Ryan Rushton
- ACA L5 Advanced Open Water Coastal Kayak Instructor Trainer
- ACA L5 Advanced Open Water Coastal Kayak Instructor
- ACA L5 Advanced Swiftwater Rescue Instructor
- ACA L3 Open Canoe Instructor
- BCU 5 Star Sea Leader
- Wilderness First Responder
Ryan Rushton is the founding owner of the Geneva Kayak Center and has been paddling whitewater and sea kayaks for the past 14 years. Ryan holds awards in both the ACA and BCU in both the coastal and swiftwater rescue disciplines. Ryan has lead paddling expeditions in Alaska, Canada, Maine, Georgia, Florida, Wales and the waters of Lakes Superior and Michigan. Ryan became an ACA Instructor Trainer in 2008 and is a voting member of the ACA's Coastal Kayak Committee.
Ryan's first paddling "experience" came as a 4 year old, floating in a lifejacket next to his parents' canoe on the Lower Wisconsin River. From a childhood where he was regularly exposed to camping, hiking and canoeing, Ryan gained more experience in high school and college on wilderness and whitewater trips in the Rockies and the waters of N. Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada. Ryan started guiding at the age of 17 and began to discover that kayaking could be more than a pursuit, graduating from Western Illinois University with degrees in Business Administration and Recreation, with a focus on Adventure Recreation. Ryan started a small adventure company - Specialty Expeditions, which grew into the Geneva Kayak Center in 2005.
Off the water, Ryan and his wife and companion, Harmony, enjoy the challenge and fun of raising their three little ones - Jude (9 months), Foster (2) and Marre (5). Other pasttimes include restoring their 1870's home, playing guitar/singing, and staying active in a variety of traditional and adventure sports.