THE SPORT OF ROWING intelligent men, logical in the way they thought, and they asked for changes that would have made life easier for all the rowers.”7493 Ironically, the first walkout from the team came not from the future mutineers but from Topolski himself, who tendered his resignation to Macdonald after the boat refused to go out for a second scheduled outing at Radley College on Saturday, November 29.7494 The team, so full of talent, suddenly found itself without a coach. Gill: “Macdonald rang Royle to ask him to be Chief Coach: he thought it might be better for all concerned if Topolski was asked to come back as finishing coach for the last two weeks before the race and was not involved in the day-to-day management over the next few months. “Royle declined,”7495 and upon his advice, Macdonald encouraged Topolski to reconsider, “deciding . . . to tolerate his quirks and lack of communicative skills as other Presidents had done before him.”7496 Who’s in Charge? Following a tradition as old as the Boat Race itself, the system had been set up so that a series of unpaid volunteer guest coaches coordinated by the volunteer head coach would provide what little guidance there was at Oxford during the fall of 1986. Gill: “In the early half of the year, the crews would be coached no more than two or three times in the week, and the other outings would be completed alone or as training in the gym. Topolski would coach most weekends, either alongside the coach for the week or on his own.7497 7493 Qtd. by Gill, p. 63 7494 Topolski, Chapter Five. Gill, Chapter 5. 7495 Gill, p. 65 7496 Ibid, p. 66 7497 Ibid, p. 34 In addition, Topolski’s aura of invincibility had been shattered by the Boat Race loss the previous year. His approach of training on top of more training was perceived to have failed. More importantly, Dan’s handling of Australian international, Graham Jones, had severely rankled the team. Having rowed in the winning Blue Boats of 1983, 1984 and 1985, Jones had resumed training in the fall of 1985 but soon dropped out to focus on his studies. Gill: “Several attempts had been made to get him to return to the crew, but his refusal was definite. He needed, he said, to spend the time working for his PhD, and therefore couldn’t really complete the training demands made upon a Boat Race oarsman. “As the season progressed, rumours were heard by the crews that Topolski was still trying to coax Jones into returning to row. The oarsmen asked Topolski if the rumours were true and were reassured that this wasn’t the case. His reappearance, therefore, in late February [1986], unfit but keen to save Oxford from defeat, demonstrated that in fact Topolski had lied. Jones’ late selection wasn’t introduced tactfully, nor was it fair play by the time he arrived, as the Blue Boat had already been announced.7499 “When Jones was brought back, [freshman Tony] Ward stepped down from his place in the 1986 Boat Race crew, partly, he says, from disgust at such a deception and partly because it was his first year at Oxford and therefore he would have the 7498 Ibid, p. 12 7499 Ibid, pp. 26-7 “The amount of time he spent coaching was quite small and scattered. He was thus unaware of the brewing discontent amongst his oarsmen. The unhappiness was more widespread than he was aware.”7498 2090
