Chris Holmes MBE

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Chris Holmes London 2012 Director of Paralympic Integration

biography

Chris Holmes M.B.E. M.A.
London 2012 Director of Paralympic Integration

Chris Holmes is Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer ever winning 9 gold medals, 6 at a single games.

Despite losing his sight overnight aged only 14, Chris gained straight A’s at A- level and a place at Cambridge University to read politics. While still at University Chris won 6 gold medals at the Barcelona Games in 1992, a feat never equalled by any Briton.  He went on to compete in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000 winning a further 3 gold medals. 

Chris has recently been appointed as London 2012 Director of Paralympic Integration where he will lead on all aspects of London 2012’s planning and organisation for the Paralympic Games.

He has been a Board member at UK Sport since 2005 and was a Commissioner on the board of the Disability Rights Commission from 2002-2007, as well as practicing at a leading City international law firm.

Chris was also an ambassador to the successful London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid where he was closely involved in securing the top sporting prize for this Country

He is also a Patron of the “Help for Heroes” charity and the British Paralympic Association,

Over his sporting career Chris won 9 Paralympic gold medals, a string of World and European titles and broke 35 World Records.
In detail:

Chris’ presentation takes his audience on the journey from childhood dream to sporting success, from loss of sight over night aged 14 to gold medallist and World record holder aged 20. His story focuses on goal setting, personal leadership, performance, building and maintaining a team and crucially, being able to react, refocus and rebuild to adapt to often traumatic change.
Within 3 months of losing his sight Chris was back in the pool training alongside his fully sighted club mates.  Only a year later he was competing at the junior European Championships in Moscow where he, by his own admission, was thoroughly beaten.
Returning from Moscow Chris refocused his goals and leading from within built a team around him to attempt to achieve a unique feat 5 years later at the Barcelona Games.

Chris’ story continually reinforces the importance of constant scrutiny and re-evaluation of oneself, personal and team goals and the need for decisive, often difficult, decisions to be taken and committed to.
Chris’ story demonstrates that though the goals can be clearly committed to at the outset, the subsequent journey is seldom straight forward.  It is how we choose to react to those forks in the road which makes all the difference.
Chris’ presentation concludes with a challenge to his audience: to look inside themselves, to understand what is possible to achieve, how this will involve individual leadership, playing several parts in different teams and ultimately achieving their individual and shared potential.

Chris’ use of humour is infectious, drawing his audience into the story, enabling them to think the unthinkable, face down their fears and grasp the opportunities
. Areas of expertise
Chris’ story is about striving for excellence as individuals, as teams. Through his experiences in sport and business he is able to fundamentally understand what it takes to motivate, to commit to a path and to deliver be this in the pool, on the shop floor or in the board room.

Chris’ career demonstrates the need to understand the need for continuous evaluation and cultural change, often against a majority committed to the status quo.  He demonstrates not only that change is essential if an organisation is not to falloff the pace or fail to hit it’s targets but it is the most positive force which any individual or organisation can embrace

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Testimonials

Comment: “The feedback we have received so far has been excellent. Chris was described as inspirational, humorous and ‘a very nice chap’!  Two people said to me today that he is the best speaker we have ever had!”
Alton College

Comment: “Excellent, Chris has a very relaxed and engaging style- our guests warmed to him immediately. He is very perceptive about the audience present and adapted his talk to suit them - a very unique man in that respect. He was humorous and thought provoking and did exactly what we asked him to do.”
Barclaycard

Comment: “Chris is a warm, genuine, funny and inspiring speaker. It’s quite something to hold a restless audience’s attention at the end of a very long day.Chris’ warmth, wit, and perfectly tailored message held their full attention.”

Blue Arrow
Comment: “Chris was superb, he tailored his message to our business goals which was exactly what we wanted.”

British Airways
Comment: “Chris’ presentation was excellent, he really understood what we were trying to achieve and certainly set the day off on a very positive note.”
British Olympic Association
Comment: “Chris was an excellent chair of our 2007 conference.  He managed the speakers and audience effectively and really added an extra dimension to our day.”

British Swimming
Comment: “Chris was excellent, amusing and really brought energy to our event.”

BT
Comment: “Chris’ presentation was excellent, he held the audience throughout and it was great that he stayed on to chat to people informally after his talk.”

Cabinet Office
Comment: “Chris contribution to our staff conference was excellent.  He is thought provoking, intuitive and great to work with.”

Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Comment: “Chris was superb.  His speech was perfect for our conference, even the fire alarm and building evacuation in the middle of his talk didn’t distract him, in fact he even turned this into a positive, truly inspirational.”

Department of Health
Comment: “Chris’ presentation was absolutely right for our event.  He clearly understood the objectives of our organisation and was able to effectively communicate them in his presentation.”

Department for Transport
Comment: “Chris was fabulous. He really understood what we were doing and linked it to his own experiences. He was a real hit and a winner for us.”

East of England Development Agency
Comment: “Chris was terrific, his speech was very well received and it was great that he stayed on after the formal part of the day to answer questions from our guests.”

Essex County Council
Comment: “Chris was fantastic what a lovely guy and he went down a storm. Could not have asked anything more!”

European Social Fund
Comment: “It was great to have Chris speaking at our conference in Barcelona.  His speech was extremely well received and very much made the day.  He is quite unique in being able to tie his sporting experience with the needs and goals of the business world.”

GE Europe payment card conference
Comment: “Chris was excellent and I would definitely consider using him again.  He was very easy to chat to, kind, funny but professional.  He has the audience laughing on many occasions.”

Government Office for the South East
Comment: “Chris was very thought provoking. He is knowledgeable, approachable and has the ability to enthuse and inspire and instil confidence in the audience.”

Hilt
Comment: “Chris really understood the needs of our organisation and was able to integrate them into his presentation.  It was great to have him at our conference.”

Home Office exclusion unit
Comment: “Chris was a great hit last night, he gave a truly excellent speech.”

Horseracing Sponsors Association
Comment: “Chris ran a fantastic workshop for us.  He really inspired our team and was able to understand our business objectives and effectively tie them into his message.  Several people commented to me afterwards that they found the morning incredibly relevant and useful to what they are trying to achieve.”

LloydsTSB
Comment: “Chris delivered an important message about equality, but made it all the more powerful by his use of humour that brought the audience with him.”

London borough of Newham
Comment: “Chris was, as always, fabulous – he really understood what we were trying to achieve and the key points our delegates needed to know. He linked it fantastically well to his own experiences. He was a real hit and his humour had everyone in stitches.”

London 2012 Nations and Regions conference
Comment: “Chris always delivers and is a joy to have at any event!”

London 2012
Comment: “Chris’ talk was truly inspirational.”

London Underground
Comment: “Chris was superb. His speech hit exactly the right note and inspired our delegates.”

Sport England
Comment: “Chris did a great job for us, really got our key messages across.”

Sports Aid
Comment: “Chris went down very well with our audience.  Our guests found him approachable. He was thought provoking.”

Suffolk 2012 business planning conference
Comment: “Chris’ speech was just right for our staff conference.  His message complemented the business messages I was presenting and made the day so much more powerful”

The Berkley Scott group
Comment: “Chris is a great guy, his presentation really added to our conference.”

Visa Government Solutions
Comment: “Chris’ presentation was excellent, we couldn’t have asked for anything more.  His content couldn’t have been more perfect. He drew together the key threads of our conference in a way that felt very personal and relevant to the audience.”

Youth Sport Trust
Comment: “Chris related fantastically well to our youth audience.  His messages were clear and effective.”