Margo Bates, who became a swimming champion in her late eighties, had a humorous response when asked about her age.
“I am only interested in ‘old’ if it has a ‘g’ in front of it,” she said, and it was clear she meant every word.
By the time Margo had turned 100-years-old, she had won 194 gold medals for swimming and had broken many world records for her age group.
She passed away in Adelaide aged 103 on 28 July 2014 after a lifetime that drew gasps of admiration from those who knew her personally or who had heard about her amazing achievements.
It was not just her swimming prowess that won this great-grandmother the love and respect of so many— she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal and was among those selected to carry the Olympic torch in 2000.
There were many other reasons to admire her: her intellect, her adventurous nature, her acts of charity, her spirituality.
As a speaker at a reception following a service at the Baha’i Temple in Sydney to mark International Women’s Day in 2008, she affirmed her belief in gender equality.
“Baha’is come from all backgrounds, but we all believe in the equality of men and women,” she said.
Margo was the equal of anyone. She began her competitive swimming career years after she had a dream in 1969 in which she was swimming in dangerous waters. A figure appeared beside her and said, “Keep swimming”. The sea then became beautiful and benign.
She interpreted the dream spiritually and four years later while walking near a Baha’i holy place in the coastal city of Acre in Israel, she looked out to sea and saw the same spot where she had been swimming in her dream. It turned out to be the same place where ‘Abdu’l-Baha, the head of the Baha’i Faith from 1892-1921, had once swum many years before, and she believed it was He who had appeared in her dream.
Margo later read about Masters Swimming and decided to learn to swim. When she first started she could barely go 30 metres and could not even dive in to start. Margo was later to win medals at Masters swimming competitions in Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
Her interpretation of her dream helped motivate her to keep swimming, and to meet a wide group of people, making friends and sharing her faith with those who were interested.
In her early days, Margo had been a school teacher, a hairdresser, a radio host, and a navigator on an ocean-going yacht, which she sailed with her husband. She also earned certificates of seamanship and boat handling.
Margo was widowed when she was 60 but remarried 17 years later to a life-long friend, retired ship’s chief engineer Bob Bates. At 79 she had a major brain haemorrhage but she recovered. She had 24 years more yet to live.
After that, she took up a role as an entertainer. Margo was a pianist and a choreographer, and while living in Hervey Bay Queensland, she joined up with her friend and fellow Baha’i May Olsen, also in her 80s. They took to the stage as the “Recycled Teenage Duo”, performing dance routines and skits in retirement villages, seniors’ clubs and day care centres, bringing laughter and fun into the lives of many younger than her.
In 1995, when she was 84, Margo toured Ireland with May, performing 31 shows in 28 days.
A friend, Judy Hassall, said Margo was “a real entertainer”.
“She was a live-wire, had a wild sense of humour and would light up a room,” Mrs Hassall said.
“Margo affected so many people in a positive way and would travel long distances to visit isolated people,” she said.
Margo’s son Peter, who used to take her to the pool three times a week, predeceased her. She is survived by five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
Hints to the secret of her longevity lay in the fact that she ate fresh, usually home-grown foods, and by the age of 90 did not need medication and was free of most aches and pains. And, of course, she kept up her physical activity, including walking. She said her strategy was to keep swimming — she did not want “to conk out”.
For those who knew Margo Bates, though, it was her vibrant interest in life, people and her faith that combined to make it appear as if she would swim on forever.