Rob Hamill

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Rob Hamill

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"An extraordinary mental and physical effort – something very, very special" is how Sir Peter Blake has described Rob Hamill and the late Phil Stubbs’ incredible achievement in winning the Atlantic Rowing Race.

Marathon rowing champion Rob Hamill has been a New Zealand International rowing representative for 16 years. Rob’s numerous rowing achievements include World Championship silver, Commonwealth gold and a world record on the indoor rowing machine.

Rob represented New Zealand at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and recently published ‘The Naked Rower’ on how he and Phil Stubbs captured headlines around the world winning the grueling Atlantic Rowing Race in 41 days. He has since led successful defenses of the title in 2001 and 2003. He is currently working towards the 2005 defence.

Over the last two years Rob has spoken to over 100,000 school children to help them aspire to reach their goals. He organisers ‘The Great Race’, an annual rowing 8s clash between Waikato (NZ) and Cambridge/Oxford (UK) Universities.

Rob is also organising a rowing race across the Tasman Sea, a 2,600km adventure from Auckland to Sydney expected to take three to six weeks to complete.

Rob's presentation on the trials and tribulations of ocean rowing and related projects is humorous yet motivational. He will inspire you to pursue your dreams whatever they may be, to take on new challenges, overcoming hardship against the odds and know that with passion anything is possible!

It doesn’t hurt to be just a little bit crazy too !

Rob’s life is about following the dream, decision making, commitment, team building, goal setting, planning, focus, determination, positive thinking and, of course, winning!

Some Key Messages:

• The Winning Edge; Anchoring to the goal.
• Keep Going; if you can’t walk, creep!
• With Passion Anything is Possible.
• Challenges don’t develop character, they reveal it.
• Dreams are like window shopping; if you don’t make a decision and act on it that’s all it will be.
• If you fall over and keep getting up you can’t lose.

Testimonials

"… hearing your story was more inspirational than all the traditional "motivational" type trainers put together."
Mike Pinkney, Pinkney Realestate

"Burton & I thoroughly enjoyed the evening ... you distracted us from politics for the whole evening with your inspiring and entertaining presentation".
Rt Hon Jenny Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand

"Thanks Rob. Your address last night captivated our audience and I particularly liked the way you wove personal aspects, values, philosophy and humour into your riveting story."
Patrick Clement, GM Nufarm

"The content of Rob’s experiences are remarkable and were presented in a light and often very humorous style. The speech will be enjoyed by the vast majority of audiences.... He went out of his way to talk to many of the guests about his life and experiences, which was appreciated and well beyond the brief. I could recommend him highly as a great after dinner speaker."
Kevin Hall, GM Brookfield Lawyers

As you are aware we had a most successful and enjoyable Conference with over 650 in attendance. Many people have commented that Rob Hamill’s presentation was the highlight of the Conference. I must say that his ability to thread the sponsor’s name and services throughout his address, and in such a subtle way, was indeed very clever and professionally managed."
Mike Dearsley, Rotary Conference Chairman District 9940

"It is always difficult to find an appropriate speaker when we had an audience of such highly successful and motivated people but we found an impressive speaker this year at the breakfast in you Rob. You really captured the imagination and attention of those people and left them feeling inspired and humbled by your amazing achievements. All through the weeks competition race managers, officials, skippers, everyone that attended the breakfast, were buzzing about your presentation and talking about the attributes and skills that you must have had to achieve such a feat. You truly added value to this event and helped in making it the success that was achieved."
Sally Tye, Communication Action

"Rob’s address was inspirational. His recount of the challenges leading up to and including the Trans Atlantic rowing crossing were extremely motivational. He was able to relate his experiences and objectives to a business environment, tailored specifically, in this case to our audience … he mixes easily with people… Rob is an energetic and motivational speaker and I would recommend him to anyone."
Mark Gibson, National Sales & Marketing Manager, CourierPost

" Rob fitted the bill superbly - his story was fantastic enough in itself, as well as being highly motivational, very moving and a real eye-opener. He has the rare ability to be able to relate his personal insights to issues facing people in business today. He used his story to emphasise the importance of teamwork, planning and communication. He is without doubt one of the most outstanding speakers I have had the privilege of hearing - this is not praise given lightly. I have co-hosted Telecom’s last 3 sales conferences and Rob is the only speaker that I can recall receiving a standing ovation from our sales force. This is a real testament to Rob as we have also had some highly rated international speakers at our conferences."
Mohan Jesudason, Telecom New Zealand Limited

"Your easy listening and humorous style provided us with great insight into the planning, preparation and successful execution of a truly ambitious goal. There is always a close correlation between successfully competing in a top-level sport and managing a successful business. The focus and commitment you guys showed in making the journey across the Atlantic applies equally to any business. Rob, thanks for a most enjoyable and informative presentation. I don’t think you’re going to get any takers from our crew for the next race. We will just settle for another presentation when you’ve completed it."
Geoff Black – MD Lumley Life, Australia

"Rob, being a ‘closing speaker’ places special demands on a speaker, for theirs is the speech that cements the ‘feel good’ factor as everyone leaves for home. You did us proud! Your story was fascinating – a story of believing in yourself, of motivation and commitment, of thorough planning and preparation, the actual doing and finally of the accolades of success (unfortunately without the monetary rewards). Such a story speaks to us at different levels – astonishment that two individuals could achieve what you and Phil did and the courage to believe that if that is possible, so too, must be the goals we set ourselves in our businesses. You certainly ‘showed’ us along with the rest of the world that challenges bigger than we could believe in, are achievable".
Querida Smith, PAA National President

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