Robert Bilsand McGregor,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(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 Patriarch ...

and

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

. 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, etc ...

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 one, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Several new awards have been i ...

Award. In 2002 he was inducted into the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

. 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 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

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. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

, 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 ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He lives in

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal 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 governm ...

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

water polo Water polo is a 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 ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

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 of Great Britain Scottish Olympic medallists 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 swimmers Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade silver medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade {{UK-swimming-Olympic-medalist-stub

Swimming career

Personal life

See also

References

External links