Dawn Fraser named a co-patron of Sport Australia’s Hall of Fame with John Howard
As she continues to recover from a fall which almost killed her, Dawn Fraser’s love of Australian sport is only growing after taking on a new role allowing her to stay at the forefront alongside a former Prime Minister.
Still recovering from a fall that nearly killed her, living legend Dawn Fraser has taken on a new role allowing her to stay at the forefront of excellence in Australian sport.
No-one has given more to the national cause than Fraser, who has spent decades mentoring and inspiring generations of Aussie athletes to chase their dreams, just as she did when dominating Olympic swimming in the 1950s and 1960s.
Approaching her 90s, she doesn’t get around as quickly as she used to after undergoing emergency surgery to repair a broken hip earlier this year, but that hasn’t stopped Our Dawn from staying involved in her lifelong passions.
She’s just accepted a new position as co-patron of Sport Australia’s Hall of Fame, alongside former Prime Minister John Howard, after telling SAHOF chair John Bertrand she thought it was time to step down as a director.
“I’ve been on the board for so many years and I’m getting older so I said to John ‘I think I’m going to retire. I’m 88 years of age and you need someone younger on the board because the Hall of Fame is galloping and I can’t keep up with it.”
It was a typically selfless gesture from Fraser but Bertrand was desperate to keep her involved because she’s such an icon to so many Australians. So he asked her to change lanes and become co-patron.
“I said I’d love that. I’ve been tied up with the Hall of Fame since 1965, and I’ve seen it improve so much under John’s guidance, but I also think we need younger people on the board so that was my decision,” Fraser said.
Fraser still follows Australian sport very closely, and keeps moving with the times, embracing sports that weren’t even on the Olympic program when she was queen of the pool.
“My main sport in football is rugby league. I’ve been following the Balmain Tigers for over 50 years so they’ve always been my team,” she said. “Richmond and Collingwood are my AFL teams.
“But I’m very interested in all sports to be honest. I watched the women’s beach volleyball when they played their first game in Sydney (2000 Olympics) and won a gold medal and I made good friends with those two players (Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst).
“We’re improving in all sports, especially skateboarding. That young kid (Arisa Trew) that won the gold medal (at last year’s Paris Olympics) at 14 years of age was unbelievable. She was fantastic.
“I also love my golf. I’m patron of women’s golf Australia and I go to the golf tournaments all the time but I’ve slowed down a little bit the last six months because of my accident.
“And I’m still very interested in swimming and have been mentoring quite a few swimmers but I’ve now retired from mentoring.”
A national treasure, one of the two major awards that will be announced at Monday’s Hall of Fame gala dinner in Melbourne bears Fraser’s name.
Established in 2021, The Dawn Award, recognises an individual, team or organisation who demonstrates courage and bravery changes sport for the better.
The other major award is The Don, named after cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman. It honours an Australian athlete or team whose achievements over the past year have
most inspired the nation.
To mark the 40th Anniversary celebrations, SAHOF is also launching a new award, Sport’s Unsung Heroes as part of its 40th Anniversary celebrations, recognising volunteers, coaches, officials and community champions who make sport possible.
Monday’s gala will also see cricket trailblazer Belinda Clark and basketball champion Andrew Gaze elevated to Legend status along with seven new inductees: Lleyton Hewitt, Jason Dunstall, Laura Geitz, Cameron Smith, Mark Schwarzer, Torah Bright and Dr Peter Harcourt.
Originally published as Dawn Fraser named a co-patron of Sport Australia’s Hall of Fame with John Howard
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