Vale Doug Donoghue AM

Doug Donoghue AM has died at his home in Edgecliff, aged 86.

Doug had a life-long association with rowing, starting as a coxswain, rower and coach at Sydney High, and a coach at Sydney Rowing Club, and held numerous Board and committee roles at the club, including, for many years, Vice-President of the club and Chairman of the Finance Committee where his business experience as a senior executive at Ampol was of great value. He was awarded the club’s Honour Blazer in 1982.

Doug was the founding Chairman of the Sydney Rowing Club Foundation, a role he vacated only a few months ago.

In the broader rowing community Doug was best known for his role with the Australian Olympic Committee where he was for 20 years a member of the Executive Board and played a key role in managing the finances of the AOC. Doug worked overseas for the Australian Olympic Committee, stationed in Paris, on the 1996 Melbourne Olympic bid, and later in Europe for the 2000 Sydney Olympic bid. He was awarded Life Membership of the Australian Olympic Committee in 2013.

Doug was also closely involved with Rowing NSW where he was a Vice-President and a trustee of the Laurie Stepto Foundation. He was for some years a member of the Board of Rowing Australia and was appointed a Life Member of Rowing Australia in 2020.

In the 1960s Doug’s job took him to Brisbane, where he coached at Commercial Rowing Club and coached the Queensland lightweight four for the Penrith Cup. Later, he worked in Melbourne while Victorian manager of Ampol and became a keen member and supporter of Mercantile Rowing Club.

Doug became very well known as a television and radio commentator for rowing. He was a regular commentator at club regattas in Sydney, and was for a long time a commentator at the GPS Head of the River Regatta. He worked on the commentaries for three Olympic regattas, and at the National Regatta for many years.

Doug will be remembered as a passionate supporter of rowing, a man of intelligence, ability, and integrity, who gave back much to the sport.

Keith Jameson

3^rd August 2022

NSW Olympic Council Life Membership Citation 

Doug Donoghue with John McLean and Kathryn Ross in 2008