Thomas Engel
Thomas Carl Engel was a New Zealand rower who won a silver medal at the 1950 British Empire Games.Biography
Born in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn on 19 November 1927, Engel was the son of Ernest Carl Engel and Anneta Eileen Engel. He was educated at Mount Albert Grammar School, where he enjoyed success as a boxer, defeating Kerry Ashby in the final of the weight division of the school's boxing championships in 1944. He won the same division as well as the open championship the following year.
Engel was the stroke of the West End Rowing Club eight that won the men's eight title at the New Zealand championships in 1949; the other crew members were Kerry Ashby, Bill Tinnock, Murray Ashby, Don Rowlands, Grahame Jarratt, Bruce Culpan, Edwin Smith, and Donald Adam. The same crew subsequently represented Auckland in the 1949 interprovincial rowing championships, and were again victorious. The latter race was seen as an important trial for the 1950 British Empire Games, and the entire West End crew was selected to represent New Zealand. At the 1950 Games, raced on Lake Karapiro, the New Zealanders finished second in a time of 6:27.5, half a second behind the winning Australian crew.
Engel died on 6 December 1979, and his body was cremated at Waikumete.
