COLLINS John

General
RIO RESULT FUELS TOKYO FIRE
After finishing fifth in the men's double sculls at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he said he is more determined to win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "Rio opened my eyes to what a results-based industry the Olympics is. Coming back without a medal is haunting in ways you would never possibly foresee going into it. Coming back from the [2016] Olympics without a medal was so tough. I think the biggest thing I felt was guilt [for] the people that supported me, it's for them that you feel bad. And I think we know that having the race we had in the semifinal of the [2016] Olympics, that was as close to perfect as we ever got. To have had that race and not to come away with a medal meant that we were coming home empty-handed to our families who had supported us blindly through the whole thing. You really want to give them a medal to give them something back. It's amazing how a piece of metal makes all the difference." (skysports.com, 08 Jan 2020; werow.co.uk, 12 Sep 2017)

MANCHESTER UNITED OF ROWING CLUBS
He joined Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames, England, after the 2012 Olympic Games in London, at a time when he says he was considering quitting the sport. He describes the club as the 'Manchester United' of rowing clubs. "I decided that trying to go to the Olympics wasn't a completely unrealistic ambition, and if I wanted to achieve this I knew the only place that made sense to go to was Leander Club, the most successful rowing club in the world. Leander is a Manchester United in a nation full of Sunday league teams. Due to their business-like approach to running the club, they're able to fund themselves and the rowing programme in a way that gives them a substantial advantage over any other British club. Here I worked my way into another U23 world championships and a couple of wins at Henley Royal Regatta. Off the back of this, I was invited to join the national team after the very successful [2012] Olympic Games in London. I was about to quit - I couldn't afford to do it anymore. I was going to get a job, but then I got a letter saying, 'Do you want to come train with the national team?'" (Instagram profile, 01 Nov 2019; johncollinsrowing.com, 01 Mar 2018)

ROWING RELATIONSHIP
He says he and his partner, British rower Karen Bennett, share their sporting achievements and disappointments. "There's only a handful of competitions where we've both been successful. It's very rare that you both have a good day on the same day, so quite often one of your good days is offset by a bad day." (Instagram profile, 01 Nov 2019; britishrowing.org, 15 May 2020)

At age 17 he broke British rower Steve Redgrave's record for the youngest ever winner of the Pairs Head of the River race in London, England. He was partnered with Tim Male. (britishrowing.org, 07 Sep 2015; getreading.co.uk, 25 Aug 2010)