A graduate of Three Oaks Senior High School, and the University of Prince Edward Island (BSc ’04), Emily has been an athlete her whole life. Basketball, rugby, track and field, snowboarding and swimming, but rowing didn’t come along until she was 23 years old. A “learn to row” poster at the University of Toronto where Emily was working, caught her eye.
As Emily pursued a Master’s of Science at U of T, she continued to row with the Don Rowing Club of Mississauga, Ontario. A win in the women’s club four (4+) at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts in 2007 cemented her love of speed and competition in the racing shell.
Continuing her genetics and community health research while working full time in Winnipeg, Emily encountered a former Olympian and World Rowing champion, Jeff Powell, who helped take her rowing from the club level to international elite.
Emily has represented Canada as part of the National Training Centre since 2010, and has been a member of four World Championship and nine World Cup and International regatta teams. Highlights of her career are a silver medal at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in South Korea, and a silver medal at the 2014 World Cup 3 in Switzerland. In 2014 Emily was the silver medalist at the Canadian National Rowing Championships in the Senior Women’s Single.
Having recently retired from the 2016 Olympic Training camp, Emily looks forward to returning to academic pursuits and will pursue another master’s degree from Oxford University (MPP-Master of Public Policy), and try for the famous Oxford vs Cambridge boat race.
Fun Facts:
- Weekly volunteer with Special Olympics London, Ontario since 2012
- Has a sweet tooth – jellybeans are a favorite treat!
- Has an extensive collection of brightly colored sneakers- because fitness should be fun 🙂
- At 5’ 8.5”, she is considered “short” in the rowing world
- A lover of naps! Emily can nap anywhere, anytime!
- Owes her seriously strong legs to East Coast step dancing in her early years.