Where are they now?: Dawn Fraser

Of 27 individual world records set by the swimmer, Dawn Fraser, none was acclaimed with such enthusiasm as the 59.9sec she clocked for 100 metres on 27 October 1962, as the first woman to break the one-minute barrier.

She won 100m freestyle golds at the Olympic Games of 1956, 1960 and 1964, among a record medal tally of eight, later equalled by the German, Kornelia Ender. She was named Australian of the Year in 1964 and became an MBE in 1967.

Now 57, Fraser maintains a high profile, both through sport and politics, having represented the Sydney suburb of Balmain, her birthplace, in the New South Wales Parliament. 'I got beat at the last election, but I'll probably stand again,' she said.

She has attended recent Olympics as an athletes' liaison officer and served on the committee that won the 2000 Games for Sydney. 'I try to remain in sport as much as I can because I do enjoy the involvement,' she said. 'Right now I'm doing a lot of work with disabled athletes.' She is vice-president of the Australian Paralympic Federation.

No stranger to controversy - she was banned from competing for four years after the 1964 Games in Tokyo for allegedly stealing a flag from the Emperor's Palace - Fraser is currently embroiled in a headline-making court case arising from the public flotation of a two-million-member state motorists' association, of which she is a director.

The youngest of eight children fathered by an emigrant Scottish footballer, Fraser has one child of her own, 28-year-old DawnLorraine, who is executive director of New South Wales Trampoline Sports.

(Photograph omitted)