Robert Bilsand McGregor, MBE (born 3 April 1944), nicknamed the "Falkirk Flyer", is a Scottish former competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

Swimming career

He competed in eight events at the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

. He won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 100-metre freestyle in 1964, and finished fourth in the 100-metre freestyle and 4×100-metre freestyle relay in 1968. He was a second favourite for the 1963

BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just a single award of the same name. Several new awards have been introduced, and cu ...

Award. In 2002 he was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. Olympic selectors could not believe that he trained in a 25-metre pool in Falkirk when the selectors arrived to critique him prior to the Tokyo Olympics. McGregor competed at the

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. The event was followed by the 1966 Commonweal ...

, winning a silver medal on each occasion in the 110-yard freestyle. He is a six times winner of the British Championship in 100 metres freestyle (1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968 and 1968). In the 1963 event he set a world record in the heats (54.4 sec) and the final (54.1 sec). He also won the 1963 200 metres freestyle.

Personal life

He retired from swimming in 1968 and now works as an architect in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He lives in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

with his wife and family. His father, David McGregor, was an Olympic

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player.

References

External links

Video of Bobby McGregor competing in 1963
* * * * * * * 1944 births Living people European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Scottish Olympic competitors Sportspeople from Falkirk Swimmers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Scottish male freestyle swimmers British male freestyle swimmers Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games silver medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games {{UK-swimming-Olympic-medalist-stub

Swimming career

Personal life

See also

References

External links