Dawn Fraser

Born in Balmain in 1938, Dawn Fraser will forever be the Queen of Australian Swimming. The knockabout kid from Tiger country learned to swim under the guidance of her beloved brother Don, who was to die of leukemia in 1951. It was at Balmain Baths that coach Harry Gallagher spotted her one day in 1953.

Under Gallagher's guidance, Dawn became a champion and a revolutionary - a key figure in the boom day s of the 1950s.

Dawn Fraser was one of only three women to win 4 gold medals and 4 silver medals and the only athlete to win the same event at 3 consecutive Olympic Games. In the 1956 Melbourne Olympics the teenager from Balmain won two gold medals, the 100 metres freestyle, the 4x100 relay, plus silver in the 400 metres freestyle. In Rome (1960) she overcame indifferent health to win her second 100 metres freestyle title.

Two years after Rome, at the Cardiff Commonwealth Games in 1958, Dawn smashed her own 100 metre freestyle record to swim the 100m in less than a minute.

In the year of the Tokyo Olympics (1964), Dawn claimed a place forever in Olympic history when she won her third successive 100metres freestyle title.

The story of how she lifted herself from a sickly, asthmatic child to become three-time Olympic 100 metres freestyle champion is one of the most inspiring in Australian sport.

Dawn remains as probably the most loved of Australian champions. People identify with the battler from Balmain. She still loves the water and still lives in Balmain. Dawn Fraser is both an official Patron and Director for the Balmain Tigers.

Reference: 200 Years of Australian Sport by Ian Heads & Gary Lester