Create an experience with Scott Brennan OAM

Brennan is available to be booked as an individual or as a couple with his wife, Kim Brennan.

The Brennans specialise in executive leadership sessions focussing on moving from good to great.

Experienced MC, speaks on topics of: overcoming adversity, leading with empathy and kindness, high-performance mindset, sports-related issues (integrity, ethics, innovation), transition from sport to business

Brief Summary

• Anaesthetic trainee, experienced in emergency medicine
• Olympic gold medallist rowing

More Information

Born in Hobart,  Scott Brennan would walk to school and see fellow Lindisfarne resident Stephen Hawkins run by on his way to rowing training on the Derwent River. Come the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 9-year-old Brennan stood transfixed in front of the television and witnessed Hawkins convert that tenacious spirit and hard work into an Olympic Gold Medal. This was a defining moment for Brennan, who set his sights on emulating the achievements of his local hero. 16 years later, Brennan did just that, winning an Olympic Gold Medal in the very same boat class as his idol.

Starting life as a normal Aussie kid, Brennan tried his hand at all sports and excelled academically.  He grew to be a natural leader amongst his peers and was elected Captain of both schools he attended. During his senior school years, he overcame significant adversity after being hospitalised with a life-threatening illness. His time in the hospital inspired Brennan to pursue medicine as a career and made him determined to make the most of every opportunity- never knowing if it might be the last.

While successfully studying medicine, Brennan rose through the rowing ranks and quickly earned himself a reputation for being the toughest trainer and competitor in the sport. He won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships, before converting this silver to gold two years later to become the U23 World Champion.

Indeed, if the performance of Hawkins was the defining spark in Brennan’s life, the defining influence was a rowing coach by the name of Sam le Compte. Under the tuition of Le Compte, a hard-nosed, salt-of-the-earth kiwi who didn’t suffer fools, Brennan qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics in the flagship quadruple scull as the youngest member of the rowing team. The foursome were in the form of their lives, easily winning the prestigious Lucerne regatta, before disaster struck in the semi-final of the Olympics, devastatingly missing the final.

Distraught, Brennan returned home to complete his medical degree with an eye towards the 2008 Olympic Games and with it, redemption. Within a year of his Athens disappointment, his world was once again turned upside down when Le Compte fell ill and rapidly passed away from cancer. On the eve of his death, Brennan and Le Compte made a pact to finish what they had started - win that elusive Olympic Gold Medal.

With partner David Crawshay and coach Rhett Ayliffe, Brennan approached the Beijing Games with a furious intensity of focus. The trio were the epitome of a high performing team- honest, willing to have the hard conversation, relentless and uncompromising.

As Brennan and Crawshay crossed the line in Beijing triumphant, teammate Kim Crow watched on from the stands, herself inspired by the way the duo had overcome the disappointment of Athens and redeemed themselves in Beijing.

Crow and Brennan became firm friends and would years later go on to marry, with Kim Brennan finally emulating the performance of her husband with a gold medal in Rio 2016. The pair now have two children Jude and Violet, a labrador Ernie, a hobby farm and a passion for mentoring younger athletes and students.    

Brennan works as a doctor in critical care at the Canberra Hospital training in anaesthetics, bringing valuable insights around performance under pressure, authentic leadership and the value of discipline tempered with kindness in any pursuit - whether on the sporting field or at the patient’s bedside.