Cambridge Judge Business School Academic and University Rowing Coach to Row the Length of the Amazon in Six Weeks Dr Mark de Rond, Reader in Strategy Organisation, Cambridge Judge Business School and Anton Wright, Chief Coach, Clare College and Coach, University of Cambridge Lightweights, will row the entire length of the Amazon in September of this year.
Mark is joining fellow oarsman, Anton Wright, in his attempt to row the rivers 2200 miles unsupported, and, if they're successful, they are likely to be the first in history to have achieved this feat. They aim to start rowing in Peru on 1 September 2013, with the goal of reaching the Brazilian coast six weeks later. Mark has spent several years observing and researching teams of people in difficult circumstances, and has decided its time to experience first-hand what an endeavour like this will yield by joining Anton on his expedition.
The duo are planning to produce a feature-length documentary as part of the effort and Mark is aiming for the experience to feed into his future executive education teaching at Cambridge Judge Business School, as well as feeding in to his own research. As part of their effort they will be raising money for Leonard Cheshire Disability, a charity supporting disabled people in the UK and over 50 countries worldwide. They will also be designing an educational package for Cambridge-based primary schools in order for them to learn about the Amazon. Organisations sponsoring Mark and Anton include: Cambridge Judge Business School; Executive Education at Cambridge Judge Business School; ADEC Marine; Clare College Boat Club; GITZO; Grey Dog; JL Rowing and The Mller Centre, Cambridge; The Stanhill foundation and Voyage Manager.
About Dr Mark de Rond
Dr Mark de Rond is a Reader in Strategy Organisation at Cambridge Judge Business School and a Fellow of Darwin College, University of Cambridge. Marks research interests include studying people by living with them under similar conditions, to try and understand how and why their world makes sense (to them). Mark's fieldwork has included combat surgeons in Afghanistan, elite rowers, and comedians. Subject-wise, his research focuses specifically on: the experience of being human in collaborative high-performance environments; the human imagination of human importance in strategy; the possibility and scope of strategic choice and causal explanations of why things are as they are and not otherwise in a world of (mostly) unique events.
About Anton Wright
Anton Wright is Head Coach/Boatman for Clare College, Cambridge and Coach for the University Lightweights at the University of Cambridge. He is an active rower and adventurer. Anton has undertaken several previous endeavours and they include the Great River Amazon Raft Race; rowing across the Irish Sea and an Atlantic sailing crossing.