For the stand-up comedian and actor, see Dan Antopolski

Dan Antopolski

For the rowing coach and commentator, see Daniel TopolskiDan Antopolski is a British stand-up comic, actor and writer, mostly known for his surreal stand-up.- Stand-up comedy :Shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe include:...

Daniel (Dan) Topolski (born 4 June 1945) is an author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

, former rower and rowing coach, and summariser on BBC television.

The son of painter Feliks Topolski

Feliks Topolski

Feliks Topolski RA was a Polish-born British expressionist painter and draughtsman.- Life :Felix Topolski was born on 14 August 1907 in Warsaw...

, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle

The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is a large French primary and secondary school situated in South Kensington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London...

 in London, before going to Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 and New College, Oxford

New College, Oxford

New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...

. At Oxford, he rowed in both the 1967 and 1968 Boat Races

The Boat Race

The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...

.

Topolski was finishing coach for Oxford University's

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 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 won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year

William Hill Sports Book of the Year

The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British literary award sponsored by bookmakers William Hill. It claims to be "the world's richest sports book prize" at £22,000...

 in 1989 as the co-author (with Patrick Robinson) of True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny—the story of the 1987 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race

The Boat Race

The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...

.

Topolski is married to actress Susan Gilmore

Susan Gilmore

Susan Gilmore is an English actress with a number of prominent television credits to her name, including Elizabeth Fitt in the BBC hospital drama Angels and Avril Rolfe in Howards' Way. She was also a leading cast member in the cult thriller serial Maelstrom...

, and their daughter is the jazz singer Emma Topolski.