John Biglow

John Biglow (born December 20, 1957) is a retired American rower. Regarded as the best US single sculler of the early 1980s, he competed and finished fourth in the men's single sculls event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Biography Biglow was born in Seattle after his father, Lucius Horatio, Jr., and mother, Nancy (née Wheatland), moved there from the east coast in 1954. Biglow's grandfather, Lucius Horatio Biglow, was a noted Yale football player.

Biglow continued rowing at Yale University. There he contributed to its successes in competing against Harvard University's rowing team, having proved that he was one the strongest oarsmen in the university's history on the ergometer, a stationary rowing machine.

After completing his medical training, Biglow became an anesthesiologist, practicing in Delaware and in Vermont. A biopsy of his muscles suggested that his ability lay in having 72% slow-twitch muscles, compared with readings in the mid-60-percent range of his peers. His performance was compromised by chronic back pain.

Yale crew Biglow rowed in Yale's men's varsity heavyweight boat from 1978 through 1980. In 1978 and 1979 Yale won the Eastern Sprints. The 1979 boat, with Biglow at stroke, raced at the Henley Royal Regatta, triumphing over Oxford.

Single sculls

He won bronze medals both at the 1981 and 1982 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne.

In 1982, Biglow held the course record in the Men's Championship Single for the Head of the Charles Regatta until it was bested by Norwegian, Kjetil Borch in 2013.

He raced against former six strong competitors in the May 1984 Olympic trials, winning the final race and a place on the team by 0.9 seconds.

International race results The World Rowing Federation summarizes Biglow's international race results, as follows: EventLocaleTeamRaceRankTime1981 World Rowing ChampionshipsOberschleissheim/Munich, GermanyUSAMen's Single Sculls (FA)307:51.551982 World Rowing ChampionshipsRotsee/Lucerne, SwitzerlandUSAMen's Single Sculls (FA)307:02.081983 World Rowing ChampionshipsWedau/Duisburg, GermanyUSAMen's Quadruple Sculls (FB)105:57.931984 Olympic GamesLake Casitas/Los Angeles, United StatesUSAMen's Single Sculls (F)407:12.00

Portrayals A 1984 Time survey of prospective Olympic athletes highlighted Biglow as a self-motivated, non-sponsored amateur athlete, devoted to his sport and the honor of competing against the world's best rowers.

David Halberstam wrote about Biglow in a Vanity Fair article, "Striver's Row", and a book, The Amateurs.

The magazine article, with two portraits by Annie Liebowitz, provides background on Biglow's Yale rowing career and the events leading to his 1984 Olympic performance. The book explored the nature of amateur sports, wherein athletes are motivated not by money, but the will to excel.

He was portrayed in the movie, Rowing Through, a film adaptation of Halberstam's book.

Peter Mallory captured substantial reminiscences in dialog form from Biglow and his contemporaries in The Sport of Rowing: Plus ça change.