If mercurial tennis player Nick Kyrgios were to tell Dawn Fraser to go back to where she came from, the swimming legend would have to book the first plane back to Peru.
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Actually, the Australian Olympic champion did go back to where she came from while tracing her South American heritage in an upcoming episode of the SBS Program Who Do You Think You Are?, which screens on September 1. It is sometimes confused with another SBS program that migrants and refugees can relate to, Go Back to Where You Came From.
Kyrgios may have a swift verbal backhander for Fraser given she's not as Aussie as a lamington but as ethnic as a bowl of Lima beans. Fairfax Media has contacted Kyrgios via his UK-based agent, John Morris, so keep an eye on the energetic Kyrgios Twitter account.
In this historic high-seas SBS episode, Fraser's grandfather was a Peruvian sailor named Lorenzo Canning and her great-grandfather, Lorenzo Miranda snr, was a captain in the Peruvian military when the country was on the brink of war with Spain.
Fraser, 77, declined to comment about her ethnicity in light of the racist controversy she ignited when opining about hot-tempered tennis players Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic: "If they don't like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from. We don't need them here in this country if they act like that."
Fraser initially defended her comments, saying "I'm not a racist person", then "unreservedly apologised" after a whirlpool of media commentary and social-media outrage landed her in very hot water.
I have no comments on Dawn Frasers nasty racist attack...but she is out of line. #unaustralianbehaviour— nill kyrgios (@nillkyrgios)
July 7, 2015
i'd rather be a disrespectful, spoilt, brat, sore-loser then be a blatant racist #dawnfraser #australiasaysno— The Mad Potter (@themadpotterco)
July 7, 2015
I almost choked on my souvlaki when I heard that! #dawnfraser #Kyrgios #NickKyrgios #tennisaustralia #tennis— nicktots (@nicktots1)
July 7, 2015
Wow Dawn Fraser, wow. Something I have not heard since primary/high school (almost daily) #unacceptable— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut)
July 7, 2015
Holy, wow. Did Dawn Fraser really just tell @NickKyrgios and his parents to 'go back to where they came from'? I'm lost for words.— Wendy Yeung (@Wendy_8_Yeung)
July 7, 2015
In declining to discuss the turn of events than many Australians will find extremely ironic and somewhat amusing, Fraser wanted to focus on the SBS program. Being the youngest of eight children, she has always been curious about her looks given she and her mother, Rose, had dark skin.
In another fascinating twist, she filmed the episode in late February and early March, months before telling Kyrgios and Tomic to pack their bags and head to the airport.
The SBS TV cameras followed her on her first trip to Peru, an emotional experience for the woman who was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1988. "Apart from winning gold medals it's the most exciting thing I think I've done in my life," she says in the program. "I feel a part of Peru."
In tracing her genealogy, Fraser went to the seaside port of Callao, near Lima, and heard about a battle that her great-grandfather fought in. Tragically, he died two months later and left Fraser's great-grandmother penniless and the sole carer for her young family.
Fraser believes she inherited the passion and fortitude of her female ancestors. "I like to think that I can show the strength that my great-grandmother showed and also my grandmother showed. I think there is something in my DNA from these women."
While visiting the Real Felipe Fortress, which was built in 1747 to defend the Peruvian coast from pirates, she was welcomed by the Peruvian Army in traditional dress and watched a performance by "scissor dancers" in elaborate embroidered costumes.
The revelation about Fraser's Peruvian heritage has surprised and delighted the Peruvian Society of Melbourne. Its secretary, Hector Huayta, told Fairfax Media: "No one will believe it but our community will be very happy to confirm that she has Peruvian blood. We are really happy. We know who Fraser is and we are going to be very happy to be part of her heritage."
If Fraser is in Victoria from September 19-20 she could be the guest of honour at the Chilean and Latin American Festival at Sandown Racecourse in Springvale. One of the attractions of the "Celebrating our Diversity" carnival is the Peruvian Dance Group.