Anton Wright is an adventurer, rowing coach, and—alongside Mark de Rond—holder of the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for the first unsupported row of the navigable length of the Amazon River.

Career

Clare College, Cambridge

Anton Wright was the head coach and boathouse manager at

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, Cambridge, from 2010 to 2017.

'Row the Amazon': The first unsupported row of the Amazon River

In September 2013, Anton Wright and Mark de Rond began their attempt to be the first people to row the entire length of the Amazon River unsupported. Having started in Nautu,

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

on 1 September 2013, they reached the Brazilian coastal town of Macapa six weeks later. In an article about the expedition,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

explained the rowers "will brave piranhas, bandits and disease in an attempt to be the first crew to row the length of the Amazon river." and described how "...they will sleep in turns at night to keep watch for runaway logs in the water which could destroy their boat, anacondas, bull sharks, thieves,

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

and mining operators trying to keep their locations secret and drug traffickers in Brazil's vast rain-forest." An official Guinness World Record certificate was presented to Anton and Mark at the British Consulate in São Paulo on 15 October 2013. The expedition raised money in aid of

Leonard Cheshire Disability Leonard Cheshire is a major health and welfare charity working in the United Kingdom and running development projects around the world. It was founded in 1948 by Royal Air Force officer Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC. Leonard Cheshire's a ...

'Row the Thames': The Parkside Challenge

Following the Amazon row, Anton returned to Cambridge and in 2015 the Row the Amazon boat was subsequently repaired by six boys from

Parkside Community College Parkside Community College is a secondary academy school with 600 places for children aged 11–16, situated in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. It is part of the United Learning Cambridge Cluster, along with Parkside Sixth, Coleridge Community Coll ...

in Cambridge, during a 14-week adventure experience intended to develop pride and life skills in local school children, which concluded in a largely unsupported row of a 176-mile stretch of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

Television

''Eden''

In 2016, Anton participated in the experimental British reality TV show '' Eden''. He was described by the ''Guardian'' as "Eden's stand-out character" looking for 'a shot at reinvention'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Anton 1974 births Living people British male rowers World record holders Clare College, Cambridge English television personalities