Bundesarchiv Bild 183-E0324-0012-001, Diana Towler, Bernard Ford

Diane Towler

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

married Green, (born 16 December 1946) is an English former ice dancer and currently a figure skating coach. She is a four-time (1966–1969)

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and European champion with skating partner

Bernard Ford Bernard Ford, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, (27 September 1947 – 5 April 2023) was an English Ice dancing, ice dancer. With partner Diane Towler, he was a four-time (1966–1969) World, European, and Brit ...

Personal life

Diane Towler-Green was born 16 December 1946 in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She is the mother of ice dancers Candice Towler-Green and Phillipa Towler-Green, and the aunt of Mark Bosley.

Career

Towler was partnered with

by the duo's coach, Gladys Hogg. The two debuted at the World Championships in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, finishing 13th. In 1965, they finished just off the podium in 4th. Towler/Ford won gold at the 1966 European Championships and went on to win their first World title. They would win the World and European titles for four consecutive seasons. At the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

, Towler/Ford skated in a demonstration event for ice dancing, winning the gold medal. Ice dancing became an official part of the Winter Olympics in 1976. Towler/Ford are

recipients and were inducted into the World Figure skating Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs in 1993. Their best-known program was skated to

Zorba the Greek ''Zorba the Greek'' ( el, Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά, , Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas) is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. It is the tale of a young Greek int ...

. After retiring from amateur competition, they performed in ice shows until Ford moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Towler became a figure skating coach. Her ice dancing students include: * Janet Sawbridge / Peter Dalby (1972 Europeans bronze medalists) * Candice Towler-Green / James Phillipson * Phillipa Towler-Green / Phillip Poole, both British Junior champions and world competitors * Debbie Burne / Mark Bosley, British junior champions and 5th at Junior Worlds *

Elizabeth Coates Elizabeth Coates, sometimes known as Liz Coates, is a British ice dancing coach and former competitor. With Alan Abretti, she is the 1986 Fujifilm Trophy silver medalist and a two-time British national silver medalist. Life and career Coates gr ...

/ Alan Abretti who competed at the World and European Championships * Ashlie Slatter / Atl Ongay-Pérez, youngest British National Junior silver medalists, Junior Grand Prix 2022 competitors, and Junior Worlds 2023 entrants

Results

(with Ford)

References

External links

Skatabase: 1960-1969 Worlds: Ice Dancing Results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Towler, Diane 1946 births Living people English female ice dancers British figure skating coaches World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Female sports coaches