The Turner Twins

Biography

The twins grew up near Christow, Devon, England. As teenagers they took part in various outdoor challenges such as the Ten Tors and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

They attended Wolborough Hill School in Newton Abbot before attending King's Hall and later King's College, Taunton. They both graduated with degrees in Industrial Design and Technology from Loughborough University in 2011.

They hold two world records; for being part of the youngest four man crew to row the Atlantic and the first twins to row any of the world's oceans, after successfully rowing the Atlantic Ocean in 2011-12 as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Hugo broke his neck aged 17, resulting in treatment at the Royal Cornwall Hospital (Treliske) and Derriford (Plymouth), and later a neck reconstruction at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. Following this accident the twins have supported spinal research charities.

During their expeditions the twins support and actively take part in medical research studies at King's College London's, Department of Twin Research which focus on various areas such as Epigenetic, Metabolomic and Gut-Flora projects, and sports science studies at GlaxoSmithKline's, Human Performance Lab. They are also known as the 'Adventure Guinea Pigs'.

Atlantic row

In December 2011 Hugo and Ross started their row across the Atlantic Ocean with teammates Adam Wolley and Greg Symondson. Starting on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands on 4 December they rowed west to the Caribbean island of Barbados(2650 miles). They arrived at Port St Charles on the North-West coast of Barbados some 41 days, 23 hours, 34 minutes later on 16 January 2012 setting two world records - the youngest four man crew and the first twins to have rowed any of the world oceans.

Greenland ice cap

In 2014 the twins' attempted to trek across the polar ice cap of Greenland - under the guidance of record breaking explorer George Bullard, to highlight the kit and clothing used by the famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Starting from Kangerlussuaq on the west coast the route would take them 555 km across the ice cap to Tasiilaq on the east coast, via the abandoned DYE II radar station. The expedition set out to support research programs at King’s College London’s, Department of Twin research with detailed studies conducted on the twins before, during and after the expedition. They also compared old and new clothing - Ross wore replica clothing which Shackleton used 100 year ago on his famous ‘Endurance’ expedition, while Hugo used modern clothing. Hugo sustained a knee injury which after a few days of medical treatment was deemed to be too dangerous to continue. They were evacuated off the ice cap by helicopter after two weeks.

Mt Elbrus

In 2015 the twins' climbed Mt Elbrus- standing at 5,642m (18,510 ft) located in the Caucasus mountain range. The twins tested the traditional clothing and equipment used by mountaineers around 100 years ago and compared it against today’s modern mountaineering equivalent. King’s College London’s, Department of Twin Research and GlaxoSmithKline’s, Human Performance Lab conducted scientific research on them to better understand the effects of high altitude on the human body to advance medical knowledge.

The Red Pole

In August 2016 the twins' successfully reached one of the centre points of Australia (furthest from any coastline) otherwise known as the Continental Pole of Inaccessibility, using Paramotors, located in the Northern Territory near the small settlement of Papunya. The twins' started near Adelaide and travelled along the Oodnadatta track through the Simpson desert, Alice Springs and eventually to an area of Australia known as the Red Centre. On reaching the centre point (Red Pole) they became the first people to have reached this point using Paramotors.

Medical research

The twins work with King’s College London’s Department of Twin Research and GlaxoSmithKline’s Human Performance Lab, to help better understand our genetic and physical make-up. They are the only twins in the world that are developing pioneering expeditions which provide a unique platform for medical research to study how their bodies are affected in extreme environments to advance medical knowledge and understanding.

During their various expeditions the medical research conducted on the twins has focused on a number of key areas, including the Gut microbiome, Cortisol levels and daily fasting blood Glucose levels.