Bob Roper
From Openwaterpedia
Birthday cake memorializing Bob Roper's record-setting Golden Gate Bridge Swim
Robert Roper (born 26 November 1938 in San Francisco, died 27 September 2018), whose nickname was Napa Bob and the Godfather of Bay Swimming, was an American pool and open water swimmer, rower and event director from San Francisco, California. He was a retired San Francisco Police Department Officer who has been rowing in the San Francisco Bay for over 40 years who is renowned for helping open water swimmers in San Francisco Bay.
Open Water Swimming Highlights
- He is a co-founder of the Maui Channel Swim in Hawaii.
- He is the holder of the unofficial world record to cross the Golden Gate Bridge (17:21 in the Golden Gate Bridge Swim).
- He completed 24 Waikiki Roughwater Swims between 1974-2010 and was a member of the South End Rowing Club.
- He was on the winning 1972 Maui Channel Swim between Lanai and Maui in Hawaii with the San Francisco team of Bob Roper, Frank Blair, Lew Cook, Bumpy Jones, Sam Montgomery, and Denis Rice in 3 hours 37 minutes and the winning 1974 Maui Channel Swim with The Sanfranciscans of Alex Shestakov, Joel Wilson, Rich Glass, Bob Roper, Carl Yates, and Denis Rice in 3 hours 36 minutes.
- He is the namesake of the Bob Roper Golden Gate Bridge Swim, a 2-mile swim under the Golden Gate Bridge at the entrance of the San Francisco Bay in northern California.
- He is the namesake of the Bob Roper Memorial Swim, a 9.5-mile channel crossing between the Hawaiian islands of Lanai and Maui.
Motto
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
External links
- Remembering Bob
- Maui Channel Swim
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Open Water Swimming
- Online Registration for the Bob Roper Golden Gate Swim
- Bob Roper in Photos
- An Alcatraz Island Celebration Of 1000 Times
- Sarah Thomas Does It Over And Over Again
- 2013 World Open Water Swimming Woman Of The Year Nominees
- Kathie Hewko Plans On A 100th Crossing In 2016
- Maui Channel Swim
- The Vision And Early History Of The Maui Channel Swim
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- What Are Swimmers Known As?
- Dea Ann Joslin, Master Juggler Of Excellence
