whitby, ON’s Homam Michael the most prolific row tourer in Canadian rowing history? Has he logged more km’s than anyone on the touring circuit? Those are questions that are hard, maybe impossible, to answer. Whatever the answer may be, the 78-year-old’s dedication to the sport of rowing can never be questioned.

Michael’s journey in rowing started later than most, as he joined his first learn-to-row class at the Durham Rowing Club at the age of 52 in 1999. His first time in a boat was a long-time coming. He had been interested in the sport for over 30 years, but the timing was never right with a busy personal life and other commitments conspiring to keep him off the water.

“I grew up in Cairo, Egypt and there was a rowing club there in the 1960’s,” said Michael. “Every day when I was attending university I was walking over the bridge, and I would see the rowing shells and people rowing. It looked like a lot of fun, but I never had the opportunity to join because I was busy with school, and then after school came work, and marriage and children, but it always stayed in my mind to do it one day. Then I moved to Whitby for work, and I saw an ad for a rowing club on the local Rogers TV Channel. It said if you want to learn how to row give us a call. And I thought well this is my chance. So, I called and went to the club the next day.”

A first-time empty nester at 52, Michael had some extra time on his hands and dove head long into the world of rowing. After getting the hang of the sport he became part of the DRC’s competitive masters program. While he appreciated the competitive aspects of rowing, after attending a few regattas he found that he wasn’t enjoying it as much as he had hoped.

“The first couple of years, I was doing competitive rowing with the masters and trying to improve my 1000m times,” said Michael. “I participated in a few regattas, but I didn’t really like it. The night before the regatta, you load the boats on the trailer, then the next morning you drive to the event, you hang around all day and race, and you’re only on the water for about 4-5 minutes. And then you load the boats back up and get them back to club and take them off the boats. It was long day for such a short time on the water.”

After a few years in the sport, Michael heard about a group (Ontario Adventure Rowing) that was organizing row tours. Row touring was a relatively new discipline in Ontario rowing circles, with the first tour being organized in 1996. He decided to try it out and participated in his first tour on Sharbot Lake in Eastern Ontario in the spring of 2003.

“Right from the start of doing the rowing tours I really enjoyed them,” said Michael on what interested him about row touring. “You’re on the water for a couple of hours and then you get out and eat lunch and then go back on. I found that more sociable and it was easy to develop friendships with the people you’re rowing with. So right from that first tour on Sharbot Lake I told them I want to join and come on all the tours.”

When Michael said he wanted to come on all the tours he meant it. Since that time, he’s rarely missed a tour that OAR has organized. Each year, OAR typically organizes 10-15 tours throughout the province, with the tours usually lasting one to two days, in some cases up to three days. No matter the location, length, or route, Michael goes on all of them. With over 20 years of rowing touring, that’s somewhere between 200-300 tours in Ontario waters for Michael. After a few years touring around Ontario’s lakes and rivers, Michael found out about the FISA World Tours (now called World Rowing Tours) that were being run in countries throughout the world. Wanting to take his rowing journey international, he participated in his first World Rowing Tour in 2007.

“The first tour outside of Canada I went to was in New York, and I really liked it a lot,” said Michael. “I met a bunch of people and made some new friends from around the world. And then I started going to FISA tours every year. They’ve taken me around the world, and I have so many great memories from them all.”

In addition to all the tours in Ontario waters, since 2007 Michael has participated in approximately three international tours per year. That puts his number of international tours somewhere between 40-45 (and counting). He’s rowed many events in Europe as well as some in South America, Asia and Oceania. With so many tours, the memories and experiences are endless. In asking Michael about some of the highlights of these tours he mentions how every route seems to have a different landscape and character. From rowing on the picturesque Waikato River on the North Island of New Zealand, to traversing through locks and going down the Canal du Midi in France under a canopy of trees. There’s the crystal-clear lakes in Austria with water so clear you can see the bottom, and the snow covered mountains that provide the backdrop for the route in Chile. The beautiful Rhine and Danube rivers in Europe and the interesting scenery in Turkey and Japan which is unlike anything in North America.

“With the international tours they’re quite fun off the water as well,” said Michael. “There’s usually lots of scenery around the hotels. Experiencing the local food and drinks is great. After a long rowing day, you feel you’ve earned the chance to over indulge in the local food and drink because you’ve worked so hard.”

Once he had established himself as a regular on the World Rowing Tour circuit, Michael started getting invited to privately organized tours as well, for which he gladly accepted the invitation. He made connections with fellow rowers from Germany, Switzerland and Poland who invited him to come on their own tours, as well as Winnipeg’s Ruth Marr, Founder and President of the ‘Rowing the World’ rowing travel organization. Along with all the amazing scenery and experiences on the water there have also been some that were challenging and nerve-wracking.

“Some interesting situations on these tours have come up on the water,” reflected Michael. “Along the coast of Spain the winds picked up so strong there was no way we could abort and go to shore, there were rock cliffs, we just had to keep going which was quite an exhausting challenge. There was one time we went through a lock in Europe with a river cruise ship which created so much turbulence that we almost tipped. Another time rowing around Manhattan Island in New York, the water police told us a cruise ship was coming and we either had to wait over an hour for it to pass or row fast to get out of the way. We were in a traditional boat with no sliding seats. We chose to row and were exhausted, but we made it, barely! All these are really nice memories, especially when you can reminisce with the people you went through them with.”

While approaching 80 years old, Michael has maintained a busy rowing schedule. Just last year he completed a 15-day tour in Poland where his group rowed all the way from Krakow to Warsaw. He’s been a member of the Durham Rowing Club every year since 1999, and still rows there 3-4 times per week. His Garmin watch keeps him updated with all his rowing statistics and lets him know that with all his time at the club and on the tours he’s been rowing close to 1000km per year on the water. Throughout the winter months he keeps active by doing fitness classes at community centres in the area. His plans for international tours in 2025 are already set with trips booked to France in May and Poland in June.

“I need to stay active and be around other people, that’s who I am,” said Michael on what keeps him going. “As long as I can, I’ll row. My time for tours might be limited, but I think I have 2-3 years left in me. But I’ll keep doing it for as long as I can.”

From the beginning of his rowing journey, and even long before it started, Michael has felt a connection to the sport. The club, the tours, the fitness aspects, the experiences, and perhaps most importantly the people, have all played a part in deepening that connection with every passing year.

“Right from day one I found the rowing community so friendly and nice, they’re a different breed of people, said Michael. “Even outside the boat, afterwards we just sit and talk and have some drinks or go for a walk and do some sightseeing. Maybe it’s because in the boats we’re always depending on each other to row properly. The friendship and camaraderie are so important with the other rowers.”