ROBB STEALS TIME TO SWIM

Kildeer’s Chris Robb—a multiple state swimming medalist at Stevenson High School in the 1980s—resurfaces as an open water marathon swimmer.

Chris Robb was a four-limbed fish since he can remember. A native of Buffalo Grove, he gave swimming a try at the age of 6. That attempt went about as swimmingly as a certain British ocean liner’s maiden voyage to New York City in 1912.

“I could barely finish a lap,” he recalls.

But Robb continued to return to the pool throughout his childhood and ended up collecting three top-eight relay state medals as a member of Stevenson High School’s boys’ swimming and diving teams from 1985–1989.

The future scientist hit the books rather than the water at the University of Nebraska, majoring in chemical engineering. The father of two (25-year-old Christopher and 21-year-old Isabella, with his wife, Flor) served several pharmaceutical companies, most recently, at Amgen, a global biotechnology company, as executive director of business development in Deerfield before retiring on January 6, 2026.

It was at Horizon Therapeutics, in 2013, when he first heard about Open Water Chicago (OWC) from a colleague’s friend and decided to “get back into swimming.” Launched in 2007, OWC provides opportunities for outdoor swimming, fitness, and endurance sports in Chicago.

“The group trains in Lake Michigan every week, beginning at 5:30 a.m.,” Robb says. “It’s very informal. We swim a mile each time. My first time, it was cold, my ears got cold, and I got dizzy. No swim cap. The water temperature was 70 degrees. Seventy degrees now is warm to me.”

Some two years later, he started signing up for competitive swims, including the annual Big Shoulders 5K Swim in Lake Michigan. On September 21, 2025, it took Robb 55 minutes, 29 seconds to complete two miles at the Chicago River Swim on September 21, 2025, an event organized by Barrington’s Doug McConnell, co-founder of the nonprofit A Long Swim and an open-water marathon swimmer who completed the crossing of the English Channel in 2011, the Catalina Channel in 2012, and Manhattan Island, among other marathon swims.

A Long Swim designs and manages open-water swimming events that raise funds for collaborative ALS world-class research. It has raised around $2 million to date. Robb swims for the late Paul Launer of Barrington. A cheer dad like Robb, Launer died from ALS in 2015.

The last time humans raced in a Chicago River Swim was in 1927, when an Illinois Athletic Club member named Johnny Weissmuller finished in first place. If the name sounds familiar, you must go ape over ape men. Weissmuller portrayed Tarzan in 12 movies between 1932 and 1948.

“Epic,” Robb says of the experience. “The scenery, the architecture, the atmosphere of the event—all cool. I felt honored to be part of it. Doug McConnell is fiercely competitive but humble at the same time. People had asked me, ‘Wait, is it safe to swim in that river?’ It is now. It did not smell funny, taste funny, and I did not get an infection or illness.”

The historic event raised $150,000 for ALS research and youth swim safety education, all while celebrating decades of environmental progress.

Speaking of lengthy periods of time, Robb plans to stick with swimming for as long as his arms and legs can agitate water. In addition to maintaining his status as an OWC “Lake Monster” and maybe one day earning the OWC moniker “Ice Monster” for having completed a Lake Michigan swim in frigid conditions, he trains four to five times a week in the pool (3,000 yards per visit) at Lifetime Fitness in Lake Zurich.

His workouts there aren’t casual ones. There’s a fellow swim dart who trains there as well and whom Robb knows is clearly faster than he is. Robb would like nothing more than to steadily close the gap between the pair in the chlorinated water.

“For me, swimming is meditative,” he says, adding he appreciated the discipline the sport had instilled in him as a teen. “And it’s good for you, physically and mentally. I could always count on swimming to give me a lift after a tough day at work. Since joining OWC, every time I had to travel for work, I’d pack my suit and goggles.”

Robb and Flor first met as young employees at the Amoco in Buffalo Grove. He worked the cashier. So did she. They raised a son and daughter who both helped raise the roof as cheerleaders at home Lake Zurich High School games. Christopher, one of the first male cheer members at LZHS, continued his cheer career at Michigan State University. Isabella was Teen Miss Lake County and still competes in pageants while she is finishing her senior year at the University of Tennessee.

Robb is a film noir buff. His favorite all-time flick in the genre is The Postman Always Rings Twice. The TV channel Classic Turner Movies is always on when he’s fiddling around at home, and his guilty viewing pleasure is watching episodes of the reality show Selling Sunset. Now that he’s a young retiree, a half-decade shy of 60, he has more free hours each day to slake his thirst for those pastimes.

“People have asked me, ‘What do you plan to do in retirement?’” Robb says. “I’ve told them, ‘Go for more swims.’”

For more information, visit alongswim.org and openwaterchicago.com.

On Your Mark, Get Set…Swim!

Local swimmer Chris Robb, 55, offers advice—gear-wise and technique wise—for those itching to log miles in the water regularly.

Former Stevenson High School swimming standout Chris Robb (Class of 1989) returned to the sport of his youth in 2013, joining Open Water Chicago.

A two-time state fifth-place medal winner in relays (400-yard freestyle in 1987, 200-yard medley in 1988), the current Kildeer resident now stays in super shape by training at a local Lifetime Fitness several times a week and racing in a handful of distance events each year.

He wears a Speedo jammer—a knee-length, form-fitting suit designed to reduce drag and improve hydrodynamics—and Sporti HydroEdge Celerity Photochromic Goggles.

“For open-water swimmers, those goggles are the best because they’re more comfortable around the eyes,” says Robb.

While training, nothing beats donning Zygo underwater headphones, he adds. He dubbed his 11-hour, 5-minute playlist “Swim Ultimate.” It’s mostly rock songs from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, along with country tunes.

Sporti also makes power swim paddles that you attach to your thumbs.

“Those,” Robb explains, “force you to do strokes properly. Efficiency in the water is so important in swimming.”

But executing a smooth kick, he insists, should be the No. 1 aim of a swimmer at any level.