MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS | SPORT SPEAKERS

Rob Hamill

Olympic Rower, Atlantic Rowing Champion & Resilience Speaker

Rob Hamill MNZM is one of New Zealand's most respected adventurers and advocates — an Olympic rower who set a world record across the Atlantic, then channelled the same endurance into a decade-long quest for justice for his brother Kerry, killed by the Khmer Rouge in 1978.

Who is Rob Hamill?

Born in Whakatāne in 1964, Rob Hamill is a former New Zealand rower, ocean rowing pioneer, environmental advocate and motivational speaker. He represented New Zealand at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, won silver at the 1994 World Rowing Championships, then captured the world's attention by winning the inaugural Trans-Atlantic Rowing Race in 1997 with the late Phil Stubbs in a world record time of 41 days. His older brother Kerry was killed in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime, and Rob's later journey to testify against Comrade Duch at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia became the subject of the award-winning documentary Brother Number One.

Career Highlights

  • Atlanta Olympic rower (1996); silver medal, 1994 World Rowing Championships

  • Winner of the first Atlantic Rowing Race (1997), 41-day world record with Phil Stubbs

  • Member of the NZ Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to ocean rowing

  • Author of bestselling memoir The Naked Rower

  • Testified at the Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal in 2009

  • Subject of the multi-award-winning documentary Brother Number One

  • Founder and co-organiser of The Great Race and the Trans-Tasman rowing race

  • Environmental advocate and former parliamentary candidate

Key Speaking Themes

  • Endurance, grit and pushing through extreme adversity

  • Goal-setting and breaking the impossible into stages

  • Purpose, family and finding meaning in the hardest seasons

  • Justice, courage and standing up for what matters

  • Team performance and partnership under pressure

What Your Audience Will Gain

Rob speaks with raw honesty about endurance — physical, mental and emotional. Audiences leave with a deeper appreciation of what real resilience looks like, and the courage it takes to keep pursuing the things that matter long after the world has moved on.

Ideal For

  • Leadership and resilience conferences

  • High-performance sport and endurance events

  • Justice, human rights and not-for-profit forums

  • Awards nights and gala dinners

  • Schools, universities and youth leadership programmes

Frequently Asked Questions about Rob Hamill

What does Rob Hamill speak about? Endurance, resilience, goal-setting, leadership and his family's long pursuit of justice in Cambodia.

What is Rob Hamill best known for? Winning the inaugural Atlantic Rowing Race in 1997 with Phil Stubbs, and his decade-long advocacy for justice for his brother Kerry, told in the documentary Brother Number One.

Where is Rob Hamill based? Rob is based in Taranaki and travels nationally and internationally for speaking engagements.

Has Rob Hamill written a book? Yes — The Naked Rower, his bestselling memoir of the 1997 Atlantic crossing.

Is Rob Hamill suitable for corporate audiences? Yes. Rob draws clear parallels between elite endurance, leadership and long-term goal pursuit.

Is Rob Hamill available internationally? Yes. Rob has spoken across Australia, Asia, Europe and North America and is available for offshore engagements.