Tokyo Calympian: Emma Wright, Water Polo, Canada
The Cal star will return to Berkeley for her senior campaign this fall
Happy Canada Day (which is annually on July 1st)! Appropriately, today’s featured Calympian will be one of several Cal Canadian Olympians.
A prolific scorer, Emma Wright plays a very similar role on the Canadian National Team as she does on Cal Women’s Water Polo. Wright will attempt to lead the underdog squad that is Canada to an Olympic medal.
Emma Wright
Sport: Water Polo
Nation: Canada
Hometown: Lindsay, Ontario
Olympic Appearance: 1st
Age: 24 (November 16, 1996)
Cal connection: Rising senior, Wright took both 2020 and 2021 off to prepare for the Olympics. According to LinkedIn, her major is Interdisciplinary Studies Field where her thesis will focus on sociology, psychology, and woman studies.
Cal accomplishments: One of the top scorers in Cal history, Wright compiled 40 goals, 47 goals, and 67 goals in her three seasons so far. She is currently ranked ninth on Cal's all-time scoring list with 154 goals. Cal had made the NCAA semifinals in all three years with Wright.
A long-time Canadian National Team member, Emma Wright will be a co-captain for Team Canada in Tokyo. Wright joined the Canadian national team as 16-years old when the next youngest player was age 20. Team Canada will have two other Cal Bears, alumni Kelly McKee and Kindred Paul. Emma Wright will also be joined on the squad by her older sister Claire.
Both Wright and Paul were also members of Team Canada back in 2016 when they just missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games. Wright and company earned this Olympic berth at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru by winning the Silver behind the powerhouse that is the United States. This would be Canada’s first Olympic appearance since 2004.
According to her Team Canada bio, Emma Wright only started to play water polo reluctantly at age 9 because her parents had to take her along to all of her older siblings’ practices in Toronto.
Wright should be one of the leading scorers for Canada in this Olympic tournament. She had 17 goals, just one behind teammate Axelle Crevier, as the 5th best goal scorer at the 2019 Pan American games.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Wright and Canada placed 4th in the FINA Women's Water Polo World League Super Final 2021. They were eliminated in the semifinal by Hungary and lost the Bronze medal match to the Russian Federation.
Best of luck to Emma Wright and Team Canada in Tokyo.
Women’s Water Polo Schedule:
Women’s Water Polo will run from July 24-August 7 at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center.
Canada is in Group A with Australia, South Africa, Spain, and the Netherlands, the latter two teams will also have Cal alumni.
The times listed below are in Japanese Standard Time.
Sat 24 July 14:00 - 16:50
Canada vs. Australia
Mon 26 July 18:20 - 21:10
Spain vs. Canada
Wed 28 July 14:00 - 16:50
Canada vs. South Africa
Sun 1 Aug. 14:00 - 16:50
Netherlands vs. Canada
After the preliminary group play, the top 4 teams in the group will be seeded and placed in the single-elimination knockout stage starting with the Quarterfinals.
GO BEARS!