[1][2] Biglow was born in Seattle after his father, Lucius Horatio, Jr., and mother, Nancy (née Wheatland), moved there from the east coast in 1954.

[14] In 1982,[15] 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.

Feeling that his leg strength was less than a few years before and that his back was an issue, Biglow decided to repeat his usual strategy of rowing his own race—not responding unnecessarily to the progress of his competitors.

[19][20] The World Rowing Federation summarizes Biglow's international race results, as follows:[18] 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.

[7] 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.

Halberstam highlights the personal and team dynamics that led up to Biglow's rowing event in the 1984 Summer Olympics, which included overcoming back pain, finding a suitable race boat, convincing his rowing coach that he should race as a single, and his status compared with other rowers.

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