Masters Swimming Ontario extends a sincere congratulations to Bob Weir for his recent induction into the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame.
Bob served on the MSO board for 6 years between 1989 and 1995. We served as President for the three years between 1990-1993 and Vice President for two terms in 1989-1990 and 1993-1994. At the same time, he became involved in Solo Swims Ontario (SSO), serving as the SSO president from 1992 to 2006.
We provide a very brief summary of the SSO Hall of Fame citation but would also recommend the YouTube Video tribute produced by Anthony Regan as well as Bob’s own comments on the occasion of his induction on November 15, 2019.
Bob Weir with wife Joyce Curry – Nov 15, 2019
Bob was a competitive age-group swimmer in Winnipeg in the 1950s. Marathon swimming peaked his interested in the early 1960s. In his first long-distance swim in 1962 at the age of 21 he crossed the 18 miles of Lake Winnipeg in 9 hours and 57 minutes. He continued to swim marathons in the following two summers.
Bob took a break from marathon swimming until 1989 when he became just the 27th person to successfully cross Lake Ontario in a time of 22 hours and 18 minutes. In 1993, Bob became the first person to swim the 21 miles of New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee in 12 hours flat. The hot conditions of his swim gave rise to a case study publication in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (Vol 27, No. 9, pp 1231-1237, 1995)
Bob Weir received the SSO’s Cliff Lumsdon Award in 1996.
*** Summarised from Solo Swims of Ontario Inc. Hall of Fame – Bob Weir http://soloswims.com/weir.htm