Dawn Fraser

Biographical information

Roles	Competed in Olympic Games • Other
Sex	Female
Full name	Dawn Lorraine•Fraser (-Ware-)
Used name	Dawn•Fraser
Born	4 September 1937 in Balmain, New South Wales (AUS)
Measurements	172 cm / 67 kg
Affiliations	?, New South Wales, (AUS)
NOC	Australia

Medals	OG
Gold	4
Silver	4
Bronze	0
Total	8

Biography

Australia’s Dawn Fraser is considered the greatest female sprint swimmer ever. She won eight Olympic medals, with four gold and four silver medals at the Games of 1956, 1960 and 1964, including three successive golds in the 100 metres freestyle, then a record for any Olympic swimming event (since equalled by Hungary’s Krisztina Egerszegi and bettered by the United States’ Michael Phelps in the men’s 200 IM). She was denied the opportunity of adding to her medal total when she received a lengthy suspension following misbehavior at the 1964 Games. She set 27 individual and 12 relay world records. On 27 October 1962 in Melbourne, she recorded a time of 59.9 seconds for the 100 metre freestyle, which made her the first woman to swim the sprint distance in under one minute. She was wildly popular in Australia, where a daffodil, a rose, and an orchid were named after her, and the Elkington Park Baths in Sydney were later renamed the Dawn Fraser Pool. In 1988 Fraser was selected as Australia’s greatest female athlete. In that same year she was elected to the New South Wales Parliament where she represented the seat of Balmain until 1991.

Results

Games	Discipline (Sport) / Event	NOC / Team	Pos	Medal	As
1956 Summer Olympics	Swimming (Aquatics)	AUS			Dawn Fraser
	100 metres Freestyle, Women (Olympic)		1	Gold
	400 metres Freestyle, Women (Olympic)		2	Silver
	4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women (Olympic)	Australia	1	Gold
1960 Summer Olympics	Swimming (Aquatics)	AUS			Dawn Fraser
	100 metres Freestyle, Women (Olympic)		1	Gold
	400 metres Freestyle, Women (Olympic)		5
	4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women (Olympic)	Australia	2	Silver
	100 metres Butterfly, Women (Olympic)		DNS
	4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Women (Olympic)	Australia	2	Silver
1964 Summer Olympics	Swimming (Aquatics)	AUS			Dawn Fraser
	100 metres Freestyle, Women (Olympic)		1	Gold
	400 metres Freestyle, Women (Olympic)		4
	4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women (Olympic)	Australia	2	Silver
	4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Women (Olympic)	Australia	9

Other participations

Games	Role	NOC	As
1964 Summer Olympics	Flagbearer at the Closing Ceremony	AUS	Dawn Fraser

Special Notes

Torchbearer within the Olympic Stadium at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics (Torch bearer within stadium)
Listed in Olympians Who Set a World Record in Long Course Swimming (100 m freestyle – 21 February 1956 - 3 March 1956, 25 August 1956 - 20 October 1956, and 1 December 1956 - 8 January 1972: 1:04.5 (21 February 1956; Sydney, AUS), 1:03.3 (25 August 1956; Townsville, AUS), 1:02.0 (1 December 1956; Melbourne, AUS), 1:01.5 (18 February 1958; Melbourne, AUS), 1:01.4 (21 July 1958; Cardiff, GBR), 1:01.2 (10 August 1958; Schiedam, NED), 1:00.2 (23 February 1960; Sydney, AUS), 1:00.0 (23 October 1962; Melbourne, AUS), 59.9 (27 October 1962; Melbourne, AUS), 59.5 (24 November 1962; Perth, AUS), 58.9 (29 February 1964; Sydney, AUS); 200 m freestyle – 25 February 1956 - 25 August 1956 and 10 February 1958 - 19 August 1966: 2:20.7 (25 February 1956; Sydney, AUS), 2:17.7 (10 February 1958; Adelaide, AUS), 2:14.7 (22 February 1958; Melbourne, AUS), 2:11.6 (27 February 1960; Sydney, AUS); 4×100 m freestyle relay – 20 October 1956 - 3 September 1960: 4:22.3 (20 October 1956; Sydney, AUS), 4:19.7 (25 October 1956; Melbourne, AUS), 4:17.1 (6 December 1956; Melbourne, AUS), 4:16.2 (6 August 1960; Townsville, AUS))
Listed in Olympians Who Won a Medal at the British Empire/Commonwealth Games (6–1–0 1958 Cardiff SWI gold: 110 yards freestyle and 4×110 yards freestyle, silver: 440 yards freestyle; 1962 Perth SWI gold: 110 yards freestyle, 440 yards freestyle, 4×110 yards freestyle, and 4×110 yards medley)
Listed in Olympic Order Recipients (1980 (Bronze))