Bordeau, a 1998 Princeton University graduate, helped the Tigers to win the national collegiate championships in 1995, 1996 and 1998. He served as a team captain in his senior year.
After Princeton, Bordeau spent a year studying and rowing at Hertford College at Oxford University, where he received a postgraduate diploma in social administration.
Upon his return to the United States, Bordeau was hired to coach the freshman lightweight team at Princeton from 2001 to 2004 and spent the 2005 season coaching Navy's freshman heavyweight team.
With Bordeau's help, Dartmouth's lightweight team enjoyed a successful 2005-2006 season, defeating Harvard in the Biglin Bowl in April.
"Lightweight rowing is a very technical sport, the guys are the same size, all the engines are the same, so it comes down to who has the best technique," Bordeau said. "I think being a lightweight coach is good preparation for being a heavyweight coach."
In 2005, the athletic department hired interim coach Walter "Buzz" Congram, following the one-year leave of absence of Scott Armstrong, the former permanent men's heavyweight head coach.
Armstrong, however, announced in late April 2006 that he would not resume his position and a search began to find a replacement. About 40 applicants applied for the head coach position, and the search committee, headed by Brian Austin, the senior associate director of athletics for intercollegiate sports, narrowed the field down to four candidates. Interim coach Congram did not apply for the position.
Owen Cadwalader '07, John Cholnoky '08, Aindriu Colgan '08, Travis Green '08 and James Tansey '08 made up the student committee that interviewed the remaining four candidates. Green is also a member of The Dartmouth staff.
None of the four candidates had prior varsity heavyweight coaching experience. After much deliberation, the final decision to hire Bordeau was made last week.
"What most attracted me to Topher was something he said during our interview: He said he might not be the most qualified, but he is the best fit and that he would look to grow with the program," Tansey said.
"All the other coaches we met with had more extensive coaching careers and, in that sense, Dartmouth may have been just another notch on the belt for them," Tansey said. "But with Topher I got the sense that his coaching career will be defined by what he does here at Dartmouth and therefore has as much to gain or lose as the rowers do, if not more."
"In that way, he is more tied to the program than any other applicant could have been, and I think he recognizes that he will be a successful coach," Tansey added.
Bordeau's genuine commitment is coupled with a concrete vision for the future.
"The short-term immediate goal is to get better, to improve on last year's results." Bordeau said. "The more important goal, which is less tangible, is to redefine what members of the team think is possible. I want everyone on the team to do something that they didn't think was possible last year."
The hiring of Bordeau was great news for many members of the men's heavyweight rowing team, who look to rebuild the program following a mediocre 2006 campaign.
Cadwalader said that any new coach coming in has big shoes to fill from former coach Armstrong, who he said grew the program to what it was.
"Topher's intensity has glimmers of the powerful presence that Scott [Armstrong] had whenever he was at the boathouse," Cadwalader said. "I have high hopes that Topher will be able to take the program back to where it was under Scott."
