David Tanner (rowing)
Sir David Whitlock Tanner CBE (born 29 December 1947 in London) is the performance coach for the British Rowing Team. He has assisted the team to Olympic success from the 1984 Los Angeles games to the 2012 London games. This success has been paralleled by success in the World Rowing Championships.[1] [2]
Career
Educated at Abingdon School, Tanner's first career was as a teacher. He followed this at the same time involving himself deeply with rowing. He first achieved a place in the vanguard of British rowing when he coached a team of 4 inexperienced boys from Ealing Grammar School and took them through to medal success in the World Championships and to a bronze medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[2]
Tanner was deputy headmaster at Greenford High School in Ealing from 1986 to 1987 before he took a post as headmaster at the former Longford School in Feltham, Middlesex from 1987 to 1996.[1]
In 1992 he was appointed team leader to GB rowing for the Olympic games of that year and then subsequently for 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.(debs) Following the 1996 Olympic games tanner was appointed, with the support of lottery funding, a full-time position of Performance Coach to GB rowing.[2]
2002 saw the introduction of Tanner’s initiative to find new rowers. Called “Start” it recruited half of the 10 Olympic champion rowers in the 2012 games.[2]
Awards
- – 1992 appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts[1]
- – 2000 awarded the Dyson Award for coaching
- – 2003 appointed an OBE[1]
- – 2009 appointed a CBE[1]
- – 2012 granted Freedom of the City of London[1]
- – 2013 appointed a Knight Bachelor for services to rowing[1]
- – 2013 granted Freedom of the Company of Watermen[1]