From Twickenham to Tokyo: Olympic rower John Collins on Jiu Jitsu Fieldnotes
Jiu Jitsu Fieldnotes is a podcast about what really happens on the mats, but some of the best lessons about training come from outside the sport. For this episode, Callum sat down with John Collins, a two-time Olympian who rowed for Great Britain for the best part of two decades.
Callum hosted and I produced. We’ve cut the conversation down into a highlight reel, which is a good place to start if you’ve got a few minutes.
Watch the highlights on YouTube
Who is John Collins?
John was born in Twickenham in 1989. He didn’t grow up as an obvious sporting talent, and he came to rowing relatively late. He first tried it in his mid-teens through the Duke of Edinburgh Award, with some encouragement from his dad, and learned his trade at Putney Town Rowing Club before moving to Leander Club in Henley in 2010.
That same year he made his international debut at the Under-23 World Championships. From there, his career took in some of the biggest regattas in the sport:
- Rio 2016: fifth in the men’s double sculls with Jonny Walton, on his Olympic debut.
- 2017 World Championships: a silver medal in the men’s quadruple sculls in Sarasota, Florida.
- 2021 European Championships: bronze in the double sculls.
- Tokyo 2020: fourth in the double sculls with Graeme Thomas, around three seconds off a bronze medal, at the Games held a year late in 2021.
He was also Leander’s club captain from 2021 to 2023, and in 2022 his fellow athletes voted him in as an athlete representative. In June 2024 he announced his retirement from the GB Rowing Team, around 20 years after he first picked up an oar.
Not just a rower
Fresh back from the disappointment of fourth place in Tokyo, John took on something very different. With psychologist Dr Kevin Dutton, who he had worked with since the Rio cycle, he took on a “Metro Marathon” challenge: running between all of London Underground’s stations, more than 300 miles on foot, and finishing with the London Marathon. The challenge raised money for The Running Charity, which uses running to support young people experiencing homelessness.
What we talked about
The episode follows John’s route through the sport: finding rowing later than most, the early races that showed he might have something, joining the Team GB pathway, and the funding realities that elite athletes deal with away from the cameras.
There’s plenty in there for anyone who trains seriously, whatever the sport. Turning up when progress is slow, dealing with setbacks, and finding a way to keep going when the result doesn’t go your way are as familiar on the mats as they are on the water.
Why a highlight reel?
Full episodes are great for the listeners who already love a show. A highlight reel does a different job: it gives someone who has never heard of the podcast a quick taste of the guest and the conversation, so they have a reason to press play on the whole thing.
When I cut one, I look for the moments that work without any context: a clear story with a beginning and an end, a line that makes you want to hear what comes next, and enough of the guest’s personality to make them feel like someone worth spending an hour with. Everything else stays in the full episode, where it belongs.
Watch the highlights on YouTube, or find the full episode of Jiu Jitsu Fieldnotes on Spotify.
Got a guest with a story worth telling? I can help you record the conversation and turn it into highlights, clips and full episodes.
Get in touch