Anton Wright
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{advert|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anton Wright
| image =Row The Amazon expedition boat 1.jpg
| alt = Anton Wright and Mark de Rond with boat
| caption = Anton Wright and Mark de Rond with Amazon expedition boat
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1974}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| occupation = Adventurer, rowing coach, and television personality
| years_active =
| website = {{URL|http://www.antonwright.com}}
| imagesize = 200px
}}
Anton Wright is an adventurer, rowing coach, and—alongside Mark de Rond—holder of the Guinness World Record for the first unsupported row of the navigable length of the Amazon River.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}
Career
= Clare College, Cambridge =
Anton Wright was the head coach and boathouse manager at Clare College, Cambridge, from 2010 to 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/eden|title=Eden - All 4|website=www.channel4.com|access-date=2016-08-15}}
='Row the Amazon': The first unsupported row of the Amazon River=
File:Row The Amazon expedition boat 1.jpg
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 on 1 September 2013, they reached the Brazilian coastal town of Macapa six weeks later.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rowtheamazon.com|title=Row the Amazon|website=www.rowtheamazon.com|access-date=2016-07-23}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/amazon-rowers-mark-rond-anton-wright-finish-2000mile-journey/story-22366742-detail/story.html|title=Amazon rowers Mark de Rond and Anton Wright finish their 2,000-mile journey|date=2013-10-15|access-date=2016-07-23}} In an article about the expedition, Reuters 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 and mining operators trying to keep their locations secret and drug traffickers in Brazil's vast rain-forest."{{Cite web|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-rowing-amazon-idUKBRE96B0P120130712|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607031142/http://uk.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-rowing-amazon-idUKBRE96B0P120130712|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 June 2016|title=Briton, Dutchman seek to be first to row the Amazon|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-07-23}}
An official Guinness World Record certificate{{Cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-row-of-the-navigable-length-of-the-amazon-river|title=First row of the navigable length of the Amazon River|access-date=2016-07-23}} was presented to Anton and Mark at the British Consulate in São Paulo on 15 October 2013.{{Cite web|url=http://insight.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2013/epic-amazon-row-ends/|title=Epic Amazon row ends|date=2013-10-16|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-23}}
The expedition raised money in aid of Leonard Cheshire Disability.{{Cite web|url=http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=rowtheamazon&isTeam=true|title=Virgin Money Giving {{!}} Fundraising {{!}} Anton and Mark Row the Amazon|last=Rond|first=Mark de|website=Virgin Money Giving|access-date=2016-07-23}}
= '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 in Cambridge, during a 14-week adventure experience intended to develop pride and life skills in local school children,{{Cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/parkside-rowing-challenge-end-town-vs-gown-divide/story-25806876-detail/story.html|title=How Parkside Rowing Challenge could end the 'town vs gown' divide|date=2015-01-05|access-date=2016-08-15}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/new-look-thames-row-boat-unveiled-grafton-centre/story-26225332-detail/story.html|title=New-look Thames Row boat unveiled at Grafton Centre|date=2015-03-24|access-date=2016-08-15}} which concluded in a largely unsupported row of a 176-mile stretch of the River Thames.
= 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"{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jul/19/eden-review-the-worlds-newest-reality-tv-show-is-love-island-with-trench-foot|title=Eden review – the world's newest reality TV show is Love Island, with trench foot|last=Heritage|first=Stuart|date=2016-07-19|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-11-05}} looking for 'a shot at reinvention'.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jul/12/channel-4-eden-set-visit|title=Kneedeep in mud and midges: my trip to Eden|last=Tate|first=Gabriel|date=2016-07-12|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-11-16}}