Longtime New England Swimming official Bob Menck died on July 21 at the age of 59 due to a heart condition.
Menck, known as “King Bob” by members of the swimming community, worked meets across the country ranging from New England Seniors to the NCAA Division I Championships. Prior to his passing, he was named an official for the 2021 US Olympic Trials. He also served on the NES Board of Directors as the Chair of the Technical Committee and most recently was the NES Board Vice Chair of Program Operations.
He had been in the hospital for over a month prior to his passing, and had open heart surgery last week.
Menck grew up in Brattleboro, Vermont and was a graduate Brattleboro Union High School. After attending the US Naval Academy and Auburn University, he got his degree from the University of New Hampshire 1982. At the time of his death, Menck resided in Keene, NH. He leaves behind his girlfriend Lisa, along with a large family including his two children Sarah and Robert.
New England Swimming shared an Instagram post highlighting Menck’s legacy:
Swimmers, both past and current, around the community are sharing their memories of Menck as well.
MIT commit and NE Swimming senior athlete representative Aaron Zhu recalls, “When I first met Bob, he was yelling at me for doing something at a meet when I was 12, and would always call me ‘Einstein’ at future meets. But from then on, he took me under his wing and helped mentored me to who I am today. I always will remember the times when Bob has made me laugh non-stop forever, but nothing will stick out to me more than the kind and smart mentor he was to me. Bob was, and will always be, one of my favorites.”
Several officials, friends, and family have also shared posts dedicated to Menck. That includes one from 2004 Olympic gold medalist Rhi Jeffrey, among many others:
Bob was a great guy around the pool deck. We worked with him for many years officiating meets. He had a keen passion and interest in helping younger officials raise their game. He will be missed.
Bob will surely be missed. A truly good man and well respected by all as well as a great ambassador of the sport. Rest In Peace, Bob.
Thank you, for the lovely article about my life partner Bob Menck. He was truly a top notch individual and official. I would like to correct a couple of inadvertent errors. Bob actually resided in Milford, MA for the past 4 years and in Franklin MA prior to moving to Milford.
Bob had two goals left regarding officiating. The first was to officiate at Olympic Trials, the second was to make the FINA list. He was very excited about being selected for Olympic Trials and looking forward to checking it off his “Bucket list”. Thank you to USA Swimming for that! Unfortunately, he was not able to actually officiate there as the headline suggests. I am confident that he… Read more »
Great person and Official. Always loved to work with him a Y Nationals!
Really good man. He will be missed on the pool decks in New England
It was a privilege to know you, Bob. God rest your soul.