The amazing thing about Stein's success is that she is currently a sophomore. In high school.

Even the 16-year-old Stein is surprised by her progress and the way she has quickly moved up the ranks of the nation's best kayakers.

"I almost feel like I don't deserve it," Stein said, referring to her success. She finished in the top spot in the Junior Wildwater rankings last year, and would have placed fifth among the senior women, all at the age of 15.

Stein is training hard to continue her accelerated development, with the help of some of the USA's best, including Chris Hipgrave (Bryson City, N.C.) and Shaun Smith (Hixson, Tenn.), who ranked second and fourth in the final 2004 Wildwater rankings, respectively.

Hipgrave speaks very highly of Stein, calling her "fearless and aggressive as a competitor" and "a joy to coach." He also said Stein has the opportunity to go a long way in the sport.

"I think Emily's potential will only be limited by her own ambition," Hipgrave said.

Working with some of the best American male competitors has driven Stein to improve, partly due to the respect she has for her training partners.

"When I'm training with them, I see Chris and Shaun and I see everybody who's so much better than I am so, you know, I'm trying to stay with them and match up to them," Stein said.

Keeping up should become easier for Stein, who is continuing to adapt to her new lightweight, 18-foot fiberglass boat similar to those preferred by other top-rated paddlers. She had been using a shorter plastic kayak that was heavier, not as fast and more tailored to beginners.

Stein used the plastic boat last year at the Junior Pre-World Championships in Italy (world championships take place every other year) and still managed to beat five competitors in the 25-person field in both the sprint and classic races. This year, at the World Championships in Vipiteno, Italy July 27-30, Stein will be able to match up much better with her fellow racers, equipment-wise.

"Right when I got back from Italy [in 2004], I started training really hard in my glass boat and I think I'm really comfortable in it right now," Stein said.

Regarding expectations for the World Championships, the Girls Preparatory School student plans to improve on last year's results, but she still keeps modest goals.

"Anything to just be in the middle of everybody or in the top half would be awesome," Stein said.

All of Stein's time in the boat has actually helped her schoolwork at GPS rather than hurt it, and the sophomore currently has a 3.6 grade point average. She said her rigorous practice schedule - she also rows crew for her high school team - has taught her the importance of time management.

Of course, it helps to have support for maintaining focus and keeping perspective, and Stein gets that from her biggest backer: her mom, Elizabeth Allen. Stein said Allen takes her to races, and helped her to acquire her boat and gear, but is always checking to see that her daughter is having fun, which is stressed as the most important thing.

"She just really keeps it right," Stein said.

If things go as expected, the summer of 2008 will bring the end of Stein's freshman year in college. But with her recent success in the water, she may have to make some previously unexpected plans, like being in Beijing for the Olympic Games.

"That would be the biggest dream of mine," Stein said.