Since an early age Emma Wright knew she wanted to be a collegiate swimmer, and today she's just that. Wright is set for her senior season for the Washington State Swim team, however, the path Wright took she couldn't have planned.
Wright grew up in Hobart, Indiana and started swimming completely at just six years old, but when she got to high school it quickly became clear she had a future in the sport.
As a sophomore, Wright was named to the All-State First Team and the Girls Swimmer of the Year after winning state in the 100 freestyle. She continued to find success throughout her high school career with a third-place finish in the 100 freestyle at state as a junior and before closing her career with three second-place finishes across the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay and 400 relay as a senior.
After her high school career, Wright became one of the top swimming prospects in the state, and she took her talents out of the state and committed to the University of Houston.
Wright's collegiate career got off on the right track in Houston's first meet against Texas A&M where she led her team with in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events. This gave her a lot of confidence heading into the rest of her freshman season.
"I remember ahead of my first meet I was extremely nervous, but I swam one of my best times," Wright said. "That calmed me down and showed I can perform at this level."
Wright continued to string together strong performances and helped lead Houston to the American Athletic Conference Championships. As a freshman Wright finished second in the 100 free to cap off a promising start to her collegiate career.
Wright was looking to build off the impressive end to freshman campaign and in the first meet against Texas A&M as a sophomore, Wright won the 100 freestyle. Similarly, to her freshman season, Wright was off to a hot start and posted a pair of top finishes later in the season at the Rice Invitational, finishing second in the 200 free and third in the 50 free.
Despite seeing success, it wasn't without adversity as throughout her sophomore season Wright was battling a knee injury which ultimately led her to a decision to step away from the sport ahead of conference championships.
"I was in a constant battle with myself every day. I thought I was completely done swimming, I lost all love for the sport," Wright said. "I think all together just trying to battle physical and mental adversity, I couldn't compete anymore."
After she stepped away from the team, Wright still decided to watch the conference championships, and it was then that she started to regain her desire to compete in swimming.
"Watching the conference championships on tv I was like, 'I miss the racing, and I still have so many goals I want to achieve,'" Wright said. "I talked to my family, friends and former coaches who watched me grow up swimming and I realized that I would have regretted it if I didn't finish my college career."
With a newfound motivation for the sport, Wright entered the transfer portal and began the search for a new home. When Wright came to Pullman on a visit in April, she knew immediately she had found her new home.
"When I came here, I wanted to cancel my second recruit visit the following weekend because I knew this place was like home," Wright said. "The team atmosphere was amazing, and I felt like the coaches really tried their best for us to succeed."
Washington State was one of the first schools to contact Wright and Head Coach Russell Whitaker remembers seeing a possible leader of the team when Wright took her first visit.
"Seeing the leadership qualities she possessed on her visit, she just has this presence of commanding a room as soon as she walks in," said Coach Whitaker.
With a new home in the Palouse, and desire to compete again, Wright was set for her junior season. She made her first splash of the season against UCLA, finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle and fifth again the following week against Cal.
Late in the season, Wright began to produce impressive performances, helping lead the 400-relay team to a win in the team's victory over Utah and closed her season a couple weeks later at the Pac-12 Conference Championships with the fifth-fastest 100 freestyle time (49.51) in program history.
"That meant a lot to me especially because the 100 free is my favorite event and I haven't dropped that significant amount of time since my sophomore year of high school," Wright said. "That was another thing that helped me continue and I said to myself 'I still have it in me I can still keep going.'"
Wright's junior year served as her best to date, but more importantly, the Washington State swim program saved her love for the sport.
"I got through my struggles and learned to really enjoy my sport, I have a lot of thanks to this place for healing me," Wright said.
The leadership qualities Coach Whitaker saw in Wright on her visit have came to fruition as Wright is one of the leaders on the team and makes sure to help any of her teammates who may be going through the same struggles she did.
"Now she understands the impact she can have on others and making sure her teammates don't lose that love of the sport," said Coach Whitaker.
Just two seasons ago Wright stepped away from the sport entirely, now she is set for her senior season competing in the sport she rekindled her love for.
