MBE in New Year Honours for Kirkcaldy born Olympic swimmer

She was part of the GB team that triumphed in the inaugural mixed medley relay final in Tokyo last summer, setting a new world record in the process.

The 23-year old, who was born at Forth Park Hospital in Kirkcaldy, opened the backstroke leg in the 4x100m mixed medley,

She moved south at the age of three, but still has family in the Lang Toun.

Dawson was the first Scottish female swimmer to take home Olympic gold since Glasgow’s Belle Moore helped Team GB’s women win the 4×100m freestyle relay at the 1912 Stockholm Games.

Scotland's last female Olympic swimming medal of any description came in 1952 when Helen Gordon took bronze in the 200m breaststroke.

Other Fifers honoured included:

Professor Anne Magurran CBE - for services to biodiversity (St Andrews)

Valerie Cockerell OBE - for services to Scottish agriculture (Dunfermline)

Professor Ailsa Hall OBE - for services to environmental protection and epidemiology (St Andrews)

Matthew Clark MBE - for services to politics (Ladybank)

Owen Miller MBE - for services to athletics (Dunfermline)

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