The Passing of Carl Robie

RE: The Passing of Carl Robie

jackback — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:49:00 GMT

I grew up in Peekskill, NY and lived across the street from Peekskill Military Academy. I came late to swimming starting my junior yr at Peekskill High School in 1965. By the time I was a senior I was starting to get good at the backstroke and over the holidays was invited to practice with the PMA team at their pool. I'll never forget standing there looking at Carl's name printed under the list of All Americans on a column in the pool and then a year and a half later he wins the gold medal at Mexico City. I went back and coached my old HS team in the mid 70's. PMA had sadly closed and the school district had purchased the site. We swam at the old PMA pool but the school district had plastered over the column with the names of the All Americans, but I did tell the the kids of the history of that place and of Carl Robie. His has always been a magical and inspiring name to me and i am saddened by his passing. My condolences to his friends and family. jack cothren PHS 67

RE: The Passing of Carl Robie

TRYM_Swimmer — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:28:16 GMT

Skip, Ande, and CJ, Thanks for the memories of Carl. I grew up swimming with Carl, as we were the same age and swam at most of the same AAU and High School Invitational meets from around 1957 to 1963. We kind of hung out at the meets. Not sure why, as I was a Breaststroker, but we had a number of guys from all over the East who were pretty close as we made our way up the age group and senior circuit. He was always a friendly guy but was all business in the pool. The hubbub at the meets usually stopped when he swam, as everyone wanted to watch his flowing, seemingly effortless fly. I have yet to see a better looking stroke. And he could swim it all day. I'll bet if there were a 1500 Fly world record, he would still own it Part of the reason he may have picked Michigan at that time is that two of our group were headed there the same year: Sprinter Bill Groft, my teammate at York PA YMCA, who I"m sure Rich Abrahams remembers, and Backstroke/IMer Russ Kingery, from Wilmington DE, who may have been at Peekskill with Carl. My favorite Olympic memory is sitting alone in my apartment, screaming my head off at the TV as he came from an outside lane to win the 200 Fly in '68. My neighbors must have thought I was nuts! I was thinking about him as I got to workout this morning. Our warmup is usually a few 500s interspersed with kicking/pulling/drills. But today it was a descending ladder and there staring me in the face was: Swim 200 Choice. It almost wore me out, but it had to be 200 Fly for Carl! RIP, good buddy!

RE: The Passing of Carl Robie

Patrick W. Brundage — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:48:53 GMT

Thanks for the story and the details. I was familiar with the name, but not with the rich legacy. Sad to see such a great swimming light snuffed out at such a young age.

RE: The Passing of Carl Robie

ande — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:29:31 GMT

Carl Robie III from C.J. Robie, his son (sorry for the delay in getting this out) I am not sure if you want to push this out the to fellow Longhorns on your newsletter but a bunch of them knew my father. The latest press release www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../28921.asp Most of you know my father or are aware of my close relationship and the influences he has had on my life. This probably will come as a surprise to many of you because my father did not want to tell anybody regarding his recent battle with cancer until it was won or over. In the Fall of 2010 he was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma that had metastasized and given 3-4 months to live. He was a world-beater in every since of the word. From almost drowning at 10 years of age to breaking his 1st world record at 15 years old, he successfully took that momentum and pretty much took the world by storm, winning a Gold Medal in 1968 when he was said to be over the hill and nobody thought he could do it... all the way through his almost undefeated legal career that took him even to the Supreme Court of America. So when diagnosed he declared war on melanoma and searched out the best doctors in the world to find a way to beat it. He did well and got into two different cutting edge clinical trials which were closed or nearly impossible to gain access to. He was able to win 7 extra months from the doctor's early prognosis but sadly and very unfortunately 11 months later he has left us to conquer other worlds. He broke the mold with his standard as a father, husband, friend, lawyer and those who really knew him, the most loving and funniest guy around. Please feel free to join us or please celebrate him in your thoughts forever. Ceremony & reception Monday 12/5 at 1pm in Sarasota, FL - 1pm St. Martha's Church (200 Orange Ave North) Flowers can be sent to my parents address: 2525 Sunnybrook Dr. Sarasota FL 34239 Or Donations can be to: - Sarasota YMCA Sharks 1 South School Ave Suite Sarasota FL 34239 Checks: Sarasota YMCA Benefit of Shark Swim Team - Tidewell Hospice of Sarasota 5955 Rand Road Sarasota, FL 34239 His proud son, C.J. Robie IV

RE: The Passing of Carl Robie

ande — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:50:38 GMT

Thanks for the story and the details. I was familiar with the name, but not with the rich legacy. Sad to see such a great swimming light snuffed out at such a young age. very true, btw his son C.J. swam for UT, All American 1996