Dawn Fraser

Fraser was born in the Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales in 1937 into a poor working-class family, the youngest of eight children.[2] Her father, Kenneth Fraser, was from Embo, Scotland.[3] She was spotted at the early age of 14 by Sydney coach Harry Gallagher swimming at the local sea baths.

Fraser won eight Olympic medals, including four gold medals, and six Commonwealth Games gold medals. She also held 39 records. The 100 metres freestyle record was hers for 15 years from 1 December 1956 to 8 January 1972.

She is the first of only three swimmers in Olympic history (Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary and Michael Phelps of the United States being the two others) to have won individual gold medals for the same event at three successive Olympics (100 metres freestyle – 1956, 1960, 1964).

In October 1962, she became the first woman to swim 100 metres freestyle in less than one minute.[4] It was not until 1972, eight years after Fraser retired, that her 100m record of 58.9 secs was broken.[5]

Several weeks before the 1964 Olympics, Fraser was injured in a car crash that resulted in the death of her mother Rose. Her sister and a friend were also travelling in Fraser's car when it crashed, but they survived.[6] This was a fresh tragedy for Fraser and her family following her older brother's death from leukaemia in 1950, and her father died after a long battle against cancer in 1960.

During the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Fraser angered swimming team sponsors and the Australian Swimming Union (ASU) by marching in the opening ceremony against their wishes, and wearing an older swimming costume in competition, as she found it more comfortable than the one supplied by the sponsors. She was also accused of stealing an Olympic flag from a flagpole outside Emperor Hirohito's palace, the Kōkyo. She was arrested but released without charge. In the end she was given the flag as a souvenir.[7] She later denied having swum the moat to steal the flag, telling The Times in 1991: "There's no way I would have swum that moat. I was terrified of dirty water and that moat was filthy. There's no way I'd have dipped my toe in it."[8]

In 1997, Fraser told the ABC: "I mean I wish I could be as outspoken, I suppose, as Pauline Hanson and say, 'look, I'm sick and tired of the immigrants that are coming into my country.'" Fraser also stated her interest in joining Hanson's One Nation Party.[9]

In 2015, during an interview on the Today program, Fraser was asked about recent behaviour of Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon and Bernard Tomic’s comments about Tennis Australia, which resulted in Tomic being removed from the Davis Cup team. Fraser said "They should be setting a better example for the younger generation of this country ... If they don’t like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from". Kyrgios responded by describing her as a "blatant racist" and Fraser's comments were criticised by Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane.[10][11][12][13] Fraser "unreservedly" apologised for her comments.[10]

Fraser became a publican at the Riverview Hotel, Balmain, and took up swimming coaching. In 1988, she was elected as an independent to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Balmain. That electorate was abolished in 1991, and after she failed to win the new seat of Port Jackson, she retired from politics.[1][14] Fraser is a high-profile supporter and a board director of the Wests Tigers NRL club.[15]

She was named the Australian of the Year in 1964,[16] was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965,[17] (as Dawn Ware) was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1967,[18] and appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1998.[19] Also in 1998, she was voted Australia's greatest female athlete in history. She was named Australian Female Athlete of the Century by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame,[20] who had inducted her as their first female member in 1985.[21] In 1999 the International Olympic Committee named her the World's Greatest Living Female Water Sports Champion. on 14 July 2000, Fraser was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for "outstanding contribution as a swimming competitor".[22]

She was one of the bearers of the Olympic Torch at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She carried the Olympic Torch at the stadium, as one of the bearers for the final segment, before the lighting of the Olympic Flame.

The Australian Sport Awards includes an award named in honour of and presented by Fraser. The sea baths in Balmain where she swam were named the Dawn Fraser Swimming Pool in her honour in 1964,[23] and in 1992, the State Transit Authority named a RiverCat ferry after Fraser.

As part of the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours she was advanced to a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).[24]

In 1979, a movie called Dawn! was made about Fraser's life and career. It starred Bronwyn Mackay-Payne as Fraser.

Fraser was played by Melissa Thomas in the 2003 film Swimming Upstream. Fraser herself is credited in the film as Dawn Fraser's coach. On 1 September 2015, Dawn Fraser featured on Season 7, Episode 5 of the SBS genealogy television series Who Do You Think You Are?, which traced her heritage back to South America.

Fraser married Gary Ware on 30 January 1965 at St Stephens Church, Macquarie Street, Sydney.[25] The marriage was short-lived. She has one daughter from the marriage, who has a son. They all live in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. This move north from Sydney to a warmer, sub-tropical climate was due to the fact Fraser suffers from severe asthma.[26][27]

Dawn Fraser in 1958

Dawn Fraser and Ilsa Konrads at the Australian National Swimming Championships and Olympic Trials, North Sydney Olympic Pool, 27 February 1960

• 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games
  • 110 yards freestyle – gold medal
  • 440 yards freestyle – gold medal
  • 4 x 110 yards (4 x 100.58 metres) freestyle relay – gold medal
  • 4 x 110 yards (4 x 100.58 metres) medley relay – gold medal

• List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle
• World record progression 200 metres freestyle
• World record progression 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dawn Fraser.

• Dawn Fraser – Olympic athlete profile at Australian Olympic Committee
• Dawn Fraser's world records
• Dawn Fraser – article in The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia
• Dawn Fraser (AUS) – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame