Ontario Adventure Rowing - Ontario | Canadian Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Ontario Adventure Rowing is a province-wide organisation for rowers who want to explore inland and coastal waters. It organises lake and river tours, long-distance racing and coastal rowing rather than operating from one permanent local boathouse.

The programme's first touring quad arrived from Germany in 1994. Its first documented tour took place on 10 and 11 June 1995, travelling from Poonamalie Lockstation through the Narrows to Portland and back.

That inaugural trip involved 12 rowers drawn from Ottawa, Barrie, Argos, Durham and the Dons. The organisation later confirmed 1995 as the correct beginning of Ontario row touring after earlier believing the first tour had occurred in 1996.

By its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2020, Ontario Adventure Rowing was running more than 20 touring days a year. Its tours had expanded to single-day, weekend and week-long formats, with some routes using locks or portages.

The current schedule includes inland tours and the Canadian Sculling Marathon, with full and half-marathon distances on the Ottawa River. OAR also promotes coastal rowing alongside touring.

Although it has no single city base, the organisation is a current Rowing Canada member and runs an ongoing rowing programme. It is therefore retained as a real club-style organisation rather than marked as a standalone event.