London Olympics gold medallist, consultant and speaker
Available for motivational speaker events, media engagements, coaching and consulting. Topics include the Olympics, achieving high performance, women in sport, data and analytics in sport.
High Performance
I'm fascinated by the art and the science of high performance, and how to bring the two together.
activities and SERVICES
Speaking
Speaking
Speaking
Experienced motivational speaker and facilitator
Media
Speaking
Speaking
Print and broadcast media, offering athlete and science perspective
Consulting
Consulting
Consulting
Areas of expertise include: digital transformation, science-to-human translating, sports organisations, the Olympics.
Coaching
Consulting
Consulting
Life coaching, mentoring and development sessions for individual clients and teams
CLIENTS and engagements
Anna has worked with many organisations including
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BIOGRAPHY
Anna Watkins is the London 2012 Olympic Champion in the double sculls, which she won alongside Katherine Grainger. Her ten-year rowing career took in two Olympic medals, two world titles, and many other international medals. She has won world rowing crew of the year twice, in 2010 and 2012, and has been the holder of the world record for 5km on the ergo. She is still the fastest ever British woman to complete a 2km ergo, in 6 minutes and 26 seconds.
Anna grew up in the Staffordshire Moorlands but was not a particularly sporty child. She first began rowing at university, aged 18, and was immediately fast-tracked into the national squad through the World Class Start talent identification scheme. In her first international season (aged 21) she won the world U23 championships, gaining a place in the full senior squad the following season. Anna’s success on the world stage improved incrementally and she first reached the world championship podium in 2007. The following year's Beijing Olympics she won a bronze medal in one of the tightest finishes of the regatta.
In the years leading up to the 2012 London Olympics Anna maintained an unbeaten run for 3 years, improving to silver and then gold. The process of this improvement - in spite of injuries and setbacks - is the focus of much of Anna’s speaking work. Anna has raced in all boat classes but specialised in the double sculls, a two person boat, which requires a particularly intense partnership.
Anna studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and went on to complete a PhD in Applied Mathematics at Reading University. Professionally Anna worked in data science, advising on behalf of McKinsey to some of the world’s largest engineering companies and sports teams on their data and analytics strategies.
Anna’s independent consulting work has largely focused on training and development. This spans both the digital and analytics side, and also professional development sessions based on her experience in elite sport.
She is founding Patron of the Women’s Sport Trust and a former director of the British Athletes Commission. She was awarded an MBE for services to rowing in 2013, has honorary doctorates from Keele and Staffordshire Universities, and is an honorary fellow of Reading University.
Anna has two children and lives on a farm. She enjoys practical hobbies including beekeeping, farm work, and working on her camper van conversion.