Jamie Fitzgerald filming an episode of TVNZ series First Crossings. Photo / File
Jamie Fitzgerald filming an episode of TVNZ series First Crossings. Photo / File
One of the world's most revered adventurers is heading home to Tauranga to headline a fundraising dinner for Tauranga Boys' College rowing.
Jamie Fitzgerald, host of the TVNZ television series First Crossing, returns to his old school where he was a star of the last Maadi Cup winning crew in 1997.
Coach of the winning team, Tim Richardson MNZM, will host the evening on August 7 and hopes all eight crew members will reunite for the dinner.
Fitzgerald's first glimpse into goal setting and striving to be the best he could be was at Tauranga Boys' College.
"It was thanks to people like Tim Richardson and our principal Graham Young for the values that set me up for a lot of the things I have done since," Fitzgerald said.
The remarkable 52-day expedition created media attention worldwide and nearly killed Fitzgerald. In dragging a 160kg sled over rough ice, he battled torn hamstrings for half the 1200km journey to the Pole and enormous weight loss.
"I lost 32 kilos and the whole environment is basically trying to kill you down there," he said.
"It is not really conducive to humans. On a great day it can be the most beautiful place on earth and on anything below average day you can be terrified if you are not careful."
Fitzgerald holds the world record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean in a tiny row boat, has captained winning rowing crews at both Cambridge and Oxford while studying for his management and marketing degrees, and is a double New Zealand representative in rowing and surf lifesaving.
I lost 32 kilos and the whole environment is basically trying to kill you down there. It is not really conducive to humans.
Despite all those achievements, he says his most rewarding campaign was "The Big Walk", when he took hundreds of young Kiwis on life-learning experiences throughout New Zealand.
"To see these kids take on challenges that were way outside their comfort zone was fascinating. To then see them co-create this strategy that Ministry of Social Development was trying to drive about how to connect young people to their communities was pretty empowering.
Jamie Fitzgerald celebrates reaching the South Pole in 2007. Photo / File
"That was the tipping point from me doing adventures for my benefit to creating campaigns where other people are demonstrating success. I also do a lot of business strategy planning for companies wanting to achieve on the world stage."
His television show First Crossings is hugely rewarding for Fitzgerald.
"The purpose of the show is we want to bring back to life stories of trail-blazing New Zealand pioneers to a mainstream audience.
"We want to make history famous and exciting. In any one of the shows we can't tell all of the amazing feats that these people did, or put themselves through, because there just isn't enough time."
Guests attending next month's fundraising dinner are in for a memorable evening that will feature plenty of interaction with Fitzgerald.
"If they think they can just sit on their chairs and just watch for the evening, they can think again. Any of my talks are quite interactive and like a conversation between me and the audience.
"There will be prizes I am taking along and I will be sharing a wide range of stories and using video in different chunks throughout the evening. I will focus on some of the lessons I have learnt, not just from rowing, but from any of the other adventures."
