Sir David Whitlock Tanner

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 29 December 1947 in London) was the performance director for the British Rowing Team until February 2018. He has assisted the team to Olympic success from the 1984 Los Angeles games to the 2016 Rio games. This success has been paralleled by success in the World Rowing Championships.

Career

He was educated at

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

where he gained rowing colours for the

Abingdon School Boat Club Abingdon School Boat Club is the rowing club for Abingdon School. The club has a strong tradition of providing rowers for the Oxford University Boat Club, Cambridge University Boat Club and international teams. History The boat club has a lon ...

. 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 The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

in Moscow. Tanner was deputy headmaster at Greenford High School in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

from 1986 to 1987 before he took a post as headmaster at the former Longford School in

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party MPs ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

from 1987 to 1996. In 1992 he was appointed team leader to GB rowing for the Olympic games of that year. Following the 1996 Olympic games Tanner was appointed, with the support of

lottery funding A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

, a full-time position of Performance Director to GB rowing. 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. He announced on 15 December 2017 that he would be standing down from his post of Performance Director at the end of February 2018. He is a long-time governor of

Shiplake College ("The Example Teaches") , established = 1959 , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , head_label = Headmaster , head ...

and became Chair of the Board in December 2020.

Awards

* – 1992 appointed a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

* – 2000 awarded the Dyson Award for coaching * – 2003 appointed an OBE * – 2009 appointed a CBE * – 2012 granted

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

* – 2013 appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

for services to rowing * – 2013 granted Freedom of the Company of Watermen

References

1947 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Rowing coaches Rowers from Greater London People educated at Abingdon School {{UK-rowing-bio-stub

Career

Awards

See also

References