Carina’s signature keynote, Swim Against the Current, is a powerful, immersive experience that leaves audiences energized and inspired. In this transformative talk, Carina takes listeners on a journey from the choppy waters of challenge to the calm confidence of mastery — sharing the mindsets and strategies she’s honed as a world-class open water swimmer and entrepreneur.
Through gripping storytelling and hard-earned lessons, Carina shows how to tap into the power of resilience, reframe obstacles as opportunities, and unleash the courage to debate with fear instead of being ruled by it. The result is a practical blueprint for turning setbacks into stepping stones and achieving personal greatness. Audiences walk away not just moved, but equipped — ready to embrace uncertainty, challenge their limits, and thrive in the face of adversity.
Carina’s story is one of rewriting the rules—in sport, music, and entrepreneurship. This inspiring keynote empowers audiences to reimagine what’s possible by cultivating courage, innovation, and clarity of vision in uncertain environments.
Takeaways:
When Carina launched Swim For Hope, she proved that one person can drive meaningful change. This talk illustrates how aligning personal ambition with purpose creates a ripple effect of transformation, and how organizations can empower individuals to lead from the inside out.
Takeaways:
Carina Bruwer is an endurance and adventure speaker who uses real life feats to teach resilience and action-oriented leadership. Her presentations distill the mindset, planning, and daily practices that allowed her to succeed in extreme conditions, translating them into usable leadership tools for teams.
Carina focuses on building habits, stress management routines, and clarity under pressure. She mixes storytelling with tactical takeaways and exercises so attendees can practice resilience-building techniques back at work. Planners rely on her for both motivational openers and practical training sessions that create lasting behavior change.
Carina Bruwer is one of Africa’s most accomplished female open water marathon swimmers, an internationally renowned musician, a trailblazing entrepreneur, and a mother of three.
A true multi-hyphenate, she inspires audiences around the world with stories of resilience, risk-taking, and transformation, drawn from the extreme frontiers of sport, art, business, and life. An International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame nominee and one of the World Open Water Swimming Association’s “Top 50 Most Daring, Courageous and Audacious” swimmers, Carina has completed some of the planet’s most grueling swims, including the English Channel, Gibraltar Straits, False Bay, and many world-first crossings.
Through her initiative Swim For Hope, she uses these feats to raise funds and awareness for South African charities, generating over R1 million in direct donations and millions more in media value. Equally fearless in her artistic career, Carina Bruwer is the founder of the award-winning instrumental group Sterling EQ, which revolutionized classical crossover music in South Africa and performed in over 15 countries.
As an entrepreneur, she’s built multiple successful creative ventures and continues to lead in the production and live entertainment space. A powerful and engaging keynote speaker, Carina Bruwer brings a unique blend of energy, authenticity, and insight to stages across the world, inspiring companies, conferences, schools, and nonprofits to challenge limitations, embrace change, and unlock their potential.
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Carina Bruwer introduces herself as one of Africa’s most decorated female open-water marathon swimmers, an internationally acclaimed musician, entrepreneur, and mother of three. Known for boldly venturing where few dare to go, she explains that her success across swimming, music, and business has always involved confronting fear, negotiating with it, and showing up regardless.
She recounts her remarkable achievements in endurance swimming: crossing the English Channel, Gibraltar Straits, False Bay, Nelson Mandela Bay, Walker Bay, Bonifacio Straits, Messina Straits, and many others, with numerous firsts and record-breaking feats. Recognized as a nominee to the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and named among the World Open Water Swimming Association’s “Top 50 Most Daring, Courageous and Audacious” swimmers, she grounds her message in lived experience at the edges of human performance.
Carina also highlights her social impact work, particularly Swim for Hope, which she founded in 2014 to raise funds and awareness for South African organizations. The initiative has generated over R1 million directly and millions more in media value.
Her message is that the same principles that allowed her to persevere in extreme swims—clarity of purpose, negotiating with fear, and consistently pushing boundaries—apply equally in professional and personal life. Through her keynote Swim Against the Current, she inspires audiences to embrace fear as a partner, innovate with courage, and take action toward meaningful goals.
00:00 Introduction: Carina Bruwer’s diverse journey—swimmer, musician, entrepreneur, mother
00:40 Defining message: negotiating with fear to show up fully
01:15 Ultramarathon swimming achievements and world records
02:00 Recognition: International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, global accolades
02:35 Founding Swim for Hope and raising funds for South African causes
03:15 Music and entrepreneurial success through innovation and rule-breaking
03:45 Closing message: lessons from Swim Against the Current—courage, resilience, altruism
A: Yes. She maps adventure lessons to leadership challenges.
A: Ideal for intimate leadership workshops and large stage keynotes.
A: Both. Carina’s sessions are designed to inspire and provide actionable takeaways for long-term change.
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