Dorothy De Low

 

Doris at World Masters Games, Sydney, Oct 2009

One way or t’other so many of us have enjoyed interesting journeys and hopefully this segment of our website can attract those who will either volunteer profile interviews or tell us in their own words something of their journey to share with us…

With such forthcoming and co-operation this segment can eventually allow all of us a more enlightening understanding of those varied pathways that have led many to concentrate their more senior years in our chosen sport.

From a published historian and profiler in Busselton, Western Australia,

Neil Coy at coywrite@gmail.com

Phone (08) 9754 7567

A humorous sketch about ‘our very own Dot De Low’

 

As told by Case de Bondt in 2007

 

Dorothy De Low is the Grand Old Lady of table tennis in Australia. She is widely known all over the world, wherever she has played the game. A former World Veteran Table Tennis Champion Dot is great company and full of fun. She has been widowed for quite some time, but lives her table tennis life to the full. Hailing from Sydney and currently 98 years of age…she turned 90 at the Vancouver Worlds in 2000.

 

I first saw Dot at the Melbourne Worlds (1994), where she won the Over 80s Consolation Singles. Since then she has attended and played in every Worlds: (Lillehammer (’96), Manchester (’98), Vancouver (’00), Lucerne (’02), Yokohama (’04), Bremen (’06) and Rio de Janeiro (’08). I’m reliably informed that she won her World over 80s title in Baltimore in 1992. Dot goes to New Zealand every year at Easter to play at the nationals as well: she is a most experienced globetrotter.

 

A wonderful sense of humour has our Dot. Though a petite lady Dot insists on carrying her own luggage and strides out in front. Geoff Nesbitt tells me that she still drives herself in her own car in Sydney. “She will ‘burn you off’ at the lights!”

he said.

In Rio this year she was carried up the steep steps of one of the notorious “favellas”, by Paul Pinkewich, wheelchair and all. “Casey”, she exclaimed “all this here is a real eye-opener!”

 

One year Dot arrived at the Airport on her way to New Zealand and her passport had expired. Well, at her age you can’t blame her for that oversight. So when she was coming with us to Canada I corresponded with her son Peter, who also lives in Sydney, to make sure all her documents were in order. We really got to know her in Vancouver! My wife Joan and I struck up a warm friendship with Dot in Vancouver and took her under our wing, so to speak.

 

Although fiercely independent, we felt that Dot needed regular company and escort at her age. It seemed everyone at the time more or less took her for granted and let her plod along by herself. Not if my Joan could help it!

During the Championships, on our lay-day, we travelled up the mountain overlooking Vancouver and the Bay. There was this movie theatre up there near the snow and we all went in to see ‘The history of Vancouver and British Columbia’. When the movie finished the lights went on and we all filed out. Missing was our Dorothy…on going back in I saw her sitting there in the top row fast asleep. She had seen nothing of the documentary but had enjoyed a lovely nap.

 

 

She came along on the Inner Passage Alaska Cruise and shared a cabin with Betty Bird and Alice Waye. You wouldn’t believe it, these two wanted Dot to crawl into the top bunk! Joan quickly put a stop to this nonsense and told the other two not to be so selfish and give Dotty the bottom bunk. At one of our ports of call, I think it was in Siska, Dot wanted me to take her photograph in front of this huge Indian totem pole, some 30 feet high. ”Do you want all of the totem pole in the picture Dot?” I asked. “Of course!” she retorted. “In that case I will have to lie on my back right in front of you; otherwise I’ll be so far away we won’t recognise you.” “What are you waiting for?’ she said immediately, winking at me.

 

Every evening Dot had a formal dinner with us, together with Bruno and Georgette Zimmaro, Horst Frohlich and Joan Munn. Dot sang out the first evening: “Has anyone got a man for me?! A good man is hard to come by.” During one of the dinner conversations this topic of relationships came up, I remarked that I had my hands full with just the one partner:”Just imagine King Solomon with his 1000 concubines, how did he have time with only 365 days per year?” Quick as a wink Dotty replied: “Ah, but there are 24 hours in every day!”

 

Dot De Low would have to be one of the most photographed ladies in the world of table tennis. Everywhere we go she features in the local press and is getting more famous with age. In Manchester during the opening ceremony, the most lavish of all I have attended, the compere picked out our Dot and held her up as an example for all to emulate. Then he asked this lady sitting in a wheelchair next her in the front row, how old she was. “One hundred!” she said. With that he produced a table tennis bat from somewhere, walked to this centenarian and put the bat in her hand. “Do you play?” he asked and she said: “No, I don’t any longer.”

The compere then addressed the audience: “No matter, this lady will be the World’s over 100 champion!” It brought the house down.

 

Another time after Dotty had defeated her opponent in New Zealand and there was tumultuous applause, she gleefully put both her arms in her side and flapped them up and down like a bird. The applause went on and on…

 

Dot tells the story of not long ago, when early one morning she sneaked out of her front door in a busy Sydney suburban street to collect the paper and mail. The front door slammed shut behind her and Dot was left standing in her nightie in full view of all walking past. Not to be perturbed our very own Dot De Low cheerfully waved at everyone whilst walking half a block to reach the back door.

 

As Gordon Lee sang in his ode to Dot de Low in Perth this year:

“Ninety eight, ninety nine and some ways to go…”
Click here to download and listen to Gordon Lee sing Queen of the Tables.

 

 

 

And a couple of Dot anecdotes from Gordon Lee:

 

She is most famous: People want their photo with her, she has been on TV, in newspapers & mentioned on the radio. I tried to incorporate all this in my short song.

When in Rio, in the stadium waiting to play, I saw a TV crew come in with four people; cameras; batteries for power; sound system & all. The female with the microphone, upon spying my Aussie tracksuit, came rushing over … my first thought was maybe the president of Brazil had arrived … the crew then came right up to me and said “we look for Dorotee”. I looked around & saw her sitting in a chair having her photo taken with a young spectator while others waited their turn. “There she is” I said and off they all rushed to interview and film her.

 

With her usually bubbly humour Dorothy tells a beaut story about being dressed up to go to a function at the end of a Championship. As she walked down the long corridor in the hotel she sees this nice looking lady coming towards her. The lady was beautifully dressed, looking lovely. Dorothy smiles, the lady immediately smiles back. The lady coming towards her had a lovely face. When she walks up to within touching distance Dorothy realised she had been walking towards a mirror.

…Late last year our Dorothy’s amazing achievements were accepted by the Guinness Book of Records, as shown herein:

 

 

 

Dear Dot De Low,
We are pleased to confirm that you have set the new Guinness World Record for “Oldest table tennis player” and a certificate to commemorate has been sent to you by post today.

Details of your achievement have been entered into our records as follows:

The oldest table tennis player is Dorothy de Low (Australia, b. 5 October 1910) who was 97 yr 232 days when she represented Australia at the XIV World Veterans Table Tennis Championships, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 25 May 2008.

Although the certificate does not automatically guarantee an entry in our world-famous annual book, we do consider all new records for inclusion in all future Guinness World publications and products.

As an official record holder, you can request further certificates and find out all about using our logo and trademark to let everyone know about your achievement or for any other commercial purpose. To find out more, please go to www.guinnessworldrecords.com, log in and select claim 220910.

Welcome to the very select club of Guinness World Records holders. To join our fantastic community website, upload your videos and post your comments, please visit www.guinnessworldrecords.com/community and let everyone see your brand new record