The Gold Medallist Rower, Anna Watkins MBE came to lecture at Monkton Senior and she totally captivated her audience with a brilliantly structured and presented talk.
Anna is a very inspirational speaker and an excellent role model for young people, especially young women. The talk was entitled ‘An Imperfect Rower’, and her message was a very powerful one, to do with the idea that there is no perfect athlete or indeed person and that excellence only really comes about by working alongside perceived weaknesses. She also talked about the dynamics of working in teams and pairs and talked extensively about her rowing partner Katherine Grainger, suggesting that they were complete opposites (so-called mind and heart based), which made them a very powerful unit. After the talk, she handed her impressive gold medal to the pupils, who also had the opportunity to ask questions about her career and the things that motivated her whilst at School and university.
Principal Richard Backhouse commented, “Clearly, Anna has inspired her young audience with her message that anything is possible with confidence and determination. Anna is a great role model and her intelligent, thought-provoking presentation has left an extraordinarily positive impression on our young people here at Monkton”.