Lewis Pugh is the only person to have completed a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world. And most recently, he accomplished another astonishing feat—-swimming the length of the English Channel (530km) in support of cleaning up the oceans.
For over 3 decades now, Lewis has been pioneering swims in the most challenging environments on earth including the Antarctic, the North Pole and the Himalayas for the purpose of developing a better understanding of our oceans and protecting it. Some of his milestones include:
- 2007: first long-distance swim across the North Pole , wearing just Speedo swimming trunks, to highlight the melting of the Arctic sea ice, followed by a swim across a glacial lake on Mt Everest to draw attention to the melting glaciers in the Himalayas
- 2010: selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum
- 2013: ppointed the first UN Patron of the Oceans
- 2016: played a pivotal role in creating the largest marine reserve in the world in the Ross Sea off Antarctica and was chosen as one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year
Lewis Pugh has been described by TED as a “master story-teller” and his speech at the 2008 Business Innovation Forum was voted as one of the “7 Most Inspiring Speeches on the Web”.
Read more about Lewis’ most recent achievement here.
Lewis Pugh is a maritime lawyer, an ocean advocate, a pioneer swimmer and a sought-after inspirational speaker. He is the only person to have completed a long distance swim in every ocean of the world. In 2007 he became the first person to undertake a swim across the icy waters of the North Pole. To date he has pioneered more swims around famous landmarks than any other swimmer in history. Each of these seemingly impossible feats were done to raise awareness about the vulnerability of our oceans and their importance to humanity. And he won’t stop there. He continually redefines his own impossible, in the same way that any company must, in an ever- changing world.
Lewis’ speeches have received widespread acclaim. His speech on leadership at the BIF Conference in Rhode Island was voted as one of the “7 Most Inspiring Videos on the Web”. His speeches at TEDGlobal have been viewed by over 2.5 million people.
Lewis Pugh has also received a number of awards including France and South Africa’s highest honours and the Freedom of the City of London. In 2010, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader for his “potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through inspiring leadership.”
Lewis’s accomplishments have received extensive media coverage by the BBC, Good Morning America, CNN, Jon Stewart, National Geographic, Sky News, Al Jazeera, Jay Leno and many more. His autobiography “Achieving the Impossible” is a Bestseller and was chosen for Oprah’s Exclusive Book List.
Lewis Pugh is one of the world’s leading inspirational speakers. He has addressed and influenced many international organisations. Coca Cola chose Lewis to address their world-wide leadership team on their 125th anniversary. When Unilever wanted to double the size of their business and half their environmental footprint, they chose Lewis to speak to their management team. And when Microsoft needed to become more customer-centric, they picked Lewis to speak to them about the “Radical Tactical Shift” that enabled him to complete the first swim across a glacial lake on Mt Everest.
Lewis’ speaking topics include:
- Achieving the Impossible
- Vision | Goal setting
- Planning and preparation
- Motivation
- Inspiration
- Leadership
- Teamwork
- Power of the mind
- Self belief
- Overcoming obstacles and setbacks
- Risk | Protecting the environment
- Change
- Excellence
Contact us if you would like to engage Lewis Pugh for your next event.