Emily Overholt (born October 4, 1997) is a Canadian former competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. She has won bronze medals at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and

FINA World Aquatics Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: Swimming (sport), swimming, Diving (sport), diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run b ...

, as well as a silver at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and three

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

medals. Overholt also won three gold and a silver at the 2013

Canada Games The Canada Games (french: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two ...

as a representative for British Columbia.

Career

Overholt began swimming at the age of 9 with the West Vancouver Otters. Her main inspiration for being a competitive swimmer was watching

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

during the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, while she states her overall sports inspiration is skater-cyclist

Clara Hughes Clara Hughes, (born September 27, 1972) is a Canadian cyclist and speed skater who has won multiple Olympic medals in both sports. Hughes won two bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics and four medals (one gold, one silver, two bronze) over the co ...

. Overholt attended the

2013 Canada Games The 2013 Canada Summer Games is a national multi-sport event that was held in Sherbrooke, Quebec from August 2, 2013 to August 17, 2013. These Games were the first Canada Summer Games to be held in Quebec, and third overall after the inaugural Can ...

representing

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

as a 15-year-old competitor. There she won gold in the individual 200 m and 400 m medleys while adding a gold and a silver in the 400 m and 200 m freestyle respectively. She next won a bronze medal in the 400 m individual medley at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships. Overholt's first major competitive podium finish came in Glasgow, Scotland as part of the 4×200 m freestyle relay at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, where she competed as a sixteen-year-old and helped the relay team win a silver medal. She also anchored the team that won a bronze medal in the

2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2014 Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 21 to 25 August 2014. Qualifying cr ...

. During the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

in Toronto, Overholt won three medals, including a gold in the 400-meter freestyle. The victory occurred less than a day after she was disqualified of a gold medal in the 400 m medley for an illegal turn. After the Pan Am Games, Overholt practiced her turns heavily to ensure no similar problems at the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia host ...

in Russia. There, Overholt won a bronze at the 400 m medley and beat the national record by more than three seconds. Overholt attended

Collingwood School Collingwood School is an independent, non-denominational, co-educational, university-preparatory school founded in 1984. Located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, it delivers the British Columbia Ministry of Education curriculum from Ju ...

. She has signed into the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

for a degree in science, but deferred her studies and participation in the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...

until after the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. In 2016, she was officially named to Canada's Olympic team for the

. Despite being hampered by a hamstring injury, Overholt qualified for the 400 m medley final and finished fifth. Despite thinking her Olympic participation was over, when

Brittany MacLean Brittany MacLean (born March 3, 1994) is a Canadian retired competitive swimmer who has represented her country in the Summer Olympics and other international championships. She won a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 200 m freestyle relay at ...

could not attend the 4 × 200 m relay qualifying heats due to illness, Overholt was called in to replace her and helped the team reach the finals. Canada went on to win a bronze medal. After returning to Canada, Overholt struggled with heavy depression, being hospitalized until December, and only returned to competition in an UBC meet in January. She was then absent from the

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

season and the Team Canada trials for the 2017 World Championship for not having fully overcome the hamstring injury. By November, Overholt was fully fit and swimming for the Thunderbirds. She has since won two straight U Sports swimming championships for the Thunderbirds, winning all four races she entered in the 2019 meet. In her return to the Pan Pacifics in Tokyo 2018, Overholt finished fifth in both the 400m freestyle and individual medley. In the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

, Overholt finished fifth on the 400m medley and got a bronze in the 4 × 200 m relay. In June 2021, Overholt announced she was retiring as even after undergoing surgery early in the year, her body had not recovered well enough for her to remain competitive. Earlier in the year, she missed the Olympic qualifying times for three races.Canadian Olympic Medalist Emily Overholt Announces Retirement
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Overholt, Emily 1997 births Living people Canadian female freestyle swimmers Canadian female medley swimmers Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Olympic swimmers for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming University of British Columbia alumni Swimmers from Vancouver Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Career

See also

References

External links