Bruce Ewen Culpan (16 June 1930 – 24 August 2021) was a New Zealand

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who won silver medals representing his country at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...

and

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war G ...

Early life

Born in the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

suburb of

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne, Kent, Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury loca ...

on 16 June 1930, Culpan was the son of Hector Cleve Culpan and Olive Maud Culpan (née Cameron).

Rowing

At the

, Culpan won the silver medal as part of the men's eight alongside crew members Donald Adam,

Kerry Ashby Kerry Ayling Ashby (4 September 1928 – 3 March 2015) was a New Zealand rower. Early life and family Ashby was born in Devonport on Auckland's North Shore in 1928, the son of Catherine Adele (née Gozar) and Edward Ashby, and the older brot ...

, Murray Ashby, Thomas Engel, Grahame Jarratt, Don Rowlands, Edwin Smith and Bill Tinnock. At the next

British Empire and Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

in Vancouver, he was the stroke seat of the men's coxed four that won another silver medal.

Family and death

Culpan died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

on 24 August 2021, aged 91. His wife had died before him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culpan, Bruce 1930 births 2021 deaths New Zealand male rowers Rowers at the 1950 British Empire Games Rowers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists in rowing Rowers from Auckland People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen