Daniel Topolski

Daniel Topolski (4 June 1945 – 21 February 2015) was a British writer, rower, rowing coach and commentator. He studied at the University of Oxford where he represented the Blue boat twice, in 1967 and 1968. In 1977, he won a gold medal at the World Rowing Championships. He coached the Oxford University Boat Club crew fifteen times, leading them to victory twelve times, including a ten-win streak. He also coached British squads at two Olympic Games. After retiring from coaching he commentated on rowing at the Olympic Games and Boat Races.

Early life The son of the Polish artist Feliks Topolski and actress Marian Everall, Daniel attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, before going to Westminster School and New College, Oxford, where he read geography. Relatively lightly built for a rower, he gained to qualify for the 1967 race. in the lightweight eight, and a silver medal in the 1975 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham, in the lightweight coxless four. During his rowing career, Topolski took part in 74 races at the Henley Royal Regatta. He won three Henley trophies, the Wyfold in 1969 and the Britannia in 1970 with London Rowing Club, and the Britannia for the second time in 1976 with Tideway Scullers. He was elected a steward of the regatta in 1991

He was the finishing coach for Oxford University's Boat Race crew from 1973 to 1987. 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. He also coached the British women's eight between 1978 and 1980. In 2013 he was made an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford.