Inspirational
Story of Brennan Dowrick - Olympic Gold Medalist
 My profession is now as a motivational speaker.
I work all over the world talking to a lot of different companies,
ranging from the fitness industry to accountants and financial
advisors. Basically, where people are trying to increase their
productivity and output, I step in and relate elite sport to successful
business. I've been doing this for about 15 years.
I am a professional presenter because I spent 16 years training
at the Australian Institute Of Sport. I went to school and trained
for 7 to 8 hours a day, 6 days a week for 16 years. Consequently
I didn't have any time to get a part time job so I started speaking
to companies, and found that I enjoyed it. They also seemed to
really appreciate what I had to say and seemed to be getting a
lot out of it, so I started wondering if there was an actual industry
where I could convey a message and talk about my experiences. So,
after the 2000 Olympics, instead of just speaking about things,
I would give a demonstration integrating the pommel horse, which
is my best apparatus. This idea took off. My bookings tripled straight
away. Because of the unique nature of my presentation, people tend
to hire me when they want something a bit different – something
that will stand out. And that's why it's starting to take off overseas
too because it's unique and there is no one really doing what I
do. I have identified my unique selling proposition – what sets
me apart from other motivational speakers.
When I was training I completed a sports media degree, so that
helped me structure my presentation, it was useful to have that
to fall back on. Each year I've gone from strength to strength.
I was always so focused when I was training and competing; setting
myself goals and working towards achieve them. I'm now doing the
exact same thing with my professional presentations.
I spent 16 years at the Australian Institute of Sport, which was
actually the record for the longest time on scholarship of any
athlete in any sport. I always have to tell people that it's not
that I wasn’t good enough to graduate! Usually gymnasts have
a relatively short lifespan; most male gymnasts are retired by
26, but I went on until I was 29.
I try to achieve something new each day, even if it’s just
a tiny thing. Physically, I think injuries have presented some
of my most testing times. It’s a problem for many athletes,
but unfortunately gymnasts get a lot of injuries as they really
push their bodies to the limits. My worst injury (I’ve had
8 operations) was when I snapped my Achilles tendon. I was on the
gymnastics floor, and mid movement, I heard a snap. I had it operated
on within 11 hours and they told me that it could be up to a year
before I could compete in gymnastics again. I thought to myself: “Hang
on a minute, the Commonwealth Games are only six months away this
is not a good thing, but I can’t let this stop me!” I
knew that I had to try to turn things around, so I decided then
that I was going to try my hardest to still make the Games.
I had physiotherapy twice a day and was doing everything that I
possibly could to accelerate my recovery - exercising, and swimming
everyday in the pool next to people like Nicole Stevenson, Michael
Klim and other top swimmers who’d be giving me so much flack
about my swimming style! Of course, each time I clambered out of
the pool, half drowned, I used to think to myself: “I’d
like to see them on a pommel horse!”
With the help of a lot of people, I managed to make a recovery
in record time. I did make it to the Commonwealth Games, and I
actually ended up winning five medals that year, including gold.
I was thrilled to just get fit enough to make the team that year,
but to do really well on top of that was amazing. I think that
a lot of it can be attributed to my positive attitude. If
you have a positive attitude, and if you can get some sort of a
work plan and structure in place, then it can definitely lead to
the achievement of your goals.
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Inspirational
Story of Brennan Dowrick - Olympic Gold Medalist
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