Robert Charles "Bob" Pirie (born April 30, 1916) was a champion Canadian swimmer from Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

.

Background

Pirie was unanimously selected as the Lou Marsh Trophy

Lou Marsh Trophy

The Lou Marsh Trophy, also known as the Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy and Lou Marsh Award, is a trophy that is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete, professional or amateur. It is awarded by a panel of journalists, with the vote taking place in December. It was first awarded in 1936...

 winner for 1939, recognizing Canada's top athlete. That year, in Hawaii, he broke the 220 yards world record long held by Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...

 and finished third in the U.S. national championships in the 110 yards and 220 yards races, with Japanese swimmers taking the top two spots in both races. At the time, he held every Canadian freestyle swimming record from 100 metres to two miles.

Earlier, Pirie won silver and bronze in freestyle events at the 1934 British Empire Games

1934 British Empire Games

The 1934 British Empire Games were the second of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games. They were held at the White City Stadium in London, England from 4–11 August 1934, apart from the cycling at Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester, and the swimming, which took place at the Empire Pool in Wembley...

. His sister, Irene Pirie

Irene Pirie

Irene Pirie was a champion Canadian freestyle swimmer.She was a sister of Bob Pirie, the wife of Frederick Milton, and the mother of Hamilton Milton....

, also won individual silver and bronze freestyle medals at the same games. Four years later, at the 1938 British Empire Games

1938 British Empire Games

The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the Commonwealth Games being the modern-day equivalent. Held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from February 5–12, 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary...

, Pirie won gold in the 110-yard freestyle and the 440-yard freestyle events, and silver in the 1650-yard freestyle race. Pirie attended and participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics

1936 Summer Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...

. In the 400 metre freestyle event as well as in the 1500 metre freestyle competition he was eliminated in the semi-finals. He was also a member of the Canadian relay team which finished seventh in the 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay contest.

Pirie was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1975. The Bob Pirie Trophy is presented each year by Swim Ontario to the top male swimmer in Ontario as selected by the Ontario Swimming Coaches’ Association. The female swimmer of the year receives the Irene Pirie Trophy.