Damian Browne
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Damian Browne - As a former professional rugby player, Damian Browne played for European elite Leinster Rugby, winning some of club rugby’s biggest prizes; the Heineken Cup & Pro 14. A highly respected professional, known for his work rate and leadership. Damian also played in the English Premiership for Northampton Saints and in the French TOP 14 with CA Brive & Oyonnax Rugby during a 16-year career.
Damian’s mantra is: ‘To live an extraordinary life. A life full of challenges, extremes, learning, risk, growth and fulfilment. Driven by self awareness, integrity and courage.’ Since retirement from professional rugby in 2015, Damian has embraced the life of an extreme adventurer.
From a 3-week expedition into the Pamir mountains in Afghanistan to summiting Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc and Gran Paradiso, Damian has visited over 60 countries on 6 continents. In April 2016, Damian completed the 6 day, 257km Marathon des Sables, across the Sahara desert also known as 'The Toughest Footrace on Earth’. In 2018 he achieved the extraordinary, when he successfully crossed the Atlantic ocean in a rowboat...alone! Joining a very exclusive group of less than 60 people to ever achieve this feat. In fact, more people have been in space than rowed the Atlantic solo. He endured 9m swells, deep lacerations on his head and complete steering system failure. He came close to death when his boat capsized, getting trapped underneath it and was almost destroyed by an oncoming cargo ship. However after 63 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes he officially crossed the Atlantic Ocean, 28kgs lighter. Damian’s rowing prowess doesn’t stop on the ocean, he is also a multi-time Irish indoor rowing champion and currently holds the all time fastest records for the 500m and 1000m distances.
Damian regularly shares his experiences and learnings with companies like EY, Facebook and Bank of Ireland. He has written and presented talks entitled ‘Drive not motivation’, ‘Ownership and Commitment are the keys’, ‘Extreme challenge, why?’, ‘Mental Preparation - Processes, Strategies and Tools’ and ‘The success lies in the preparation’. He has given a TEDx talk entitled 'The hidden values in pushing your body to it's limits' and had the honour of addressing the Irish Rugby squad and staff before their historic victory over the All Blacks in Dublin, November 2018.
Damian is the founder and owner of 17 Black one of the world’s leading authorities on mental strength and resilience, where civilians go to challenge themselves and be challenged, physically and psychologically over intense fixed duration periods, learning powerful mental tools and processes kinesthetically on how to endure and overcome their most stressful states. 17 Black is specifically designed for deep, unparalleled personal growth and development. To date, Damian has raised over €100,000 for Irish and African-based charities through his extreme adventures and founding/leading Freezbrury, a group challenge held annually every February to embrace the cold seas, lakes and rivers of Ireland every day of the month.
Like all great adventurers, Damian’s journey is ever-evolving, his horizon stretching. Damian has summited five of the highest peaks on each continent in his latest adventure, the renowned mountaineering challenge, The 7 Summits. His next challenge, the mighty Mount Everest.
GET AFTER IT - PODCAST Episode - 36
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