The Amazing Race has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The long-running CBS reality competition show takes teams of two in a race around the world for a $1 million prize. Season 1 of the show aired back in 2001, and friends Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain took home the grand prize. Today, their legacy is strong over two decades later.
‘The Amazing Race’ season 1 aired in 2001
Season 1 of The Amazing Race was filmed back in the spring of 2001. New Zealand TV personality Phil Keoghan took on duties of hosting the show, and since then, he’s become as central a figure to the show as the Detours, Roadblocks, and Pit Stops themselves.
The first episode of the show premiered on September 5, 2001 with the teams taking off from New York City. Less than a week later, the September 11 terrorist attacks brought the city and the world to a standstill, and threatened to take The Amazing Race off the air for good after just one episode. After constant news coverage, the show returned two weeks later.
“I was surprised that we stayed on the air [after] what happened on September 11,” Keoghan admitted in a 2021 oral history of the show’s first season for Reality Blurred. “I thought that was the end of it. I really did. Who the hell cares about a show where people are racing around the world after we’ve just been attacked and all these people died?”
In the end, friends and lawyers Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain crossed the finish line in New York City first, taking home the $1 million prize.
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Rob Frisbee & Brennan Swain won season 1 of ‘The Amazing Race’
Swain reflected on their victory two decades later with a touching Instagram post in April 2021.
“20 years ago today, April 8, 2001, on a chilly NYC morning Rob Frisbee and I crossed the finish line as the winners of the The Amazing Race in Flushing Meadows Park!” he wrote. “20 years later I can look back and realize what a life changing experience it was. Sure, being on TV was great. But, it was the actual race and travel that affected me on a greater level. I made lifelong friends with many of the other racers on my season (Kevin O’Connor), other seasons of TAR (Alexander Boylan) and other CBS reality shows such as Survivor (Burton Roberts) and Big Brother (Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd). I’ve been able to use my small dose of celebrity to raise money for many great charities and I’ve been able to continue to travel the world and visit over 40 countries. It’s difficult to put into words how lucky I was to be a part of that first cast.”
“20 years later I’m still best of friends with Rob and was honored with being the best man at his wedding and godfather of his son, Max,” he added. “What a ride it has been!!”
Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain today
Swain hails from Rochester, New York while Frisbee is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They became friends while working at the same law firm in Los Angeles.
Today, Swain works at a law firm in Los Angeles and is an avid investor in NFTs. Frisbee, meanwhile, is an attorney in the City of Angels and writes for TV and film. They remain good friends to this day.
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