Naomi Riches

Former Paralympic Gold Medallist Rower & Speaker, Facilitator & Resilience Coach

  • Won gold at London 2012
  • Achieved six World Rowing Championship titles
  • Guinness World Record holder
  • Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire

When Naomi Riches is booked for events, they are known to discuss the following speaking topics:

Adversity
Female Inspiration
Marginal Gains
Mental Resilience
Motivational
Peak Performance
Organisational Behaviour
Teamwork & Team Building
Disability Awareness
Diversity & Inclusion
Emotional Intelligence
Online Motivation
Webinars
Paralympics

Naomi Riches MBE DL is a British adaptive rower and former competitor for Paralympics GB, best known for winning gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. A world-class athlete turned high-performance speaker, she draws from her remarkable sporting career to inspire audiences across the UK and beyond. Naomi now runs her own business as an Inspirational Speaker, Facilitator, and Resilience Coach, working with individuals and organisations to develop resilience, foster inclusive leadership, and unlock peak performance. Her passion lies in helping people harness adversity to fuel personal and professional growth. As a speaker, Naomi covers topics including Mental Resilience, Peak Performance, Teamwork, Adversity, Marginal Gains, Emotional Intelligence, Diversity and Inclusion, and more — each underpinned by her lived experience at the highest levels of sport.

Naomi’s journey began in 2004 when she was selected for the GB Adaptive Rowing Team. Born with a visual impairment, she discovered rowing at university and quickly proved herself an exceptional talent. Over nearly a decade representing Great Britain, she earned her place as a key figure in adaptive sport, claiming an impressive six World Rowing Championship titles between 2004 and 2013. Alongside her Paralympic success, Naomi also won bronze at the Beijing 2008 Games, making her one of the most decorated British adaptive rowers in history. Her resilience, discipline, and strategic mindset developed on the water now shape her approach to performance coaching and keynote delivery.

Since retiring from elite sport in 2013, Naomi has achieved several notable milestones. In 2016, she set a Guinness World Record as the first woman to row the length of the navigable Thames in just 48 hours, a feat of endurance and purpose that supported charitable causes. In 2020, she launched her speaking and coaching business, and in 2023, she was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, recognising her ongoing service and leadership within the community. These achievements highlight not only her athletic legacy but also her continued commitment to excellence and impact beyond sport.

Naomi is frequently hired for her ability to motivate and engage diverse audiences through her compelling narrative of perseverance and success. Her talks on adversity, resilience, female inspiration, team building, and organisational behaviour are especially valued in corporate, education, and public sectors. Audiences trust Naomi to deliver authentic, actionable insights grounded in her elite sporting background. Her focus on high performance, combined with a unique understanding of human behaviour, emotional intelligence, and inclusive teamwork, makes her a standout choice for organisations aiming to drive meaningful transformation.

Official Testimonials

Naomi Riches is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:

“It gave me food for thought and left me feeling inspired and motivated to achieve my personal and career goals.”

Maria, EMEA Client Insight Analyst

“Really enjoyed Naomi’s session as very inspiring both in terms of how important team work is to move in the same direction, but also from a personal perspective that with right level of determination anything is possible.”

Steve, EMEA Director of Advisory

“Really interesting and inspiring talk – it was a mix of engaging and informative! Very motivational!”

Chloe, BI Analyst

“Loved it – Naomi was inspirational & shared her story in a powerful way. She also made it relevant to us by asking us to think about our goals & what motivates and drives us.”

Tom, Director, Global Analytics

“Naomi told us her journey with its highs, lows and huge achievements in such an engaging, motivating and relatable way.”

Women in Business event, London Chamber of Commerce & Industry

“Her parting thought was a striking one, urging us to consider that true success comes from building upon the obstacles we encounter.”

Women in Business event, London Chamber of Commerce & Industry

“Such an incredible story of resilience.”

Women in Business event, London Chamber of Commerce & Industry

“Naomi proves that if your desire to succeed is stronger than the obstacles thrown at you then there’s nothing staying in the way of your dream.”

Women in Business event, London Chamber of Commerce & Industry

“Naomi’s session was the highlight of our Away Day. She told her inspirational story and seamlessly linked it to our own work and understanding of our own motivations. Naomi’s style is very personable and engaging. She uses humour and her authenticity to draw the audience in and left us all with plenty to think about in our own work contexts. We all felt deeply privileged to have spent this time with Naomi and to have learned from her experiences on and off the water.”

UK Central Government Department

“Absolutely fantastic, she worked with several groups of students with differing educational and motivational needs, and all the students said they felt positive and learnt a lot from Naomi.”

Kenton School

“You could have heard a pin drop. They NEVER sit that still, for that long! She was very candid and open with the students.  It was refreshing to see how attentive they were, their reactions and, how much more positive a confident they appeared about their own futures and abilities.”

Studio West

“I’ve worked with Naomi a few times now and can honestly say she is an absolute inspiration and her story is relatable. She is professional, committed and passionate about inspiring others. I would 100% recommend working with Naomi as speaker.”

Charlotte, Global Organisational Learning & Development Senior Coordinator, GW Pharmaceutical PLC

“I was lucky to have Naomi as my assessor for the professional assessment and coaching process. She is a quite remarkable person and it was fascinating for me to see how Naomi’s experience and achievements provided such a great background for coaching. She is truly motivational, with a strong, logical style mixed with a great sense of humour. I learned a great deal from Naomi, and she undoubtedly helped me improve my leadership effectiveness as well as my own self-awareness. I would have no hesitation in recommending her in any role in which she had the opportunity to influence people, as she does that in the most outstanding way.”

Clive, CEO, De La Rue

“Naomi’s style is open, honest and inspiring. She has a remarkable ability to communicate quickly and authentically with people, rapidly establishing rapport. This means that she is particularly effective as a motivational speaker and facilitator. From personal experience, I know that audiences are inspired by what she has to say and that the integrity of her message can generate both tears and laughter. Highly recommended as a keynote speaker at a conferences.”

David, Principal, Opus Business Consulting

“Naomi, I wanted to say a HUGE thank you for your presentation. It was incredible how gripped you had every single one of us throughout (despite doing it all via Zoom too!). I know a few of our volunteers were particularly moved and inspired by your personal journey, so I want to pass on a particularly huge thank you for the profound impact you have had.”

Samuel, Head of Communication, Nightline Association

“In a business career of (too many) years, you occasionally meet truly exceptional people. Naomi is one of those people. Her CV speaks for itself, much better than I could in this text box. I can thoroughly recommend that you speak to her yourself, to find out if she can help your organisation.”

Mark, Manager - Network & Development, Porsche GB

“Naomi was the guest speaker at our infamous ICAEW Thames Valley Annual Dinner, this one was special as it was our 45th ICAEW Thames Valley Anniversary.

“All I can say is WOW, Naomi’s story gave all the audience goosebumps and had everyone in awe, if you are looking for a speaker that will have a massive impact on the audience and leave everyone with a tear in their eye… Naomi is the perfect speaker.

“Naomi did not fail to deliver; I have had so much feedback to how touched and informed the audience felt after hearing from her. She was a pleasurer to work with and I cannot recommend her enough.

“Naomi you were extremely professional, approachable and informing, I hope to work with you again the in future. Thank you, from all of us at ICAEW Thames Valley!”

Emily, Regional Executive, ICAEW

“Naomi spoke at the P2P Annual Gathering recently and was fantastic. Her speech was presented in a highly professionally manner with a fascinating story. She was engaging, funny and there were a few thrills n spills too. But delivering a good speech is only half of it, after her 30 minutes, she had a Q & A session and then she talked with attendees over lunch. She continued to wow the crowd through her charm and interesting stories, but also her interest in our attendees shone through, she really is a ‘people person’. The feedback for our Gathering has been terrific and Naomi was a big part of that success. It was our first since returning after the pandemic, so we had to make it a great event.”

Peter, Director, People 2 Places

“I met Naomi back in 2014 when I started working with the guys at Thomas International, in this time Naomi has not only developed into someone who understands the Thomas tools and how to integrate them into peoples’ everyday lives, she has also become an accomplished keynote speaker sharing her moving story to help others reach for their goals. I would have no problems in recommending Naomi as a World class speaker for your conference.”

Derek, Olympian, Speaker, Business Coach & Mentor

“We felt extremely honoured to welcome Naomi Riches MBE DL to our BBO PA Network Awards in 2021, and then back to our Strategic PA Network Awards in 2023.

“Naomi opened both our Awards with an empowering keynote address, sharing with us her journey to date and some of the challenges she overcame along the way. She also shone a spotlight on the unsung heroes behind the success of the team, the ones who don’t receive gold medals, which is exactly what our awards are about, celebrating the Personal, Executive and Virtual Assistants that work tirelessly behind the scenes to make things happy, yet very rare see the rewards.  Naomi is a genuine and engaging motivational speaker who’s experiences are relatable.  She was brilliant at getting her message across and on both occasions, it was a perfect start to our Awards, really setting the evening up.

“We would thoroughly recommend Naomi as a speaker!  I’d happily connect with anyone who had any questions they’d like to ask me. Thank you for being you Naomi!”

Sarah & Marianne, Founders & Directors, Strategic PA Network

“Since 2019, 2M have worked with Naomi on numerous occasions with a variety of leadership teams across 2M Holding LTD and with our Future Leaders, now Accelerate programmes. She really does add value to the teams she works with, is insightful, but is that rare combination of someone who has achieved great things and yet remains down to earth. This makes her the best of motivational speakers and facilitators. Not only is she inspiring and engaging, but she is also a warm and personable individual who everyone connected with. Everyone needs a dose of Naomi!”

Liran, Chair, 2M Manufacturing

To enquire about Naomi Riches for your event or corporate function, simply contact us via agent@high-performance-speakers.com or call a booking agent on 0203 0070 319.