WOC 2005 JAPAN

Heat, Humidity and Hills

(the three H’s) – that’s what will confront our competitors at WOC 2005 in Japan.

The first-ever World Championships to be held in Japan, scheduled for August 7-14 in conjunction with the World Expo, will sorely test the physical strength and endurance of the world’s best orienteers. Heat, humidity and hills will require both physical and mental toughness to succeed. Summer in Aichi Prefecture sees maximum temperatures in the 27 – 35OC range with 60 – 94% relative humidity. Maintaining high levels of body fluids during competition will be extremely important.

THIS will be a championships to remember for the world’s elite - a warm welcome and fine Japanese hospitality combined with terrain which will provide a major physical and technical challenge. Training camps in Japan have been well attended, and much has already been said and written about the skills needed to achieve success in terrain with steep slopes, often complex contours, and areas with ‘bamboo bush’ and prickly vegetation.

National squads from many countries including Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and Australia have already spent time training in Japan. The Australians were there in March where they trained with the UK squad and took part in the All Japan Championships. Familiarisation with accommodation, local food and customs, as well as the Japanese terrain, are all important factors in preparing the squad for those vital days in August.

Troy de Haas returned to Japan for another month of training after his success at the Aust 3-Days. Troy then went back to Finland for competition and to fine tune his training program. He will be back in Japan in July for at least two weeks of acclimatising to the summer conditions there.

Mt Fuji – Japan’s sacred mountain Above: Japanese hills. Photo: Sara Thörn – Skogssport Below: Map of region around WOC2005 Event Centre

The rest of the Australian team will also arrive early for WOC in order to acclimatise to the ‘hot and sticky’ conditions. They will bring with them Warren Lowry, an athlete recovery specialist, who also assisted the team last year in Sweden. Lowry’s ability to help athletes quickly recover from a gruelling race is seen as a vital component to team success. The team will use ice-vests in active-cold recovery sessions after each race.

Troy de Haas spent 10 days training in Cairns during February to gain experience of high humidity conditions. Other squad members, particularly those based in Canberra, planned to train in special environment chambers. The chambers at the AIS can be set at high controlled temperature and humidity and contain equipment such as exercise bikes and rowing machines.

The program for 2005 WOC is: Sun. 7th August Middle-distance Qualification Tsukude Village Mon. 8th August Long-distance Qualification Tsukude Village Wed. 10th August Sprint Qualification and Finals Fujioka Town Thu. 11th August Middle-distance Finals Shimoyama Village Fri. 12th August Long-distance Finals Shimoyama Village Sun. 14th August Relays Tsukude Village

Event reports and results can be found on the IOF web site: www.orienteering.org

Sweating it out on an exercise bike

Selection trials for the team included the Aust 3-Days and special events staged in Victoria in the last week of May. Squad members based overseas such as Rob Walter, Allison Jones, Troy de Haas and David Brickhill-Jones relied on their performances in European events.

JWOC 2005 team announced

AUSTRALIA goes into the 2005 Junior World Orienteering Championships with high hopes for some impressive results in Switzerland in July. Leading the team will be Julian Dent and Hanny Allston - both impressed at the Australian 3-Days at Easter with 2nd places in very competitive elite fields, and will expect to improve on their previous JWOC results.

Jasmine Neve and Erin Post will both be returning for the third time and will also look forward to strong performances in Switzerland; Erin won the last day of Easter in a pressure situation, and Jasmine’s excellent run against elite opposition in the Oceania Championships relay in New Zealand suggests that she will be a more consistent competitor this year.

Conrad Elson and David Meyer competed in JWOC 2004 in Poland. Conrad was in excellent form in the second half of last year, finishing 2nd to Julian Dent at the Australian Championships; illness ruined his 2005 Easter, but he should be fit by July. David won M20A at Easter, and has raced creditably at both senior and junior levels over the last couple of years.

Three boys and three girls will be making their debuts in 2005. For all the first-timers, an “A final” place in the short race or a top-half result in the long race would be a very respectable result.

Simon Uppill and Vanessa Round won impressively at last year’s NSW championships, and followed up with wins at Easter. Louis Elson has run well in his age group for many years, and was an obvious selection after his 2nd place finish at Easter. The remaining team members will be Ryan Smyth, Zebedy Hallett, and Ainsley Cavanagh. W-20A winner at Easter, Sophie Barker, was unavailable for selection.

Australia has seldom made the most of its opportunities in the JWOC relays and is yet to make it beyond 9th in either class. The fact that many team members will be eligible to compete at JWOCs for the next couple of years suggests that the results achieved by this team will be improved on leading up to JWOC 2007 in Australia.

Men, back row from left: Louis Elson (TAS), David Meyer (NSW), Conrad Elson (TAS), Simon Uppill (SA), Julian Dent (NSW), Ryan Smyth (TAS). Women, front row from left: Erin Post (WA), Jasmine Neve (VIC), Hanny Allston (TAS), Ainsley Cavanagh (QLD), Vanessa Round (SA), Zebedy Hallett (SA). Photo: Jan Elson Greg Hawthorne

2005 World Games

FOR the second time Orienteering will be one of the sports in the World Games when they are held around Duisburg, Germany starting on 14th July. The Games are an important showcase for Orienteering, with the best in the world competing for the title of World Games Champion. The individual races for men and women will be held at Bottrop on 16th July and the relay on the following day.

Australia’s Grant Bluett is the reigning World Games Orienteering Champion having won in Akita, Japan four years ago.