Iain Wilson Joins Row Ontario as Emerging Disciplines Manager
Row Ontario is pleased to announce that Iain Wilson is joining the Row Ontario staff as Emerging Disciplines Manager.
Wilson is a familiar face to many in the Ontario rowing community due to his past coaching roles at Ontario rowing clubs, his involvement with coastal rowing and beach sprint events, and as a NCCP Learning Facilitator. In his role as Emerging Disciplines Manager, Wilson will oversee the coastal rowing/beach sprints and indoor rowing portfolio’s and will play a pivotal role in increasing participation, developing coaching capacity, and generating sustainable revenue across these emerging disciplines in Ontario.
“We are very excited to announce Iain as Row Ontario’s Emerging Disciplines Manager,” said Andrew Backer, CEO of Row Ontario. “We believe Iain is well-suited for this new role and his background working in the Ontario rowing community in several different roles makes him a natural fit for this position. We’re looking forward to Iain joining our staff team in May and seeing him continue to grow the Emerging Disciplines portfolio.”
Wilson is a certified RCA Performance Coach as well as a World Rowing Coastal Rowing Coach, and his past coaching stints include head coach of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues (2015-17), head coach of the Hanlan Boat Club (2015-21, 2022-23) and Administrator and Outreach Coach with the Kingston Rowing Club (2021-22). One of the leading voices in Canada in beach sprints and coastal rowing, Wilson also led the design and delivery of NCCP Introduction to Competition Workshops as the RCA Coastal Rowing Pathway Coach Developer in 2024.
At the international level, he was named the national team coach for three consecutive World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals (2022-24), served as a Rowing Consultant with Liaoning (China) Water Sports Administration Centre (2025) and worked as a Technical Delegate with the Commonwealth Rowing Association (2025).
Wilson will begin his new position with Row Ontario on Friday, May 1.
