Originally a mountain girl from the Lake Tahoe area Jenn was born into sport. As a young girl she was on ice skates at age 2, on skis by 3 and taken on long hikes in the mountainous Nevada desert with her father, a former Marine who loved triathlon and orienteering. As a young adult Jenn’s love for detail and speed landed her in Dressage, Alpine Ski Racing and Martial Arts. However, a seed was planted with a love for the water that grew out of paddling home made kayaks on Lake Tahoe in her time as a young girl camping on the lake in the summer. She took Dressage and Ski Racing as far as she possibly could, through college before devoting all of her time to success in University and travel abroad in Asia. During this time she discovered her passion for teaching swimming, lifeguarding, surfing and all things ocean. While writing her Masters Thesis and obtaining her Master’s Degree from UC Berkeley in Asian Studies with a focus in Marketing Psychology she moved to Waikiki to teach surfing full time and began competing in longboard surfing. She was offered a full ride to Tsinghua University Business School’s PhD Program in Marketing but loved teaching so much that she knew her heart wouldn’t be in it and chose to stay in Hawaii.

In 2010 Jenn J Lee picked up the sport of stand-up-paddling as a mode of transportation in Waikiki.  With her sports background it was a perfect fit for her mentally and physically.  

Just months after she learned how to paddle she found herself placing 2nd in her age group at Battle of the Paddle, Hawaii.  From there she dove head first into the paddling scene by paddling the challenging 40 mile stretch solo from Catalina Island to Dana Point in March during a storm and followed it up 2 days later by doing it again as a 2 woman relay team and winning the division.  Three months later she came in 3rd in Molokai 2 Oahu's Solo Stock SUP Division.  In the past 9 years with numerous elite finishes Jenn has proven that she is a mainstay in the elite women's SUP scene.  In 2017 she fell in love with one man outrigger canoe and surfski and by 2018 became the first person ever to compete in 3 solo world championship level Kaiwi Channel Competitions in 3 different water-sports.  By the end of 2018 she had topped it off with a 14th place team finish in Na Wahine O Ke Kai (The biggest elite open ocean 6 man outrigger canoe change race in the world) which also crosses the Kaiwi Channel , and a top 20 finish in Pacific Paddle Games (the super bowl of short distance SUP racing) in just a two week time span.

Jenn is known in particular for her mental/physical tenacity and toughness as well as her work ethic.  Having been born into a family with a long athletic and military tradition it is no mystery where it comes from.  Her best race distances are 1 mile, and races 1-3 hours in length, although those closest to her would argue her most inspiring feats have been in the face of adversity at longer distances.    

Out of the water Jenn loves photography and caring for sick, injured, and physically impaired animals.