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, a record for any Olympic swimming
event (since equalled by Hungary’s Krisztina Egerszegi). 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.
Famous Olympic Swimming and Swimmer Moments
1896 - Alfred Hajos (Hungary) - First Swimming Gold
Public Domain
A
boat dropped everyone into the water in the icy waters of the
Mediterranean. The first swimmer to shore won. "My will to live
completely overcame my desire to win" - Alfred Hajos.
1956, 1960, 1964 - Dawn Fraser (Australia) - 100 Free Gold Medal x 3
Allsport UK/Allsport/Getty Images
Dawn Fraser of Australia becomes the first swimmer to win gold in the same event for three consecutive Olympics.
1964 - Don Schollander (USA) - First 4-Gold Medal Swimmer
Don Schollander was the first swimmer to win 4 Gold Medals in a single Olympics. He won the 100 and 200 freestyle and was part of the winning 400 and 800 freestyle relays at the 1964 Olympic Games.1968, 1972 - Roland Matthes (East Germany) Double Gold Medal Backstroke
Public Domain
Roland Matthes was undefeated in backstroke events from 1967 to 1974, including the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games.
1972 - Mark Spitz (USA) - 7 Gold Medals in One Olympic Games
Tony Duffy/Allsport/Getty Images
Mark
Spitz becomes the first person to win 7 gold medals in one Olympic
games. 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 4x100 Free Relay, 4x200
Free Relay, and 4x100 Medley Relay.
1976 - USA Men - How many Golds?
Tony Duffy/Allsport/Getty Images
Montreal,
and a dominance that has never been seen. The USA men won 10 out of 11
individual gold medals (the one they did not win, the 200 breaststroke,
was won by David Wilkie of Great Britain; David swam at the University
of Miami). The USA men also took 10 silver medals (Wilkie was silver in
the 100 Breast), 5 bronze medals, and gold in both relay events. That is
27 Medals (12-10-5). The next closest were Great Britain with three
medals (1-1-1) and the Soviet Union. also with three (0-1-2).
1976 - USA Women - 4 x 100 Free Relay Gold
Tony Duffy/Allsport/Getty Images
The
USA Women's team had high hopes for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but
seemed to come up short again and again, usually against swimmers from
East Germany. In the 4 x 100 Free Relay, they said enough is enough and
swam above their apparent abilities. In an awesome team performance, Kim
Peyton, Jill Sterkel, Shirley Babashoff, and Wendy Boglioli took the
gold.
1980 - Vladimir Salnikov (Russia) Breaks 15-minute 1500-meter Barrier
Tony Duffy/Allsport/Getty Images
1980,
short some countries as it was a boycotted Olympic Games, was held in
Russia. Swimmer Vladimir Salnikov (Russia) did not care, he swam to the
best performance in the 1500-meter freestyle, becoming the first swimmer
ever under 15 minutes (14:58.27).
1984 - First Tie in Olympic Swimming
Tony Duffy/Getty Images
US
Swimmers Nancy Hogshead and Carie Steinseifer registered the first tie
in Olympic history in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1984 Olympics. Both
swimmers touched the wall at 55.92.
1984 - Rowdy Gaines Comeback
Tony Duffy/Getty Images
Rowdy
Gaines held 11 World Records, but he missed an opportunity to shine
when the USA boycottted the 1980 Olympics. He made a comeback for the
1984 LA Games, and despite not being expected to be a major player, won
three gold medals.
1988 - Kristin Otto (East Germany) - 6 Gold Medals
Getty Images
East
Germany's Kristin Otto swam to 6 gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympic
Games. She was the only women to win that many golds, and to win in
three different strokes, butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle. It was
later learned that she had been part of a systematic East German doping
process.
1988, 1992, 1996 - Krisztina Egerszegi (Hungary) - 200 Back Gold Medal x 3
Mike Hewitt/Allsport/Getty Images
Backstroker
Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary becomes the second swimmer in Olympic
history to win gold medals in the same event at three successive Olympic
games in the 200 Backstroke.
2000 - Misty Hyman (USA) - 200 Fly Gold
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Butterfly
swimmer Misty Hyman (USA) was not expected to win the gold at the
Sydney games, but in a near-perfect swim she claimed gold over the local
favorite, to the disbelief of the quieted Aussie crowd.
2008 - Jason Lezak Anchors the Men's 4x100 Free Relay to Gold
Nick Laham/Getty Images
Jason
Lezak anchored the US Men's relay to a Gold medal, starting over 1/2
second behind the French team and their swimmer, the (then) world record
holder in the 100 free. With 50 meters to go, Lezak was over 3/4 of a
second behind. With 25 meters to go, Lezak seemed to have a burst of
energy while the French swimmer started to fade, and at the wall the US
swimmer out-touched Alain Bernard by .08 seconds. It was one of the
greatest anchor legs in history; Lezak split a 46.06.
2008 - Michael Phelps (USA) - Most Gold Medals
Nick Laham/Getty Images
By
the end of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps won more Olympic
Gold medals than any other Olympic athlete (16 total – 14 Gold, 0
Silver, 2 Bronze). And he has the most medals in a single Olympics, 8 in
2004 and 2008 - and in '08, all 8 were gold ones.
2008, 2000, 1992, 1988, 1984 - Dara Torres (USA) 5x Olympian
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Dara
Torres made 5 USA Olympic Teams, medaling in all of them. Dara is tied
for second on the list of US atheltes with the most Olympic medals with
12 (4G - 4S - 4B).
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