Anna Watkins
Olympic gold medallist, Anna Watkins MBE is a world-class rower. An inspirational speaker, Anna can impress audiences with her knowledge of how to reach peak performance, her unfailing resilience and personable nature. A charity ambassador and supporter of encouraging young women in sport, Anna is more than an inspirational speaker. She can use her skill set to run workshops or give talks on teamwork and high performance.
She was great, talk was really on point, relaxed and personable. was fantastic that she stayed for the networking.
Accenture
Motivational speaker and Olympic gold medallist Anna Watkins won her coveted medal alongside her partner Katherine Grainger, at the women’s double sculls at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Her insight into professional sport combined with her PhD is Mathematics ensures she is able to couple peak performance skills with maths and science to draw out the recipe for leadership and teamwork.
Brought up in Staffordshire, Anna high level of motivation became apparent from a young age. After a state education Anna went on to study Natural Sciences at The University of Cambridge. Here she discovered a love of rowing and focused her attention on the double scull.
In 2004 Anna won her first gold in the U23 World Championships, this win cemented her in the GB Olympic team. She has been on the podium at every World Championships since 2007. At Beijing she won her first Olympic medal with Elise Laverick in a dramatic race, Anna took the bronze just 0.3s behind the gold.
Anna forged a formidable partnership with Katherine Grainger in the double scull and became to dominate the rowing world. Anna and Katherine had a storming 2010 culminating in winning gold at the World Championships in New Zealand. They repeated their success in 2011, overcoming a back injury and the norovirus during the World Championship Regatta.
The pair were named World Rowing Crew of the Year, and Sunday Times Sports Team of the Year in 2010, and in the following year they were nominated again.
The duo won their most coveted Olympic Gold medal on home soil in London 2012, reaching a record-breaking time for their double scull. The duo has enjoyed incredible success, winning countless races together before Anna stepped down from the sport to give birth to her two sons.
Outside of rowing, Anna has a PhD in Mathematics. She is also an inspirational and experienced public speaker – an ideal role model and ambassador for her country.
Her speaking topics include:
- The Olympic Story
- Overcoming adversity
- Women in sport
- Motivation and determination
To learn more or to book Anna Watkins call us on
+44 (0)20 7607 7070or email
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