Lewis Pugh

Lewis Pugh, a record-holding endurance swimmer and the founding CEO of the Lewis Pugh Foundation, has dedicated his life to the sea. With an abundance of life-changing experiences to discuss in his public speaking engagements, Lewis is highly regarded on the public-speaking circuit due to his insightful story and sustainable business methods. As an advocate, he draws attention to the damaging effect climate change is having on our ecosystem, speaking regularly at industry events and climate change conferences.

Born in England and educated at the University of Cape Town and Cambridge University, Lewis' first taste of swimming exploded into a 30-year dedication to not just the sport, but the water itself. Whereas most people learn how to swim at a young age, Lewis didn't have his first swimming lesson until he was 17. From there, he swam to Cape Town from Robben Island only a month later, before swimming the English Channel in 1992. Lewis went from strength to strength, later breaking the record for the fastest swim around Robben Island. Recently, in 2025, Lewis embarked on a 12-day swim around Martha’s Vineyard on the 50th anniversary of Jaws, to raise awareness for shark conservation. Lewis reflects upon these life moments, offering his audience insight into his journey from an amateur to a record breaker.

With a career spanning over 30 years, it is no surprise that Lewis has achieved as much as he has. Described as the “Sir Edmund Hillary of swimming”, one of his greatest achievements was swimming across the North Pole in 2007. In doing so, Lewis raised awareness of melting sea ice in the Arctic. In 2018, he became the first person to swim the 528km length of the English Channel. He also swam across the Red Sea to highlight the impact of climate change on coral. To date, he has completed a long-distance swim in every ocean on Earth, doing so under the Channel Swimming Rules. This means that even in the freezing waters of the poles, he swam in just a cap, goggles and a Speedo swimming costume. In recognition of his campaigning, Lewis was listed among National Geographic's world-leading changemakers in 2025. In addition to his daring feats of endurance swimming, Lewis has also been dedicated to his roles as UN Patron of the Oceans, Ambassador of The Queen's Green Canopy and Adjunct Professor of International Law at the University of Cape Town. 

The author of the books Achieving the Impossible: A Fearless Leader. A Fragile Earth and 21 Yaks and a Speedo: How to Achieve Your Impossible, Lewis’s story is fuelled by determination and self-belief, the two main ingredients to peak performance. He has developed strategies to push himself to his limits, then rest productively before getting back into the water again. An expert in maximising success, Lewis' inspirational achievements are a hit with audiences of all kinds. Champions Speakers take pride in being an official speaker representative of Lewis Pugh, suggesting him as a motivational speaker for top corporate clients, speaking at their exclusive global events about his inspiring adventures.

In honour of Lewis' incredible feats as an endurance swimmer, he was recently named in the official selection of The World's Best Keynote Speakers on Building High-Performance Teams!