Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Robert Bilsand McGregor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | "Bob", "Bobby", "The Falkirk Flyer" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Falkirk | 3 April 1944||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 80 kg (176 lb; 12 st 8 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Chinook Aquatic Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Robert Bilsand McGregor, MBE (born 3 April 1944), nicknamed the "Falkirk Flyer", is a Scottish former competitive swimmer.
He competed in eight events at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. He won a silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle in 1964, and finished fourth in the 100-metre freestyle and 4×100-metre freestyle relay in 1968.[1] He was a second favourite for the 1963 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. In 2002 he was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.[2] 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 and 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a silver medal on each occasion in the 110-yard freestyle.[3]
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).[4] He also won the 1963 200 metres freestyle.[5][6][7][8][9]
He retired from swimming in 1968 and now works as an architect in Glasgow. He lives in Helensburgh with his wife and family.[2] His father, David McGregor, was an Olympic water polo player.[1]