Emily Wright

Hometown : Fairport, NY
Birthdate : 12/22/1987
Height : 5’6”
Weight : 145lbs
Workout Song : When We Ride on Our Enemies, Tupac Shakur

When Emily Wright was 11, she read a newspaper article about a kayaker paddling from New York to Ontario. Inspired, Wright trained for three years and became the youngest ever to make the 52 mile crossing at age 14. She still holds the record. It was also the first all-women’s crossing of Lake Ontario. In turn, the newspaper ran an article on her attracting the attention of a kayaking group in Rochester, New York – and she started racing.

Wright loves long distance kayaking. She started out racing marathons placing 16th in the 2004 Junior Marathon World Championship and 12th in 2005. After a shoulder surgery decommissioned her for the entire year of 2006, Wright came back hard, winning the U.S. Marathon Nationals in the K-1 and C-2.

However, Wright pins her Olympic dreams on sprint kayaking. She placed 15th in the K-4 500m during the 2005 Junior Sprint World Championship. She went on to place 2nd in the K-4 500m, 3rd in the K-4 1000m and 3rd in the K-1 1000m at the 2005 Junior Pan American Games.

Wright is also a competitive cross-country skier and enjoys snowshoe running, hiking, reading and plays the violin, the mandolin and the cello.