Hugh Edwards

Hugh Robert Arthur Edwards (17 November 1906 – 21 December 1972), also known as Jumbo Edwards, was an English rower who competed for Great Britain in the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was born to Welsh-speaking parents in Woodstock, Oxfordshire and died in Southampton. He went to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1925, and was the only Freshman selected to row in the 1926 Blue Boat. He collapsed during the race, and was later diagnosed as having a hypertrophied heart, and was told he was no longer needed to row for the university. Edwards left Oxford in 1927 after failing his exams, and became a school teacher. He also recommenced rowing, with London Rowing Club. While rowing with London Rowing Club, he was successful at Henley Royal Regatta in 1928, 1929, and 1930, winning the Grand Challenge Cup in 1930. At the British Empire Games in Canada in 1930, London Rowing Club crews representing England, and which contained Edwards, won two gold medals, in the eights and in the coxed fours. He was then invited to row in the 1930 Oxford Blue Boat.