17 June 2008
The combination of Chinese medicine and world-class wheelchair tennis may seem an odd combination, but Victoria University (VU) student Ms Danni Di Toro has spent the past few years working hard at both.
In September she will represent Australia at the Beijing Paralympics, then in November, she receives her Bachelor of Chinese Medicine (Acupuncture and Herbs) after five years of study.
The 33-year-old came out of tennis retirement last year after calling it quits in 2005. She now has the chance to equal the tennis record of Margaret Court, who won 11 Australian tennis titles.
Danni is a three-time Australian Paralympian and 10-time Australian Wheelchair Open Champion. She claimed the world number one ranking in 1998 and 1999, in addition to winning more than 300 other professional titles.
She said: "I feel fitter, stronger, and more determined than I have for a long time."
The Thornbury resident's remarkable career started after she entered her first wheelchair tennis competition at age 14. It was less than a year after a brick wall collapsed on her at a suburban swimming pool leaving her a paraplegic.
Nearly 20 years later, she retired as number two in the world following the Athens Paralympics, acknowledging that what was once a passion had become a job.
Danni said: "I realised that this sport had become all-consuming and I had no balance in my life."
Instead, she focused on obtaining a degree at VU studying Chinese Medicine at St Albans Campus in a field that had always fascinated her as an athlete.
She said: "We go through lots of drug-testing for restricted medicines, and need to be extra-aware of what we take. Chinese medicine is a natural alternative that sits better with me philosophically and has helped me with all my needs."
Last year - and more than half-way through her degree - Danni was offered the opportunity to coach junior wheelchair tennis. She picked up a racket for the first time in more than two years.
She said: "I couldn't believe how great it felt and I realised that physically and emotionally I had been getting sluggish and I needed to get back to it."
Danni has organised an extraordinary itinerary that will take her all over the world during the next few months to meet the demands of her studies and sport. She will train in Europe in July, head back to Australia to study in August, then proceed to Beijing for her chance at a Paralympic comeback in September. Although now ranked 22 in the world, Danni is focused and ready to go.
She said: "Anything is possible. Even if I don't get a place on the podium, I now have a balance of mental, emotional and physical that suits me much better."
Once she qualifies as a practitioner, Danni hopes to combine coaching athletes with treating them by natural traditions and medicine. The chance to visit the birthplace of those traditions in Beijing was another "definite motivating factor" that coaxed her out of retirement.
She said: "I have theoretical knowledge from my studies, but now I have a chance to get some cultural understanding of it all too."
Danni Di Toro is available for interview
A photo of Danni is available on request
Media Contacts:
Ms Christine White, Media Manager,
Marketing & Communications Department, Victoria University
Ph: (03) 9919 4322; mobile: 0434 602 884
Andy Gash, Snr. Media Officer,
Marketing & Communications Department, Victoria University
Ph: (03) 9919 4950; mobile: 0411 255 900
