Dawn Fraser AO MBE (b. 1937), swimmer and coach, broke 39 world records, won four gold and four silver Olympic medals, and was the first woman to break the minute barrier for the 100m freestyle between 1956 and 1964. In 1999, she was one of a handful of athletes honoured by the International Olympic Committee. Named World's Greatest Living Female Water Sports Champion, she took the podium with others including Mark Spitz, Muhammed Ali and Michael Jordan. The same year, the Sports Australia Hall of Fame named her the Australian Female Athlete of the Century. Australian of the Year in 1964, through the seventies and eighties she worked as a publican and politician in Balmain, Sydney. Her autobiography, Dawn: One Hell of a Life, was published in 2001.
Dawn Fraser, 1998 (printed 2001)
by Peter Brew-Bevan
gelatin silver photograph (sheet: 47.7 cm x 40.7 cm, image: 46.1 cm x 38.0 cm)
Collection: National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Purchased 2001
Accession number: 2001.173
Purchased 2001
Accession number: 2001.173
