Aquabatics Instructional Staff

Director of Paddlesports and Head Instructor

Simon Coward

From:  Barwon Heads, Australia

Countries Paddled: Australia, New Zealand, Zambia, Kenya, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uganda, Costa Rica, USA, Canada, France, Italy, United Kingdom and a couple more

Favorite River:  Upper Jondachi, Ecuador.  Miles and miles of beautiful Class IV and V boating in the jungle.

Background:  Up until 2004 had been following summers for about 7 years teaching kayaking and raft guiding.  Over the years he has led several successful expeditions to Africa and South America where the teams ran multiple class IV/V first descents in remote regions of Kenya and Bolivia.   Now a full time Calgary resident, he leads snowboarding and surfing trips in the Winter time and runs the ever expanding Aquabatics kayak school during the summer

Instructors

Jon Berlie

Favorite Spots: Kayak surfing near Erindira in the Baja Mexico. The rip tide pulls you right back out to the point like a chairlift... You only have to paddle to catch the 10ft+ waves.

Lachine Rapids on the St.Lawrence. Huge standing waves that allow for hours of incredible surfing. 

The canyon section of the Similkameen River in BC. Beautiful scenery with some great class IV boating.  

Background:  Having joined Aquabatics in July 2007, Jon is passionate about introducing others to the sport he loves most, KAYAKING. His past experiences instructing climbing, snowboarding, and guiding sea kayak trips in Costa Rica have allowed him to develop strong group management and leadership skills. With an educational background in Outdoor Pursuits as well as a BA in Communications and Culture he is well equiped to effectively communicate the fundamental skills of kayaking and lead people on new adventures.

Matt Burton

Matt is currently guiding whitewater rafting trips in his homeland, New Zealand, plans to be back in the spring for some great Alberta creeking and of course to provide you with more of his top notch instruction and that great kiwi accent.

Steve Elmore

DOB: August 6th, 1975;

Years Paddling: 8

Instructor for 6 years, Outdoor Pursuits Diploma

How did you get involved with paddling?
I started on local rivers, as a student at Mount Royal College, with professor Allan Derbyshire.

Favorite River Runs: Skookumchuck Creek, near Kimberly, class IV run.

What else? When I'm not in my boat you can find me snowboarding, ice climbing, working on my commercial pilots license, or developing the Aquabatics website.

How did you get involved with aquabatics? Started instructing 4 years ago.

Saskia van Mourik - Specialty Instructor and Tours, at large

A native of Sundre Alberta, Saskia van Mourik's love of kayaking began as a child on the Red Deer River. She spends her winters in Chilliwack BC training as a kayaker and team member of the Canadian National Slalom Team.  Saskia's abilities as a paddler also include being part of Canada's National Freestyle Team from 1997-2002 in world events in Canada, New Zealand, and Spain.

In between the world cup circuit, she works as program designer for Paddle Performance Clinics, offered through Aquabatics.