Dawn Fraser
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Dawn Fraser, AO, MBE, (born September 4, 1937) is an Australian champion swimmer. Known for her politically incorrect behaviour or larrikin character as much as her athletic ability, Fraser won eight Olympic medals, including four golds, and six Commonwealth Games gold medals. In October 1962 she became the first woman to swim the 100 metres in less than a minute. After she retired it was eight years before her record was broken.
In 1965 Fraser retired from swimming, after the Australian Swimming Union placed her under a 10 year ban. Things had come to a head when, at the Tokyo Olympics, she marched in the opening ceremony against their wishes, wore an old swimsuit (which angered sponsors) because it was more comfortable, and, it was alleged, she climbed a flagpole in Emperor Hirohito’s palace, taking the Olympic flag (later proved false). The ban was lifted four years later.
Fraser then became a publican, swimming coach and in 1988 became a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the New South Wales seat of Balmain. She was named Australian of the Year in 1964, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1967 and on June 8, 1998, was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).
She is one of the contestants in the current season of the Seven Network's Dancing With The Stars.
After a short-lived marriage in the 1960s, it was often rumoured that she was a lesbian. In 2000, she published an autobiography in which she acknowledged one brief affair with a woman at a time of great emotional stress, but that she did not consider herself homosexual.
Swimming achievements
- 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games
- 110 yards (100.58 metres) freestyle - gold medal
- 4 x 110 yards (4 x 100.58 metres) freestyle relay - gold medal
- 1960 Rome Olympic Games
- 100 metres freestyle - gold medal
- 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
- 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games
- 100 metres freestyle - gold medal
- Australian Championships
- 110 yards freestyle: 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964
- 220 yards freestyle: 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964
- 440 yards freestyle: 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964
- 110 yards butterfly: 1960, 1962
- 220 yards medley: 1959
- 4 x 110 freestyle relay: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1964
- 4 x 110 yards medley relay: 1955, 1964
| Preceded by: Sir John Eccles |
Australian of the Year 1964 |
Succeeded by: Sir Robert Helpmann |
