Stan Chambers

A police constable, and later sergeant, with the Hove Borough Police, Stan Chambers was a former British police cycling champion and four-times the NCU Sussex Centre champion at half-, one- and 5-miles between 1932-34. He also won the coveted BSA Vase in 1930 and 1931. Many men before him had tried, and failed, to win it three times and make it their own personal property. Chambers pursued that goal until he was over 40, and like the others, also failed.

Chambers was the East Sussex Police one mile champion every year from 1930-38 with the exception of 1936, when he did not compete. However, his most memorable year was in 1932 when, with his brother Ernest, he finished second in the NCU One-mile Tandem Championship to Jack Sibbit and Dennis Horn. A few months later the siblings again finished second but this time on the larger stage at the Los Angeles Olympics – it was Ernest’s second consecutive Olympic tandem silver medal. It would be another second place for the brothers at the 1933 national championships, when they were beaten by a mere 12 inches (30 cm) by Arthur Siers and Bob Meller.

Stan Chambers later became a cycling official at local police cycling events and his son Terence, who pre-deceased his father, was also a talented Sussex sprint cyclist as a youngster.