Sport and Performance
Anna Hemmings is Britain’s most successful female marathon kayaker with a staggering eleven World and European Championship medals, 9 of them gold.
By the age of 24, Anna had been World Champion 3 times and competed at the Olympic Games. In 2010 she was awarded an MBE for her services to sport.
She achieved this success against all the odds…
At the peak of her career, Anna was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and was told by medical experts she might never race again. She battled her way to full recovery and went on to win a further 3 world titles and compete at her second Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.
Business and Keynotes
Since retiring from sport Anna has become recognised as a specialist in the field of resilience and the psychology of high performance. She is an accredited High Performance and Leadership Coach and founded Beyond the Barriers high-performance training consultancy.
Anna has worked across organisations with CEO’s and senior leaders through to middle management, designing and delivering resilience, leadership and high performing teams programmes. She works globally with leaders and teams helping them develop the skills, attitudes and behaviours to deliver exceptional performance.
Anna’s unique combination of experience in elite sport combined with 13 years leading a successful business and working alongside senior leaders, gives her a broad understanding of the challenges that leaders and teams face and how to overcome them to deliver outstanding results.
Whether it's building confidence, engaging teams or developing resilient leaders, she is passionate about helping others succeed at the highest level.
Achievements and Recognition
In 2007 the University recognised Anna’s achievements and awarded her with an Honorary Fellowship.
Anna's achievements were recognised by various bodies including The Queen, who awarded Anna an MBE in the 2010 New Year’s honours list for services to sport.
In 2001 Anna graduated from Royal Holloway College, University of London with a BSc Honours degree in Economics and Management (2:1).
Career Highlights
Anna lives in South West London with her husband Neil and loves being a mum to their two young children Sofia and Luke. Whilst Anna doesn't kayak much anymore, she enjoys keeping fit - running and family ski holidays are some of her favourite things to do.
