Charles John Scott Sergel (12 May 1911 – 21 May 1980) was a surgeon, missionary doctor and a rower who competed at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

. Sergel was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, the son of missionaries. He attended

Monkton Combe School (Thy Word is Truth) , established = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , founder = The Revd Francis Pocock , head_label = Head Master , head ...

and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. In 1931 and 1932 he was a member of the winning

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

boats in the 1932 and 1933

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

s. The 1932 crew won the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

rowing as Leander Club, and was subsequently chosen to represent Great Britain at the 1932 Summer Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where they came fourth. He again represented the winning Cambridge crew in the Boat Race in 1933 when he was president. In 1937 Sergel qualified as a doctor at St Mary's Hospital and after working for a year in hospitals he went to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

in 1938 as a missionary. In the following year, after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the medical corps in East Africa and served throughout the war becoming a major.British Medical Journal 30 August 1980
/ref> After the war Sergel returned as a surgeon to Mengo Hospital in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

and as a Christian missionary doctor in the villages. He left Africa in 1952 and returned to England, where he became a FRCS and went into general practice at

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the river Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001 ...

, Cambridgeshire. He coached the crews at Clare College and took up sailing. Sergel retired in 1976 to Milford-on-Sea where he kept his boat. When he decided to give up his boat, he took a farewell journey and in the course of it died of a heart attack. Sergel married Elizabeth Joan Stileman in 1947 and had two daughters.Stileman
/ref>

Publications

*C J S SERGEL. ''Surgical emphysema of intestine after gastro-enterostomy.'' East African medical journal. 1951 Oct;28(10): 413-4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sergel, Charles 1911 births 1980 deaths People educated at Monkton Combe School Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Cambridge University Boat Club rowers British male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1932 Summer Olympics 20th-century English medical doctors English Protestant missionaries British Army personnel of World War II Protestant missionaries in Uganda Christian medical missionaries Rowers from Rio de Janeiro (city) People from Great Shelford People from Milford on Sea

Publications

See also

References