Olympian and Chicago-native Conor Dwyer graced the mound at Wrigley Field for his fourth time Saturday, throwing the ceremonial first pitch before the Chicago Cubs’ game versus the Cincinnati Reds Saturday.
Dwyer was the third professional swimmer to throw a first pitch this week, with Katie Ledecky doing it at the Washington Nationals game Wednesday, and Michael Phelps tossing his at the Arizona Diamondbacks game Saturday. The Cubs won Saturday, 10-6.
18.44-meter Freestyle pic.twitter.com/BJzh1jJMX4
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 25, 2018
Dwyer and his family donned Saturday’s giveaway for the event: Cubs-branded sun protection shirts. The shirts were sponsored by the Pediatric Sun Protection Foundation, which encourages people to be “sun heroes.”
From the foundation:
A Sun Hero Should Always:
-Wear sun protective clothing
-Apply SPF 30+ sunscreen
-Seek shade from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Conor’s Sun Hero is his mother Jeanne.
The Dwyer family has an interesting connection with the Cubs: Jim Dowdle, Conor’s grandfather, was an executive vice president at Tribune Co., which used to own the team. Conor himself is also good friends with Cubs star Anthony Rizzo.
Besides the other times when he threw the first pitch, Dwyer led a 7th-inning rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” last year, and did the same with Cullen Jones in 2015.
Good on him for talking about sun damage and prevention! It is an important topic!
well he sure isnt promoting water safety with how much he’s been swimming lately… FOLKS!
He actually swam pretty well. There was just too much depth in the 200.