Mark Foster
Foster is amongst the most successful British swimmers of all-time
Since Mark burst onto the International scene as a youngster representing England at the 1986 Commonwealth Games at the age of 17 he has gone on to represent his country more times and be more decorated than any other male swimmer. He has held both the World Record for 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly at the same times during a glittering career spanning 3 decades.
Mark is amongst the most successful British swimmers of all-time. He made a remarkable comeback at the national championships in July 2007 winning both events he competed in after barely training.
His breakthrough came in 1990 when he won his first individual international medal – bronze – in the Commonwealth Games in Auckland. He finished the 50 metres freestyle with a time of 23.16 seconds. He had previously won bronze as part of the 100 metre freestyle relay in the Edinburgh games four years previous, but cites the 1990 medal as his first great sporting moment.
Success followed rapidly, and Mark went on to break the World Short Course freestyle record four times, the World Short Course butterfly record twice, and once setting the World Long Course butterfly record (in 1996) with a time of 24.07 seconds.
After his disappointment at not being selected for the 2004 Olympics, Mark came back to win a stunning gold in the World Short Course Championships in Indianapolis later that year. In the 50 metre freestyle he touched in 21.58 seconds, ahead of Stefan Nystrand of Sweden.
Now in 2008, at the age of 38, Mark has returned to the sporting scene, to compete in Beijing for one last attempt at his fifth Olympic Games, having won the 50m freestyle at the British championships in Sheffield this April.
The former world champion clocked 22.30 seconds to reach his fifth Olympics since qualifying for the 1988 Games in Seoul.
Mark was also nominated by the rest of Team GB to lead the GB team and carry the Union Jack in this year’s Opening Ceremony, at this year’s Beijing Olympic Games.
Mark Said: “This could potentially be my last Olympics, so to go home, medal or no medal, having had the opportunity to lead my team, and be placed up there, alongside some of the most wonderful names in British sport, as a flag bearer for Great Britain is true honor, and a lifelong achievement.”
Throughout his impressive three decade career he has won 47 international medals; competed in 5 Olympics, been 8 times Commonwealth champion, 10 times European champion and 8 times World record holder. He was also chosen as the flag bearer to lead out Team GB at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
He is passionate about encouraging people, especially children, to learn to swim and to be active.
Out of the pool, Mark has become a familiar face on television, including appearances on ITV1’s ‘Beat the Stars’, Five’s ‘Superstars’ and most famously hitting the dance floor in last year’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ on BBC1.
He also regularly works as a model including recent campaigns for La Redoute and Braun, has just begun work as a popular motivational speaker and has just launched ‘Dancing on Wheels’, a new TV show for BBC 3.
Through his speech, Reach for the Stars, audiences will learn how Mark’s father’s fear of water pushed him to learn to swim, how he almost spent his career filing in a council office and the truth behind that string top on Strictly Come Dancing.
Business lessons include
- Reach for the stars and be the best that you can be
- Setting achievable goals
- Learning from mistakes and dealing with setbacks
- Learning how to manage your responses to events beyond your control and turning them around to your advantage
- An insight into the World’s biggest Sporting event – The Olympic Games
- Working outside of your comfort zone
- Partnerships and team work – recognising that you can’t do it alone and nurturing strengths and weaknesses in a team environment
“Mark helped us launch our campaign to cut Britain’s hot water usage and was an inspiring and engaging speaker. He was very easy to work with and went the extra mile to make sure that he completely understood the campaign before the speech on the day and by using the products in his home. He made sure that all of our key messages were included in an entertaining and inter-active speech. We have no hesitation in recommending him and would love to work with him again in the future.” - Emma Healey, Energy Saving Trust
“Mark spoke at our annual conference in 2009 and was a huge hit. He managed to combine inspirational messages with funny moments from Strictly and great interaction with the audience.” - Emma Bradley, Education and Special Projects Ltd
Book Mark Foster, as a speaker now
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