Anna Hemmings
“Anna's stories of discipline and focus were very well presented. She was able to take examples from the very competitive world of sports and use them as great tools that could be applied to both business and personal endeavors" Canon USA, Inc
“Anna’s energy and enthusiasm are totally infectious, she livens up the stage, livens up the whole room and she captivates the audience." Starlight Consulting
World Champion Canoeist
Anna Hemmings, Britain’s leading female marathon canoeist, current World and European Champion was told by medical experts she might never race again. In 2005 however, she signalled a miraculous return to fitness by regaining her status as the World’s leading marathon canoeist at the Marathon Racing World Championships in Perth, Australia. In 2006 she successfully defended her world title. It was her fifth gold medal in the 13 year history of the event, and her tenth World and European Championship medal, confirming her status as Britain’s most successful ever female canoeist. In 2007, she secured an incredible 6th World title.
Anna’s achievements were recognised at the 2005 Sunday Times Sports Woman of the Year Awards, where she won the Champions Award.
Anna thought she would have to retire from the sport when diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in April 2003. Following a series of failed treatments Anna began to think that her hopes of competing again were ebbing further and further away. The illness left her exhausted and aching on a daily basis as well as physically fatigued after basic light exercise. However, Anna refused to give up and in September 2004, Anna learned about ‘reverse therapy’, an innovative and highly successful new treatment. By February 2005 Anna was finally able to resume training again. She went on to win a clean sweep of National, European and World titles.
Anna first broke into the top flight of the sport in 1997 when, at the age of just 20, she won the European Championship. In 1999 she successfully defended her European crown, before going on to win the Marathon World Championships – becoming the youngest ever competitor to do so. She also became the first ever British female canoeist to win both European and World titles.
She participated in the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 where she competed in the 500m singles discipline. it was at this time that she was spotted by Pindar, the print and electronic media company, who have sponsored her ever since. The following year Anna really made her mark at the Marathon Canoeing World Championship when she became only the second person in the history of the sport to win both the singles and the doubles Marathon World titles (view photos from the event)
In the same year, Anna graduated from Royal Holloway College, University of London with a BSC Honours degree in Economics and Management (2:1)
Over the last few years Anna realised that there are a number of parallels that can be drawn between elite level sport and business. She has consequently developed a new career of motivational speaking alongside her sporting one – and is now sharing her experiences and knowledge with a wide range of audiences ranging from CEO’s and business delegates from global companies to school children and has had enormous success in inspiring, motivating and maximising the potential of all nature of individuals.