This First Day Of December 60 Years Ago Marked The Start Of Dawn Fraser’s Reign

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the start of a 15-year unbeaten streak in race and on the clock at the helm of global women’s 100m freestyle for an Australian legend, an official Living Legend indeed: Dawn Fraser.

This day, December 1, back in 1956, saw Lorraine Crapp shatter her own world 100m freestyle record in Melbourne. The mark was axed from 1:03.2, set just five weeks earlier, to 1:02.4. At that point, Crapp held the world records for the 100, 200, 400 and 800m freestyle simultaneously.

Come the final on the same day, Fraser, who had set the world standard at 1:03.3 in August that year only for her national teammate to shave it by 0.1, clocked 1:02.0. That marked her third world mark over two laps, the first, a 1:04.5, set in February of the same year and ending Dutchwoman Willy den Ouden‘s 23-year reign as world-record holder. Beyond records for Cookie Gasterlaars, also Dutch, and Lorraine Crapp, it would be a while before others got a look in.

No-one would ever beat her again in a 100m race, while the record would remain in her possession – via a further eight improvements – until Shane Gould shared the 58.9sec mark Fraser left it at on February 29 in Olympic year 1964 on the way to an historic founder membership of the triple Olympic crown club.

Since then, two swimmers have joined her: Krisztina Egerszegi, of Hungary (200m backstroke, 1988, 1992, 1996) and Michael Phelps, of the USA (100m butterfly, 2004, 2008, 2012; 200m butterfly, 2004, 2008, 2016; and the first quadruple – 200m medley, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016). This century, Phelps has also joined Gould in the elite club of those who claimed five solo medals in the pool at one Olympic Games, his five wins at Beijing 2008 the record of records, Gould’s three gold, a silver and a bronze in 1972 a record among women to this day.

The Fraser Legend

Born on September 4, 1937, Fraser became the first woman to race inside a minute for the 100m freestyle, and the first swimmer to win the same Olympic title (100m freestyle) at three consecutive Olympic Games, the Balmain Bullet might have made it four but for the high-handed bureaucracy of the Australian Amateur Swimming Union in response to the swimmer’s high jinks at the 1964 Olympic Games.

Fraser won her first 100m crown in front of a cheering home crowd in Melbourne, beating teammate Lorraine Crapp by 0.3sec in a world record of 1:02.0, Australia celebrating the sweep as bronze went to Faith Leech.

In Rome four years later, she became the first woman to retain the title – doing so in 1:01.2 some three metres ahead of American Chris Von Salza – then set an Olympic …

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