| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1945-06-04)4 June 1945 London, England, | |||||||||||||||||
| Died | 21 February 2015(2015-02-21) (aged 69) London, England | |||||||||||||||||
| Education | Westminster School | |||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford | |||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Rower, rowing coach, commentator, author, travel writer | |||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Susan Gilmore | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club | London RC | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Daniel"Dan" Topolski (4 June 1945 – 21 February 2015) was a British author,rower, rowing coach and commentator on BBC television. He studied at theUniversity of Oxford where he represented theBlue boat twice, in 1967 and 1968. In 1977, he won a gold medal at theWorld Rowing Championships. He coached theOxford University Boat Club crew on fifteen occasions, leading them to victory twelve times, including a ten-win streak. He also coached British squads at two separate Olympic Games. After retiring from coaching he commentated on rowing at the Olympic Games and Boat Races.
The son of the Polish artistFeliks Topolski and actress Marian Everall, Daniel attended theLycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, before going toWestminster School andNew College, Oxford, where he read geography.[1] He was taughtsculling by his father, onRegent's Park lake in London, and captained Westminster School's boat club for two consecutive years.[1] While at Oxford, he rowed in theUniversity Boat Race on two occasions. In the1967 race, rowing at number seven, he helped Oxford to their third consecutive victory. Thefollowing year, this time rowing atbow, he suffered defeat.[2][3] Relatively lightly built for a rower, he gained 24 pounds (11 kg) to qualify for the 1967 race.[1]
Topolski's rowing career included a gold medal in the 1977World Championships in Amsterdam,[4] in the lightweight eight, and a silver medal in the1975 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham, in the lightweightcoxless four.[1][5][6] During his rowing career, Topolski took part in 74 races at theHenley Royal Regatta. He won three Henley trophies, the Wyfold in 1969 and the Britannia in 1970 withLondon Rowing Club, and the Britannia for the second time in 1976 withTideway Scullers. He was elected a steward of the regatta in 1991[1]
He was the finishing coach forOxford University's Boat Race crew from 1973 to 1987.[7] Of the fifteen Boat Races in which he was coach, Oxford won twelve including an unbroken run of ten victories between 1976 and 1985. This run of success and its continuation after Topolski's departure brought Oxford to a point in 1992 where they had won sixteen of the last seventeen races and were within one victory of equalling Cambridge's overall total of wins.[8]
Topolski coached the British rowing squads competing at the1980 and1984 Olympics.[9] He also coached the British women's eight between 1978 and 1980.[1] He acted as a commentator for the BBC at the2000 Sydney,2004 Athens,2008 Beijing Olympics[3] and on home waters at the2012 London Olympics.
Outside rowing, Topolski worked as a researcher for the BBC until 1973. He published two travel books.Muzungu: One Man's Africa (1976) was based on his travels in Africa for eight months in 1972.Travels with My Father: A South American Journey (1983) was based on a tour of South America with his father in 1981, which resulted in his arrest and imprisonment in Paraguay.[1] He also published two books about rowing,The Oxford Revival (1985) andTrue Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny (1989; withPatrick Robinson).[1] He wrote forThe Observer for more than twenty years.[1]
Topolski won the inauguralWilliam Hill Sports Book of the Year in 1989 as the co-author (withPatrick Robinson) ofTrue Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny. The book tells the story of the1987 Boat Race and the disagreement amongst the Oxford crew known as the "Oxford mutiny".[7] It was made intoa 1996 film.[8] In 1994 he won a Travelex Radio Award for the BBC seriesTopolski’s Travels.[5] In 2013 he was made an honorary fellow ofNew College, Oxford.[1]
Topolski was married to actressSusan Gilmore and had three children: Emma, Tamsin and Luke.[5]
Topolski died on 21 February 2015 following a lengthy period of ill health. Five-time Olympic gold medallistSteve Redgrave said: "Rowing will miss him dearly and so will I."[8]
Notes
Bibliography
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by No award | William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner 1989 | Succeeded by |
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