Over the next few months, CN&CO will be working closely with the national squad team, Brittain, Keeling and Schoeman to handle all media requests and publicity for the athletes.

While this is the first client of CN&CO’s which “falls under a sporting banner” the team are no strangers to the rowing and sporting scene. Co-founder of CN&CO, Carel Nolte, was part of the Etana team who were a sponsor of the four rowers who bagged gold in London.

“On their return, myself, Paolo Cavalieri and team Etana handled the PR and corporate bookings for the rowers where the four would head out to meet and greet, and present to businesses across industries. The businesses who booked the rowers were really blown away by these young guys who displayed immense passion and showed just what is possible with sheer determination - and took many valuable lessons and insight away from their talks on a personal and business level,” says Nolte.

He also affirms that there are many lessons from sport for business, especially at Olympic level. “One example is Shaun Keeling - as a 21-year-old in Beijing winning a bronze, to not qualifying for London in 2012, and coming back to win a Silver in Rio with his partner Lawrence Brittain who had cancer two years ago. A prime example of determination, passion, planning, commitment and focus - just like business. We are thrilled to share inspiring stories such as this with South Africa, through the PR.”

Brittain’s story and road to Rio is particularly inspiring. In October 2014 he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He’d been living with the condition for two years before undergoing six three-week cycles of chemotherapy. In February 2015, he completed his final chemo session. From then on, his focus was back to rowing. Less than 18 months since his last dose of chemo, he’s an Olympic medallist.

In addition to handling the PR, CN&CO will be handling all corporate bookings for the rowing pair from September to December 2016. The corporate bookings will be a key focus as this will be the only revenue-generating stream for the rowers, with all money going into the Team Power Trust for the rowers. There will be various booking options for corporates and schools, and anyone who is keen to find out more and book these inspirational sportsmen and sportswomen can get in touch with Carel Nolte on [email protected].

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