HUNTER, Dawn

BORN DOREEN DAWN HUNTER ABOUT 1935 in Melbourne Australia, the only daughter of L Hunter of the Melbourne suburb of Carnegie and later Narre Warren North. She began skating at 11 in 1946, coached at Melbourne's St Moritz ice rink by Jack Gordon, Victorian champion for 15 years. [1] She attained gold medal standard as a teenager, and finished runner-up to Gwen Molony in the 1951 state titles judged at St Moritz by Joyce Macbeth, three-time world professional champion. She won the next three state titles — 1952 to 1954 — during an era of such contemporaries as Coral Stuber, Barbara Britton, and future Olympians Nancy Hallam (Burley) and Gwen Molony (Henke), who held the state title.

Hunter arrived on the ice around the same time as Molony and Hallam, each of whom helped create two of Victoria's most celebrated skating families. In 1952, Hunter lost the national title to Loretta Bain, the girl from Glebe in Sydney. In late-1953, at the age of 18, she left for Switzerland with her parents for four months to "complete her education". While there, she competed in the worlds for the first time, "just for practice". By the time of the 1953 national titles, Australia's first ISU judge in 1948, Cyril MacGillicuddy, considered Hunter likely "to be the most successful of our skaters who have tripped overeseas". She announced her engagement to Geoffrey Pennefather late that year at the age of 19. [3] "I've got the feeling that next year will really be my year. If I can just hit form. I'm confident of doing really well overseas," she said.

From 1953, Hunter won the Australian ladies' championship three times straight. It was the year Nita Solomon first entered the state championships, another notable future coach. Hunter had a leading role in "Ice Fantasia" at St Moritz in St Kilda in 1953, and became a professional instructor in 1954 with Jack Gordon and others at St Moritz. She left for London in late 1954 to compete in the British Championships with Adrian Swan, a former Australian champion, and Pauline Gordon, a professional show skater. She was Bronze Medalist at the 1955 British Figure Skating Championships at Streatham, London. Hunter competed in the 1955 World Championships (12th/21) in Vienna; the first Australian in the event since Gweneth Molony and Nancy Hallam in 1952.

Very highly regarded by Jack Gordon and her peers, Hunter attracted the kind respect reserved only for the most accomplished skaters of her time. Her interest in fashion design extended to the ice, where she always skated in costumes she designed and made herself. Her long and successful coaching career included many local skaters, but also New Zealanders Lynne Withey and Rona Dickson for six months, among many others. Dickson was 1954 NZ National Dance champion and 1956 NZ National Ladies Champion. Withey was NZ Senior Ladies Champion in 1954 and 1955, and National Pairs champion in 1957 with John Dowling. [96]

"I'm so proud right now and absolutely so honoured to have been trained and loved by our Dawn," said Kerryn Badham in 2018. "Her teachings go far beyond the ice and are literally in my every day and always will be. Our skating family is one of my biggest treasures and Dawn has everything to do with this. Dawn held my hand the very first minute I glided onto the ice at Dandenong, probably in the first weeks of opening. She had big massive rubber balloons around witches hats that we together navigated thru. She kicked buckets on the farm the mornings after I bombed out in comps. She stood with us as kids full with tears, herself included, at our dear friend/fellow pupil mothers' funeral". [5]

"That's all that's wrong with Australian skating," said Hunter in 1953 before returning from the Worlds to coach. "There aren't enough good professionals to instruct those coming on. We can produce sportsmen of any kind — including skaters — as fine as any in the world, but they've got to be trained". [4]

"She drove a blue square bomb but was always the first car I looked for entering the car park," continued her student, Kerryn. "She screamed my name to stop talking even when I wasn't there. She hid my gloves in the middle of winter so my hands wouldn't droop. She beamed proudly all day at my Wedding and made all my bridesmaid dresses and was adamant not to be thanked in the speeches. She has the most beautiful photo album of all her skating kids that she treasures dearly. Her passion for crafts, her gardens and anything creative are truely one of a kind. I bet even today she had gumboots on digging somewhere and finished off a quilt or something. God I love this woman and are just so grateful for every single memory. Go our Dawn! So worthy of being the recipient of anything with the word Legend in it!" [5]