JWOC 2011 in Poland; WMOC 2011 in Hungary
RRP $8.50 inc GST
SILVA National Orienteering League Event Program 2010
Date Round 1
Race
Location
Capital Orienteering Festival
Canberra
Sat Mar 12
1
Middle Distance - AM
Sat Mar 12
2
Mixed Relay- PM
Sun Mar 13
3
Long Distance
Round 2
Australian 3-day Championships
Western Australia
Fri Apr 22
4
Easter - Prologue (Sprint)
Sat Apr 23
5
Easter Day 1 - Middle Distance
Sun Apr 24
6
Easter Day 2 - Long Distance
Mon Apr 25
7
Easter Day 3 - Relay Distance
Sat Apr 30
8
Australian Sprint Distance Championships
Sun May 1
9
Australian Middle Distance Championships
Round 3
WOC Trials
Tasmania
Sat May 21
10
WOC Sprint Trials
Sat May 21
11
WOC Middle Trials
Sun May 22
12
WOC Long Trials
Round 4
Oceania Championships Carnival
Victoria / ACT
Sat Oct 1
13
Oceania Middle Distance Championships
Sun Oct 2
14
Oceania Long Distance Championships
Fri Oct 7
15
Oceania Sprint Orienteering Championships
Sat Oct 8
16
Australian Long Distance Championships
Sun Oct 9
17
Oceania Relay Championships
All race details can be found at www.orienteering.asn.au www.silva.se
Silva is a FISKARS BRANDS company. australia@fiskarsbrands.com
SILVA congratulates Susanne Casanova for her W35 Silver medal placing at the 2011 World Masters Orienteering Championships in Hungary. Susanne will receive a JET Spectra compass from SILVA.
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3
Winning PartnershiP
The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia The Australian Sports Commission is the Australian Government agency that develops, manages and invests in sport at all levels in Australia. Orienteering Australia has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.
AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION 4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
Orienteering Australia is one of many national sporting organisations that has formed a winning partnership with the Australian Sports Commission to develop its sport in Australia.
www.ausport.gov.au
w w w. o r i e n t e e r i n g . a s n . a u Orienteering Australia PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911 orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 President: Bill Jones oa_president@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6258 6362 Director (High Performance): Eric Morris oa_highperformance@netspeed.com.au Director (Finance): Blair Trewin oa_finance@netspeed.com.au h: 03 9455 3516 Director (Development): vacant oa_development@netspeed.com.au Director (Technical): Robin Uppill oa_technical@netspeed.com.au h: 08 8278 3017 m: 0419 037 770 Director (Special Projects): Robert Spry rbspry@gmail.com IOF Councillor: Mike Dowling oa_international@netspeed.com.au Executive Officer: John Harding orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0427 107 033 Manager (High Performance): Robert Preston oa_headcoach@netspeed.com.au m: 0403 296 516 Badge Applications: John Oliver 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650
STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland Inc: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Admin Officer: Frances Powell, Ph (07) 3379 8238 admin@oq.asn.au OA NSW: PO Box 3295, North Strathfield NSW 2137. Secretary: Anthony Darr, Ph. (02) 8116 9848 orienteering@sydney.net Orienteering ACT: PO Box 402, Jamison Centre ACT 2614. Office: Ph. (02) 6162 3422 orienteering.act@webone.com.au Victorian OA: PO Box 1010 Templestowe 3106. Secretary: Don Fell, voa@netspace.net.au OA South Aust: State Association House, 105 King William St Kent Town SA 5067. Sec: Ken Thompson 08 8351 4757 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au OA Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6904. Secretary: Carol Brownlie Ph. (08) 9446 3457 carolnken@ozemail.com.au Orienteering Tasmania Inc.: PO Box 339, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005. Secretary: Sally Wayte, Ph. (03) 6234 8440 secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Emily Prichard emily.prichard@nt.gov.au 0407 180 299
NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE
October 15; Time-sensitive - Oct 22
ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 3/11 (no. 163) SEPTEMBER 2011
The national magazine of Orienteering Australia Inc. ABN 77 406 995 497 Published four times a year: First day of March, June, September, December. Print Post Approved PP 236080/00011 Editor: Michael Hubbert, P.O. Box 165, Warrandyte, Victoria 3113 mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au Phone (03) 9844 4878 Magazine Design & Assembly: Peter Cusworth, Ph. 0409 797 023 pcusworth@bigpond.com Magazine Treasurer: Blair Trewin Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1238 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully. Contribution deadline: October 15; Time-sensitive - October 22. Deadline dates for contributions are the latest we can accept copy. Publication is normally planned for the 1st of March, June, September & December. Copies are dispatched in bulk to State associations in the week prior to that date. Regular Contributors: Competition - Blair Trewin; High Performance - Eric Morris; MTBO - Blake Gordon; Official News - John Harding; Nutrition Gillian Woodward; Training - Steve Bird; Psychology - Lisa Lampe. Contributions are welcome, either directly or via State editorial contacts. Prior consultation is suggested before preparing major contributions. Guidelines for Contributors are available from the editor or from state contacts. State Editorial Contacts Qld. – Liz Bourne 07 4683 6374 (h) batmaps@halenet.com.au NSW – ACT – Philip Purcell philippurc@hotmail.com Vic. – SA – Erica Diment: diment@adam.com.au ; tel (ah) 8379 2914 WA – Tas. – Subscriptions: State Association members via State Associations. Contact relevant Association Secretary for details. Other subscribers: Write to The Australian Orienteer, PO‑Box 165, Warrandyte, Vic. 3113. Within Australia: $40 pa. Overseas: Asia/Pacific (inc. NZ) $A49, Rest of World $A58 pa. Delivery is airmail, there is no seamail option. Please send payment in Australian dollars by bank draft or international postal order, or pay direct by Visa or Mastercard. Quote full card number and expiry date. Subscription renewals (direct subscriptions only). The number in the top right-hand corner of the address label indicates the final issue in your current subscription. Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.
CONTENTS 2 0 1 1 J W O C.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 JUNIOR TRAINING................................. 10 WOC TEAM ......................................... 12 O C E A N I A C A R N I VA L P R E V I E W .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 URBAN O IN ADELAIDE & PORT LINCOLN..... 16 J U N I O R D E V E L O P M E N T .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 N U T R I T I O N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 S P O T T H E D I F F E R E N C E .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 5 A VIEW FROM THE 19TH HOLE.................. 26 WORLD MASTERS IN HUNGARY................. 30 AUSTRALIAN SPRINT CHAMPS.................. 32 F R A Z Z L E E A S T E R P R O L O G U E .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 M T B O N E W S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 MAPBOARDS FOR MTBO.......................... 38 TOP EVENTS......................................... 43 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 O - S P Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 RADI-O............................................... 46 N Z N E W S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7
Cover photo: Arabella Phillips (W10) from Tasmania at Easter 2011. Photo: Tony Hill
SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER2011 2011THE THEAUSTRALIAN AUSTRALIANORIENTEER ORIENTEER 5
JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The JWOC 2011 menu
Dining out in Poland Words and photos: Valerie Barker – Team Manager
Twelve of our best junior orienteers travelled to Poland for JWOC 2011 in July. The team consisted of Josh Blatchford (NSW), Lachlan Dow (ACT), Ian Lawford (ACT), Oscar McNulty (WA), Max Neve (VIC), Oliver Poland (ACT), Lillian Burrill (QLD), Claire Butler (TAS), Jacqui Doyle (QLD), Belinda Lawford (ACT), Krystal Neumann (QLD), Georgia Parsons (ACT), supported by coach Roch Prendergast and manager Valerie Barker.
F
ood! Ask anyone who has ever been on a school camp, a training camp, or who has participated as a member of some sort of group at national or international level about their experiences and the subject of food inevitably arises: the variety, quality, quantity and accessibility of food are prime factors in the perception of the success and enjoyment of any event, especially for an athlete. You’ve all read the blogs and seen the videos and results on the JWOC 2011 and OA websites; they will have given you food for thought, or at least whetted your appetite for more information, so a look at a very special menu will be timely. The JWOC 2011 menu looked appetising: interesting maps on the website, ready communication with the management and a well-sited venue at the town of Wejherovo just north of the city of Gdansk on the Baltic coast of Poland, were sufficient to ensure that the Australian Junior team, plus coach Roch, manager Valerie and assistant coach Aislinn were well-prepared for the 2011 ‘dining’ experience. Our taste-buds had been honed on similar spur-gully terrain in Ballarat at the pre-JWOC training camp; however, it is always difficult to fully replicate a foreign diet without adding local flavour and variety, so the weekend in Ballarat was as much about the team getting to know each other and anticipating the new offerings as it was about refining techniques and the all important final planning and preparation for the forthcoming trip to ‘Where-are-we-O?’ (Foreign menus always have difficult names to pronounce…)
The Entrée The team arrived at Gdansk over the weekend of the 25th – 26th June. This beautiful old city with its mediaeval centre dating from the times of the Hanseatic League was not a new restaurant – JWOC 2004 had also been based there, so we had been able to 6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
Max Neve among the starting pack at the Relay.
draw upon previous experiences of former team members, most especially a range of maps. As always the team converged in a complex manner. Oliver arrived first, then Roch, Valerie and Aislinn along with Belinda and Ian whom they’d collected at Helsinki airport. They took rather a long time catching the connecting bus from the airport into town, spending an hour at a local bus stop learning how to read a Polish timetable; Joshua was next (he followed the instructions from the information desk at the airport rather better), and Krystal caught up with us all later while we were out and about finding the local food market – she had already been checking out the menu along with some of the New Zealand team. Aislinn and Valerie did another trip out to the airport to meet Oscar on Saturday evening. Although he arrived on time, his luggage did not but at least we managed to catch the correct bus each way this time, although the hourly service made it a long journey. We were staying at a small hostel just off the waterfront in Old Gdansk. Claire, Lilian and Georgia came up from Krakow by train to join us for breakfast on Sunday morning – just in time for another trip out to the airport, this time to pick up our two vehicles and Jacqui (in from Frankfurt). We then had a ninety minute drive north to Wejherovo to our accommodation at the Hotel Victoria, collecting Lachlan and Max, who had arrived from Sweden by ferry and train earlier in the morning. As you can see, just organising the whole party to the venue was an interesting logistical exercise, determined as much by exam timetables at school and university as it was by cheap flights, work commitments and other travel plans. The JWOC training camp was in the form of a degustation menu – lots of maps to try, in any order that we wanted, to simulate the types of terrain of the various events. We had some trouble in determining exactly where they were, as the site map numbers did not match the map numbers, but negotiating our way around the local countryside was all part of the challenge. Certainly the forest
Belinda Lawford
Back row (L to R): Lachlan, Oscar, Oliver, Ian, Joshua, Max Front row (L to R): Krystal, Belinda, Claire, Georgia, Lilian, Jacqui
was delightful; it was pretty, open and with some surprisingly steep gullies as well as complex track networks, including one area crossed by an intriguing old cobblestone road, to yield interesting samples and taste treats. We had six days to enjoy these, usually in the mornings, which left afternoons free for shopping, relaxing and sightseeing. As breakfasts were of the East European variety (some bread rolls, lots of cold processed meats, cheeses, tomatoes and cucumber, with just a small amount of yoghurt and fresh fruit and very sugary puffed rice and cocoa pops cereals), and lunch was a hot meal at the hotel (usually rice, pasta and pork in some form), the team were hanging out to buy oats and muesli, lots of fruit – bananas at $A3 for 2.5 to 3kg – large 5L bottles of water, sports drinks and energy foods (for some that included chocolate too!). Dinner was always a soup followed by a hot meal in the form of potatoes, some variety of cabbage (hot, cold, salad) and pork or chicken, so again there was a need for top-up foods as we missed desserts and fruit! Fortunately it was all very cheap and easily accessible in the local supermarkets and huge shopping centres. There were not a lot of sightseeing options, although an afternoon trip to the beautiful old Malbork Castle, reputedly the largest Gothic castle in Europe with the oldest part dating from the 13th century, was a highlight for the girls (and Roch!)
excellent effect, and provided even more thrills for the spectators. Each of the management team had a different role: Roch was at the Start every day, while Aislinn and Valerie were at the coaching zone or Finish, encouraging the team, taking photos, sharing the excitement, tending to the nerves, watching the changing placings, supporting the disappointed and monitoring the injuries (one rolled ankle and a scratched eye were nothing compared with the food poisoning of both the Swedish and American teams during the previous week). Checking for ticks became part of the daily routine too, of course. The team worked hard, with the best results coming in the Middle Qualification and Final. It was a long and tough week, although the weather was cool, with only the Relay day being a very hot one. Experience was gained, friendships made, maps and routes pored over and analysed, disappointments managed and spirits lifted, massages and swims enjoyed for therapy, as well as the essential daily shopping for bananas and muesli bars. The excursion day was another girls only outing, this time to the beach and experiences with life-guards who became very anxious with a ‘group’ of six wading into the still water up to their waists. There was certainly a lot of whistle-blowing and earnest discussions with our guide as the life guards ensured that we understood their dilemmas, and were only enacting some very strict safety protocols.
And Dessert?
We came to the end of the range of entrées with the accreditation of the team on Friday 1st July. We now had the Finnish, Danish, and Belgian teams join us, the New Zealanders and Japanese at Hotel Victoria, and other teams scattered around town in a variety of hotels and hostels. The true feeling of anticipation and gathering at a large function really came on Saturday evening with the march-past down the main cobbled street of Wejherovo into the town square for the opening ceremony, complete with Polish traditional dancers and a cannon being fired.
After such a substantial and demanding series of main dishes, the team still found time for the frothy, light and yummy indulgences from the dessert trolley! The last night banquet is always eagerly anticipated and planned for, with energy in abundance no matter how exhausting or tiring the previous week had been. The colour of choice this year was definitely anything pink flavoured; our boys went for a royalist blue and red combination while the girls preferred a rainbow concoction. The banquet, preceded by the closing ceremony was held in a large sports hall, with the team officials bussed away to another rather more up-market venue for their final dinner.
The Main Course
Time for coffee
Now there was to be no more time for tasting and sampling – there was a full table d’hôte menu on offer, with the Sprint, Long, Middle and Relay events to be consumed. The Sprint was centred around the town square again, complete with Sunday afternoon pedestrians including little old ladies wandering over the finish chute, dogs and children pinching goods off the stalls of the Orienteering equipment suppliers. The Long and Middle events utilised an amphitheatre and a sports stadium on the edge of town to bring the competitors home to the accompaniment of big crowds of supporters, and the Relay included a start across a rough field, laps through the forest and a purpose-built bridge on the home straight. The large screen television was used to
JWOC 2011 was again a major metaphorical meal – quite a different diet from the one our athletes are more commonly used to, and for some, it took several days to get used to the fare. Our team deported themselves well, with enthusiasm and commitment: they tasted everything in front of them, went back for seconds, were not afraid of trying something different, found dishes that were very like those they had tasted before, and enjoyed the camaraderie of the week and the company of others at the table. Now it’s time for the management and team to sit with that cup of coffee, muse over the events and reflect on the past fortnight as well as look forward to the flavours of Slovakia 2012. SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7
JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
LONG FINAL – M20 1 Yngve Skogstad (NOR) 2 Robert Merl (AUT) 3 Lucas Basset (FRA) 22 Toby Scott (NZL) 30 Matt Ogden (NZL) 50 Lachlan Dow (AUS) 66 Max Neve (AUS) 81 Josh Blatchford (AUS) 83 Oliver Poland (AUS) 86 Oscar McNulty (AUS) 87 Ian Lawford (AUS) 90 Nick Hann (NZL)
68:49 70:23 70:36 77:03 78:47 81:22 85:23 88:24 89:17 90:51 91:09 93:13
LONG FINAL – W20 1 Ida Bobach (DEN) 55:23 2 Emma Klingenberg (DEN) 56:51 3 Tove Alexandersson (SWE) 57:37 22 Angela Simpson (NZL) 64:37 35 Kate Morrison (NZL) 67:00 82 Krystal Neumann (AUS) 78:24 88 Belinda Lawford (AUS) 79:50 91 Laura Robertson (NZL) 80:41 96 Georgia Parsons (AUS) 84:23 115 Claire Butler (AUS) 97:27 116 Jacqui Doyle (AUS) 97:54 Lilian Burrill (AUS) DNF Jacqui Doyle coming home in the Relay Josh Blatchford heading to the Relay finish.
8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
SPRINT – M20 1 Lucas Basset (FRA) 2 Andreu Blanes (ESP) 3 Robert Merl (AUT) 21 Matt Ogden (NZL) 29 Max Neve (AUS) 30 Toby Scott (NZL) 37 Lachlan Dow (AUS) 41 Ian Lawford (AUS) 43 Gene Beveridge (NZL) 68 Oscar McNulty (AUS) 79 Joshua Batchford (AUS) 88 Oliver Poland (AUS)
15:08 15:17 15:19 16:14 16:27 16:27 16:33 16:41 16:42 17:17 17:27 17:39
An airborne Oscar McNulty at the Relay.
SPRINT – W20 1 Ida Bobach (DEN) 14:29 2 Emma Klingenberg (DEN) 14:32 3 Tereza Novotna (CZE) 14:42 6 Angela Simpson (NZL) 15:16 43 Laura Robertson (NZL) 16:49 46 Belinda Lawford (AUS) 16:51 92 Jaime Goodwin (NZL) 18:38 96 Lilian Burrill (AUS) 18:49 99 Claire Butler (AUS) 19:00 104 Georgia Parsons (AUS) 19:10 112 Krystal Neumann (AUS) 19:55 126 Jacqui Doyle (AUS) 22:16
Oliver Poland and Georgia Parsons at a common control in the Sprint
MIDDLE DISTANCE A FINAL – M20 1= Robert Merl (AUT) 25:43 1= Topias Tiainen (FIN) 25:43 1= Dmitry Nakonechnyy (RUS) 25:43 15 Matt Ogden (NZL) 27:47 30 Toby Scott (NZL) 28:42 36 Lachlan Dow (AUS) 29:08 55 Gene Beveridge (NZL) 33:46 58 Oscar McNulty (AUS) 33:52 RELAY – M20 1 Poland 1 1:53:33 2 Sweden 1 1:53:56 3 Czech Republic 1 1:54:47 12 New Zealand 1 1:59:42 21 Australia 2 2:14:21 22 Australia 1 2:14:49
RELAY – W20 1 Sweden 1 1:42:32 2 Czech Republic 1 1:48:51 3 Denmark 1 1:48:57 9 New Zealand 1 1:56:02 22 Australia 1 2:35:50 23 Australia 2 2:28:08
MIDDLE DISTANCE A FINAL – W20 1 Ida Bobach (DEN) 23:10 2 Tove Alexandersson (SWE) 23:44 3 Emma Klingenberg (DEN) 24:16 43 Jaime Goodwin (NZL) 30:11 49 Kate Morrison (NZL) 31:02 SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9
JUNIOR TRAINING
North meets South
to prepare for Schools Champs Mark Hennessy – photos: Karen Blatchford and Anne Robinson
A
n orienteering road trip from Newcastle, NSW, via Sydney, Belanglo and Wagga Wagga rolled into Silver Creek Caravan Park amid heavy rain on Sunday night, 10 July, to give the twenty strong NSW Junior squad a close look at some granite terrain in the Beechworth area, in preparation for the Australian Schools Orienteering Championships to be held as part of the Oceania Carnival in the first week of October 2011. All but one of the Oceania carnival events will be held in granite, the exception being Yackandandah, which features “more complex gold mining than any existing area known to me” (Alex Tarr, mapmaker).
Georgia Jones
The rain cleared overnight, and the NSW crew were joined in fine cool weather by ten Victorian Juniors to train in the granite of “Barambogie” and “Beechworth Gorge”. The blunt message from NSW squad coach Nick Dent was “ignore the rock detail until you are in the control circle”. A contour-only course was used to reinforce this message, followed immediately by a run on the same course with the rock detail shown. More experienced squad members from both states also practiced long leg navigation techniques before all completed a bush Sprint on a 1:5000 map section - the Sprint during the Oceania Carnival is in a bush setting, which will be a new experience for most. ‘Oranges and lemons’ kicked off training next day. A beep test straight after lunch was a popular feature, followed by a Sprint O at the (now closed) Latrobe University campus in Beechworth, using the exact same course that Nick Dent had completed during the Australian Sprint Championship in 2003. The two squads then went their separate ways, with the NSW squad primed for their camp championship, to be run on granite (for the fifth time in three days), on the “Connorton” map near Wagga Wagga, an opportunity made possible through the tireless work of Waggaroo’s club member and NSW Stinger Briohny Davey, ably assisted by club Treasurer Pauline Moore. Russell and Karen Blatchford, helped ensure that all the controls were put out in time and (hopefully) in the right places, and Nick Dent was ever the consummate professional in preparing the exercises, and conducting evening theory sessions in the breezy camp kitchen. The Victorians were grateful beneficiaries of a lot of careful planning by the NSW staff, and the two squads cooperated well. 10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
SPRINT – 1:5000
Michele Dawson and Glen Charlton
Nicola Blatchford
Contours only exercise
Kasimir Gregory
Georgia Jones
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Ignore rock outside the circle
Contact OSoA today: www.osoa.com.au Email info@osoa.com.au PH (03) 9017 4835, FX (03) 9388 1916 SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11
WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Afore you go.... by Maggie Jones , ONSW Communications
The World Orienteering Championships 2011, held from 13-20 August, were contested in the French mountains of the Savoie Grand Revard resort area in the Massif des Bauges. Before the Australian Boomerangs team set out for the competition we caught up with some of them to have a chat. So, who are you tipping for the podiums this year? Robert Preston (NSW): It’s got to be Thierry Gueorgiou (France) for the Long and Middle Distances. He’s so strong and consistent. Maybe Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland) for the Sprint? Julian Dent (NSW): Thierry Georgiou does his preparation for WOC by night orienteering in the practice terrain. It makes races in the daytime that much more straightforward. Jasmine Neve (VIC): Definitely Thierry for the longer distances, and I think that the French have the best chance for the Relay this year. In the women’s races maybe Helena Jansson (SWE) for the Middle Distance if she is running. I think the Swiss are definitely in with a chance for the Women’s Relay. Mace Neve (ACT): I’m tipping the Finns or the
Norwegians for the Women’s Relay. With Simone Niggli pregnant and not racing this year the Swiss won’t be as strong. Simon Uppill (SA): Thierry is going to be tough to beat. He has the motivation to do well as he really wants a Long Distance title and he will be on home ground too. That said, he just has to make one small mistake and any number of others could take it from him as the competition this year is really strong. In the women’s races I agree with the Swiss for the Relay as favourite, but any of the Scandinavian teams could do it too. Rob: I’m going for the Swiss for the men’s Relay. The French have a bad record in the Relays. Jasmine: So true! Three years in a row they have missed out and surprisingly it is all down to Thierry. In 2008 he was winning on his leg and then swallowed a bee and had to get helicoptered out so the Brits won; in 2009 he was winning but stopped to help an injured Martin Johansson; last year he was winning, lost concentration and ran right past his control. But I think there can’t be many more misadventures for them out there so I would still go for the French.
14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011 12
What is your game plan for the WOC?
What kit will you be using?
Jasmine: I’m looking for good clean races with sound technique, and to run hard when I can. And have lots of fun in the forest.
Rob: Thumb compass – Silva Spectra Jet 6 and I run in Invo8 OROC 280 shoes.
Rob: I’m getting there early so I have plenty of time to prepare. I’m looking forward to the terrain as the rough underfoot conditions of Savoie Grand Revard plateau will really suit me. Rachel Effeney (QLD): I’m studying medicine so have only managed to get two weeks off, one for the training camp and one for the races. As a Sprint competitor my preparation will be mostly picking up the speed work, and putting in some specialised interval training on track with my athletics club, Ashgrove Rangers. Julian: I’ll also be there early, to move my training into final speed work, and to get a chance to spend lots of time in the forest practising my orienteering technique. A couple of weeks of tapering and then I’ll be fresh and ready for the races. Simon: I’m going over in late July and will race at the Swiss O-week to get some feel for the European terrain, how it’s mapped and to get some competition practice in. I’ll meet up with the team a week before the WOC for our formal Australian team training camp for final preparations.
Simon: Same as Rob. Jasmine: Silva thumb compass for me too and I don’t use the classic orienteering shoe brands. I’ll be in Nike Cross Country which I much prefer. Julian: I’m a Silva man too, but my preferred shoe is the new Invo8 X-Talon. Rachel: It’s a Silva thumb compass for me too, but as I will be doing the Sprint I will be taking my Adidas racing flats. What are you looking forward to most at WOC? Rob: Fulfilling a long term dream of running in the WOC Relay with Julian and Simon. Julian: I’ve been injury free for the last 18 months so I am looking forward to racing and am hoping for a top-10 place, either in the Sprint or in the Long Distance which has been a focus for me. I ran some international races in April this year in Sweden with some encouraging results. My confidence has never been higher. Rachel: This is my first time at WOC, so although I have been to JWOC a couple of times, and one of those times with Simon, I am quite nervous and not entirely sure what to expect. I am
looking forward to seeing what it is all about.
Australian Boomerangs team for WOC 2011
Mace: I feel the same way but I am looking forward to travelling with the team and running round an old French town will be fantastic. Simon: Orienteering in some new areas, and getting used to some new terrain. It’s my first time in France so I am really looking forward to the whole experience. Jasmine: Spending time with the team, running through beautiful French forest, some time off work!
Grace Crane (TAS, based in UK)
Mace Neve (ACT)
Julian Dent (NSW)
Sprint, Middle & Relay 6th time at WOC. Best result 4th Relay 2006, 15th Middle 2009.
Sprint, Relay reserve 1st time at WOC.
Sprint, Middle, Long & Relay 5th time at WOC. Best result 13th in Relay 2007, best individual results 22nd in both Middle 2005, Sprint 2007.
Do any of you speak French? Rob: I can say ‘baguette’ and ‘chocolat pain’, I think that’s how you say it. Those delicious croissant things with chocolate in them. But no, despite having been at JWOC in 1998 which was also in France, my French language skills are not great. Jasmine: ‘Un petit peu’. And my favourite French food is baguettes and cheese. They do bread so well over there. Mace: I speak a bit of schoolgirl French and I’ve tried garlic snails. I’m not looking to repeat that experience but I am interested in trying the cheese.
Rachel Effeney (QLD)
Aislinn Prendergast (VIC)
Rob Preston (NSW)
Sprint 1st time at WOC; JWOC team 2007 & 2008.
Long 1st time at WOC. JWOC team 2008 & 2009.
Middle, Long & Relay 2nd WOC. Best result Q25 Sprint 2010; JWOC 1997.
Simon: No, I don’t speak any French. But as a team we never seem to have any problem getting things to eat! I’m looking forward to trying some great French food. Rachel: I don’t speak French either, but I’m with Simon – I’m looking forward to finding out what French food is all about.
Jasmine Neve (VIC)
Vanessa Round (SA)
Simon Uppill (SA)
Middle, Long & Relay 4th time at WOC. Best result 42nd Sprint 2008. JWOC team 20032006.
Middle, Long & Relay 3rd time at WOC. Best result 13th in Relay 2010. JWOC team 20052007.
Sprint, Middle & Relay 4th time at WOC. JWOC team 2005-2007. Best result 15th Relay 2008, best individual result 34th Middle 2010.
Murray Scown (ACT) Non-travelling reserve JWOC team 2006.
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13
2011 OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS – PREVIEW
Wangaratta to Wagga to Cooma
Nick Dent – Carnival Director
F
rom the 1st- 9th October Victoria, NSW and ACT will be hosts for the Oceania Carnival. This carnival of nine Orienteering events incorporates a number of different championships. As well as the traditional Australian Long Distance Championships and Australian Relay Championships the Carnival will have the Biennial Oceania Championships in Sprint, Middle, Long and Relay. Part of this is the Australia-New Zealand Challenge in Long Distance and Relay events. This year the Challenge classes will be M/W 21, -16, -20, 40, 50, 60 and M45, M55, M70 age groups. This Challenge involves three competitors in each age group who have been selected to represent their country competing against each other. This will be the third time that the Oceania Carnival has been held in Australia and it follows the Oceania Carnival held on the South Island of New Zealand in Jan 2009. No visiting team has ever been successful in either the Individual or Relay competition since 1994. Also during the week the Australian Schools Individual and Relay Championships will be held in Wagga. A New Zealand schools team will compete in these events along with teams from each State of Australia As well as these competitions there will also be Silva National O League points to be won and the Australian Bushrangers will compete against the New Zealand Pinestars in a number of test matches There will be plenty of competition during the seven days of Orienteering in which to participate and enjoy. This year the Carnival is jointly being organised by Victoria, NSW and the ACT. The terrain will mostly be granite with one exception, the Oceania Middle Distance Championships on what has been described by Alex Tarr the mapper as “more complex than any existing gold mining area known to me. This is a world class area for Middle Distance orienteering”. Be part of the biggest Carnival for 2011 in Australia and support Australia in our challenges with New Zealand in Orienteering and also in the Rugby World Cup which has its quarter finals on the final weekend of the Carnival. All Carnival Information www.oceania2011.asn.au 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
XMAS 5 DAYS 2011 Tues 27th Dec –Sat 31st Dec Five events and five different formats Sprint Distance, Middle Distance, Long Distance, Mass Start, Loops
Newcastle /Central Coast Region, NSW Organised by the NSW Junior Orienteering Squad All courses set by NSW Juniors Online entry and event details ccorienteering.org enquiries: nickdent7@gmail.com
A Day in Time
Warren Key
O
nly a few times in my long relationship with orienteering have I felt what it might be like to be part of orienteering folklore. Two occasions come to mind immediately. The push to make the Olympics by the Swedish orienteering icon Peo Bengtsson with his campaign “OS88” Olympics 1988 was a grand plan for me when I was just 21. The next time came along as a coach when Grant Bluett won the 2001 World Games in Japan as a first ever big time breakthrough for Australia on the world stage. For many I am sure WOC85 in Bendigo was their part of history. The Kooyoora forest is etched in many minds as one of the all time great pieces of orienteering terrain in the world. Behold, we may just have another! An incredible slice of forest has been found near Yackandandah in Victoria that will be used for the 2011 Oceania Middle Distance Championships. It is, I believe, possibly the finest couple of square kilometres in the whole of Australia. Weaved by classic Australian mining history, the extraordinary efforts and toiling of gold seekers two centuries ago literally unearthed a patch of pure orienteering delight. In trying to describe to you the complexity of this unique terrain in the world of orienteering, almost totally made-byman forest, I keep thinking of how much fun I had out on my first run. It was actually not much more than a broken jog really, through a maze of compelling shapes and features, each one seemingly similar but different, grand yet hidden, defined by bold angles yet confusing to decipher. I was mesmerised. On my second go the next day I said to myself, “OK get your act together, you will need all your skills and wits about you”. Did I? Let me just say that it took three goes to find the first control, each time returning back to the start for a clean slate. I did find it beautifully the third time and genuinely punched the air a bit like how a kid kicks a goal and celebrates. Fifty plus year-olds like myself sometimes forget those simple joys. Orienteering can reward us with those joys when we do all the things right and nail a flag, you will get that feeling from this superb area. Along with Darren Meeking our event organiser extraordinaire; Alex Tarr the legendary map maker; Leigh Privett our eyes to the forest; and myself in the fantastic job of being your course setter, we really hope that you will capture a moment in Australian orienteering history by coming to Yackandandah and putting on your “A” game.
attempting to offer a glimpse into the race day life of what it is to be an Elite runner. Among our many innovations you will see video footage of the race course as the runner sees it, interviews before, mid-race (awaiting IOF permission) and after, live control site action within just metres of the runners yet out of their sight, extraordinary skills as these brave athletes descend an almost vertical wall into the main spectator point and then have to choose immediately between routes to the next control. Within the event centre you will be allowed to wander amongst a myriad of control sites, seeing up close the pressure and skills of our best in action, plus we will have great local foods and entertainment to keep you wanting more.
Can I suggest to everyone that you plan to enjoy the whole event and hang around for some great action. We are
Being part of Yackandandah 2011 we believe will truly be a great orienteering experience. Come along. SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15
URBAN O
Urban Orienteering in Adelaide Robin Uppill
BLACKWOOD KARINYA 1:5000
U
rban based Orienteering events in Adelaide are run as two main series, plus a few additional ad-hoc events. The two series are: 1. Evening Summer Series from early December until the end of February; 2. Saturday Afternoon Series in May-June, targeting juniors and newcomers.
Summer Series The Summer Series is an Orienteering SA managed series with events of park-street format, run as a series of 10 events on Friday evenings with start times from 6 – 7pm. Daylight Saving permits finishes up until around 8pm. Events are advertised via a series flyer, in ENews, on the OSA Web Site, and the February events are generally part of the “Life Be In It” “Come & Try It Program”. The events have a social atmosphere with many staying after a run for a picnic tea. Participant numbers are around 70-100 if the weather is pleasant, but numbers can be significantly reduced at that time of the year by hot weather, as often the maximum temperature in Adelaide on a hot summer day is around 5pm. Events are rarely cancelled due to hot weather, however if the forecast temperature is over 35°C the courses are not timed, and often the longer course is cancelled. Surprisingly a wet evening also seems to impact numbers, maybe because it reduces the picnicking opportunities. Map areas are a mixture of park and streets. Areas are selected where courses can be set with a lot of route choice (see example map – Craigburn Parks) and to avoid major roads unless crossing opportunities such as underpasses are present. All maps are produced in OCAD with standard map symbols and some 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
additional ones to cater for play equipment and other special features in parks. Printing of maps with courses is done in colour, as this presents a better more professional product for newcomers. Map scales are mostly 1:10,000 with some 1:7,500 or 1:5000. Three standard point-to-point courses are offered, around 2-3km, 4-5km and 6-7km depending on the area. Newcomers are generally directed to one of these courses as we believe understanding the concept of this course format is easier for newcomers than the Scatter course which is also offered. A maximum of 20 controls is used for all courses, and different age groups are required to collect different numbers of controls for the Scatter course. Plate controls with punches chained to fixed points are used. Special control cards are also -prepared, with the control descriptions printed on the card (see example). Event and Course Planning Guidelines have been prepared for this series, and are distributed directly to all organisers, course planners and helpers at the beginning of each series. This defines standard event layout and procedures. A basic set of equipment is used (includes controls, banners and flags, signs, stationery box) for the series. The organising groups for each event are rostered, and drawn from a mixed group of juniors as on the day helpers, more experienced juniors and some others as course planners, and usually a more experienced person as the organiser and course vettor. The latter role is important to check for safety issues as well as make suggestions on course quality. Each Adelaide based club is also rostered to provide additional newcomer helpers at each event. Usually 3-4 helpers are required on the day to manage registration, start and finish. Event timing is manual. Results are not displayed at the event, but are posted to the web and may be displayed at the following
CRAIGBURN PARK 1:10000
event. The Scatter course also has a point system, with an overall series winner. At each event, vouchers provided by Joggers World are distributed by random draw. In some years the Series has concluded with a 2-event weekend on the South Coast with events using street park maps in Victor Harbor, Port Elliot and Goolwa.
Saturday Afternoon Series For the last three years, a Saturday afternoon series of events has been held in May and June (over the second school term) with the main target audience being newcomers, especially those in the junior age groups and their parents. All events are listed in the main program booklet, plus a special Series Flyer is produced. The latter are mostly distributed to schools focussing on those that have an event in a nearby area. This approach has tended to bring new family groups out to try their first Orienteering event. The focus on juniors is an attempt to provide them with enough experience to attend the SA Schools Championship which is held in August, and possibly encourage some to take up Orienteering as a sport and move into the OSA Junior Squad. The events are organised at the club level, however events are managed according to a set of Event Guidelines aimed to enable a simple but well organised event to be presented, with a standard set of courses. Start times are 1:30 – 3pm. This time slot was selected to avoid a clash with primary school sport which is most commonly Saturday mornings. The format has been to include urban areas with some areas of bush where possible. So map areas have ranged from all bush (e.g. Belair National Park), a mixture of bush and street (see example map Karinya) and park-street. This gives the participants
an introduction to bush Orienteering but in their local area. Again, three point-to-point courses are offered with navigation standard of Easy, Easy – Moderate and Moderate, and lengths around 2 – 4km. At some events all controls are available as a Scatter Course and the regular orienteers are more likely to do this format. As for the Summer Series, all maps are OCAD with standard symbols and printed in colour with courses. Controls used are stands and flags in bush areas and plate controls in the park-street areas. Timing is manual, with results published after the event on the web site. Participation is dependent on the weather (rain impacts on attendance of newcomers) and location as events in the southern suburbs seem to be better attended than in the north, possibly because in the first year of the program it was run only in the Southern suburbs around Mitcham Hills. 2011 events numbers have varied from around 20 to over 100 participants. Most do a course as a family group (children are mostly primary school age), and are more focused on completing the course than the time taken.
Other Urban Events A few other urban events are held through the main part of the program on Sunday mornings for various reasons e.g. early in the season, to provide a local event between more distant bush events, or on a weekend when a Rogaine is being held. Format and number of courses vary, but generally more are offered than in the above two series. Some events may also have a Sprint format as regular orienteers become more accustomed to this format.
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17
URBAN O
Street/Park Orienteering in Port Lincoln Kevin Vigar (on behalf of Lincoln Orienteers, SA)
Taj Sherry and Hamish Probert at Pioneer Park, Port Lincoln
Kev’s Shield winner 2010, Kate Russell.
T
he recent articles on Street Orienteering demonstrate how this form of our sport has evolved, more or less in the same direction, but with unique variations relating to place. In some places mid-week evening competition works, in others daytime weekends are the preferred time. Some States use the Scatter-O format, others use point to point courses, some use full colour maps while others use black and white. Here in Port Lincoln we have been using street maps since 1978; some of our mapped areas have been used continuously for over 30 years. Because our city is not that large (population approx. 15,000) we are restricted in the number of areas we can map and in the number of participants we get at our events. Currently we have seven maps that together embrace the whole town, and our average attendance is about 40, many of whom have been orienteering on these maps for 20 years or more. In an effort 18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
to provide new areas we have mapped nearby smaller towns and now take the Orienteering experience to Coffin Bay (40 km away), Tumby Bay (50 km away) and Cummins (60 km away). We have a shortage of organisers as well; our club has around 21 memberships (or about 50 individuals), all ageing, and we organise 12 -13 events per year. Our Street/Park events are kept very low key so that only one or two people are required to set up and run an event. Maps are provided with 20 scatter-O controls premarked, and people record their own start and finish times. We have tried various methods to attract newcomers and keep our long standing regulars interested and challenged. Over the last three years we have run our Street/Park programme as a championship series with a handicapping system designed to allow all participants to compete on an equal basis, be they
their running (or walking) speed. We put out 20 control markers (metal plates chained to a fixture and flat on the ground) and ask competitors to visit a pre-determined number based on their speed. From the first event of the season we calculate the average time it takes to visit a control, and from this determine how many controls they can visit in 45 minutes, based on this average. We call this their control target, which can be anything from 8 for family groups and young children to 18 or 19 for our fastest adults. An expectation of course setters is that the actual distance required to visit all controls by the most efficient route is approx 7km and the shortest actual distance required to visit any 8 controls is approx 3km.
Coffin Bay event registration.
young, old, group or individual. We run the competition over six to seven events, four of which are within Port Lincoln on Friday evenings at the start of our season while the remainder are out of town events and held on Sunday mornings. We end each event with a meal, be it sausage sizzle, picnic or meal at the local sports club to encourage social interaction. People entering the competition are encouraged to attend as many events as possible, and our championship winner is awarded a perennial trophy called Kev’s Shield at end of season. As our handicap system appears to be something unique to our club, here is a brief explanation of how it works. Street O requires only basic navigation techniques, which most people can master. The difference between competitors is mainly
This demands a bit of playing around on OCAD while planning control sites. To produce a level playing field, we have a time adjustment factor which converts a competitor’s expected time back to 45 minutes. As an example, runner A has an average time per control of 3 mins 13 secs, therefore he can visit 15 controls (his control target) in an expected time of 45 mins 02 secs and his time adjustment is -02 secs. Runner B has an average of 4 mins 56 secs, her control target is 9, her expected time is 44 mins 26 secs with a time adjustment of +36 secs. These figures are re-calculated after each event using cumulative times. The arithmetic required to run this may seem a bit daunting, but while our participant numbers remain at around 50 it is quite easy for some mug with time on his hands. Points are scored by placegetters at each event to determine our Championship winner. In 2010 the winner of Kev’s Shield was Kate Russell. Maps of Lincoln Cove and Tumby Island are typical of those we use.
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER
19
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
Space Racing
and the J Squad Peter Creely (Bendigo Orienteers)
I
n The Australian Orienteer, December 2009, I talked about Space Racing. Space Racing is the initiative of Jim Russell, supported by Bendigo Orienteers, that gives primary school students who are interested the opportunity to bridge the gap between Orienteering in the school yard and Orienteering in the Bush. Space Racing is a thirty-minute score type race that takes place in well mapped, safe parks in and around the city, (although this year, for the first time we set two races in Bush areas especially chosen for their safety and quality of terrain). The series is made up of thirteen events from May to August, programmed to fit in with the school terms in Victoria. We held our most recent Space Race, the last one before the school term break, at Marong, a pretty little satellite town about 20kms west of Bendigo. It’s a good area for Space Racing with a footy ground, a small racecourse, a railway line along one boundary and a creek on the other -- and a bit of bush. It was not a nice morning weather-wise – foggy, damp – but still we had a roll-up of about thirty kids, representing seven teams in the schools competition. On the way home I did some sums and came to the realisation that probably a dozen of these kids would saddle up again for the Bendigo Bush Orienteering event in the afternoon. As Space Racing grows in Bendigo, this is becoming the norm - Space Racing in the morning, bush Orienteering in the afternoon. These aren’t elite juniors. Far from it, these are young kids who, when they started Space Racing, were new to Orienteering. They are now very enthusiastic and they carry into their bush racing the enthusiasm and competitive urge they revel in when Space Racing. At this stage they see a future in Orienteering and it is becoming their sport. They come and compete initially on our newcomers’ courses, mostly with their parent(s) or older siblings and then, as they gain confidence they take on the challenges of the harder courses. Our club is also facing a challenge, that of working as a club to keep them coming out, to build on their vision and to keep it alive and growing. Now, before I tell you what I am trying to do with these kids, I have a couple of questions: What age range does the term ‘junior’ refer to in Orienteering? Do we lump all seven and eight year-olds with the nineteen and twenty year-olds and treat them as one squad? I don’t think so! I am not sure about other clubs, but here in Bendigo we now have to acknowledge two significant sets of ‘juniors’. 20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
A lot of the young people who have come into the bush from Space Racing are under fourteen, some as young as seven and eight years old. These are our ‘junior’ juniors, or sub juniors. They are still at primary school, their families have no ties or previous orienteering experience to help them settle in (probably many have little idea of what Orienteering really is), nor do they have any other connections that will support them in their early years in the sport. Their family names do not feature in the Orienteering history of the state so somehow or other someone must supply the support and background in Orienteering that their families can’t. A lot of the kids have tasted, or are already involved in other sports, so they need to be offered something tangible that will rival the attractions of those sports. In order to do something that would attract these kids in the initial stages I started sending out an e-mail newsletter once a week and gradually the mailing list of approximately twentyfive kids who regularly competed at our bush events became the Continuing Orienteering Group. This was the first step in forming a cohesive group that would in time become the nucleus of a training squad. For this group I am looking for: • An upgraded image locally, of sub junior Orienteering; • An ongoing incentive to compete; • Regular opportunities to compete; • Regular communication. Image: Our kids like to have their achievements recognised as much as anyone; they like the glamour and limelight as much as most of us, maybe more -- they appreciate some recognition. In an effort to raise the sub junior profile locally, I have: • Established the Red Ribbon Sub Junior Challenge. This is an annual challenge put out to sub juniors from all clubs, from Bendigo’s sub juniors. It is open to M/W 10, 12 and 14 and is run in conjunction with one of the State Series events. There is a perpetual trophy to the winning club. All place getters receive medallions, and all competitors receive Certificates of Achievement. As well, Mars Bars and other goodies are handed out at the Finish. (The second Challenge will take place at Bendigo’s State Series/Badge event at Mt. Kooyoora on Sunday 4 September – all sub juniors are welcome!). • In our club awards structure there are presently championship awards for senior and junior women and men: this year there
Red Ribbon presentation.
will be an additional championship award for sub junior girls and boys, based on performances in races during the season. Competition incentives: Most of our Space Racers love to compete. We are working on an ongoing sub-junior teams competition embedded in our local event series, and thought is being given to a Space Race type competition held periodically in conjunction with the normal bush event. As well, there is a variety of event formats: Scatter-O, Score formats, Sprint-O, scattered within the normal program so that we provide a different set of challenges and some variety during the year. Regular events: Our Bush event program in Bendigo starts in March and provides a Bush Orienteering event almost every week until November. Thus we can offer the kids an event every week, an ongoing link with their sport and ongoing competition. They can check the results board and see how they went against the kid who beat them by fifteen seconds last week; they can then swear vengeance for next week. As well, each month they have access to a “Map of the Month” course. A course is set out on a local map using old plastic flower pots as markers -- these stay out for a month -- anyone is free to take a map and complete the course. The courses are simple but illustrate various techniques such as route choice, attack points etc. Communication: Members of our Junior Squad receive an e-mail newsletter every week. This contains results from the previous event, details of the next event including comments on the map, the terrain and what sort of courses they can expect from that week’s course setter. It also contains brief news items that may be of interest to them. This is their regular hook-up with how they and the rest of the group are progressing, and with what is happening at their level in the sport locally. As well as this, each month they receive a full colour newsletter that contains brief discussions on maps, navigation techniques and items featuring other Squad members.
in Bendigo. I am not saying that Space Racing is the only way to attract young people to Orienteering, but I do know that in Bendigo it is the best way, and I’m sure that the same thing could happen in other towns and cities. It is certainly making a significant difference to the range of age classes competing in Bendigo Orienteering, extending to those classes that I feel are presently wanting but are essential for the future of the sport in Australia – the M/W 10s, our kids. That’s a brief run down on Bendigo’s Junior Development Squad – the J Squad, as it stands at present. The way this is starting up may not be the accepted way but it is a start – we are doing something to attract young juniors to bush Orienteering, and to give them the incentive to keep going. Yes, I’m sure it will need tweaking but if we don’t start doing something we will never do anything, and if we apply the same time, hard work and perseverance to this stage of the bush Orienteering pathway that we applied to Space Racing in its initial stages, it will succeed. I believe that some of these kids will be the ones who will represent Australia at JWOC’s in years to come. And it has all started with Space Racing.
There are other spin-offs when we promote to the junior juniors; because of the age of the kids we see the parent(s) usually bringing them out to the event. As distinct from most other sports, parents can become directly involved – they can take a map and go out on a course rather than stand around in the cold and wait for their child to return. This then gives a really genuine feel to ‘the family sport’ and as well, we are seeing some of these parents starting to seriously take part in Orienteering and become very involved and competitive in the sport. Because of our venture into Space Racing we are seeing younger kids, junior juniors starting to play a big role in Bush Orienteering
SILVA congratulates Peter Creely for his work and articles on Space Racing in Bendigo. Peter will receive a Trail Runner headlamp from SILVA.
Space Racing at Mosquito Creek. SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
Herding Ants by Ella
I was going to call this piece The Art of Ant Management... but that all sounds a bit Zen, and let me tell you: there was nothing “Zen” about the swarm that descended on Mandurang Oval for the Bendigo Primary School Orienteering Championships on the third day of Winter.
And from there, the fun really began. Up at the first control, pandemonium reigned. The Maestro found himself giving a crash course on the finer points of navigation: finding north, orienting the map, reading the features. This control is on a track junction; the one you want is over there on the corner of the dam. Sweet, thanks. And off they’d run. Flat out, along the track.
F
ive hundred kids from Grades 4, 5 and 6. Twelve schools. Eight courses. Twelve classes. One cricket oval, and one square kilometre of bushland. It was barely 10 degrees as the buses started to arrive and unload small mobs of amazingly well-behaved kids (some without any visible warm clothing - were we ever that oblivious to the cold?!). With ant-like precision, they trooped up to the registration desk, picked up their school’s packet of maps, and headed off to re-group and plan their course. Before too long though, any semblance of order had faded and there were kids running all over the oval chasing balls, frisbees, and each other. There was an anxious moment – among the adults at least – as it started to rain just before the first starts. But someone had obviously had a word with the weather gods and it cleared up again, and stayed mild for the remainder of the day. In dribs and drabs, small groups of kids fronted up to the Pre-Start, got checked off and were herded towards the Start.
The kids had entered either singly or in pairs, depending on their confidence and ability. The ones that knew what they were doing tended to compete as singles. Head up, eyes focussed, intent on the next control. Often with a wave or a cheery hello as they ran past. We call those ones Space Racers. Everyone else? Well! I spent a fair amount of time standing in one place on the main track, and at times it felt as though I was in a tidal eddy as swarms of pint-sized little people swirled around me. I answered questions when I was approached: mostly just to point out the rock feature or a nearby track junction. As the day wore on, the questions became more urgent. I had moved further into the map and skulked around the three dams in the middle of the course. Six controls in this small area provided hours of entertainment. For me, at least. For them? Not so much. Mostly they just needed help identifying where they were on the map. Orienting the map to north helped a bit. To
The Maestro, with 500 kids at his fingertips
22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
be fair, the kids weren’t carrying a compass, and the sun wasn’t always visible. A common cry was, “I’ve lost North!” And yes, from my own experience, keeping track of North can be troublesome at times. I’m always happy to help kids discover which way is up. Mostly though, they just wanted to know where the next control was. At times I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Kids would come up to me waving their control card and asking if I knew where control #181 was. Well, yes, as luck would have it. I do. But show me where you think you are on the map. Map? Yes, where’s your map? Um… as they rummage around in a pocket and pull out a folded up postage stamp. How are you going to find the next control if you don’t look at your map? But… it’s on the control card. See? “#181. Earth wall”. Surely that’s enough. How hard could it be? Trust me, I’ve tried that technique, and it DOES NOT work! See Noodling. The funnier (for me) situations were when I didn’t know where the control was, because it wasn’t within the square inch or two of my own folded up postage stamp. Control #183? No idea. Unfold postage stamp. Oh, up *there*. What on earth are you doing down *here!* Shrug. Yeah, I know. It’s on the control card. Or standing at the bottom of a hill and being asked the best way to get to control #183 at the top of the hill. Seriously? If they were desperate enough to ask me how to climb 50 metres up a hill, then I sent them around to the track junction. I climbed up the hill. Oooh, spiders! Those that had survived the summer were large and fat.
I was photographing several of these, well away from the control. But the kids would see me and come over, hoping that I was hiding a control flag behind my back, or something. Nope, there’s one behind you on the high point, and there’s one down there in the gully. Which one are you looking for? Um, can you tell me where number #180 is? Have you seen number #178? Which way is the Finish? Have you seen a lost girl? She’s wearing a red t-shirt. I’ve lost my partner. I’ve lost my map. By lunchtime, we started herding stragglers back to the arena. By 1:30pm we had everyone back and The Maestro started the presentations. All in all, it was a great day. Yes, really.
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23
NUTRITION Gillian Woodward
Gillian Woodward is an Accredited Practising Dietician and has been providing advice in the field for over 25 years. She has been an orienteer since 1984.
Mineral deficiency in athletes? C
an mineral deficiencies be more likely to occur in those who do more exercise? Not necessarily so. The most likely reason for mineral deficiencies in athletes has been found to be a poor or imbalanced diet! However, some minerals may be lost from the body in sweat and therefore an increased intake may be needed in heavily-training orienteers compared to non-exercising individuals. This month we will look at two important minerals which are not so often discussed in relation to athletes – magnesium and zinc. Macrominerals (calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus) are the ones we need in larger quantities while trace minerals (zinc, copper, selenium, chromium, and iron) are those we need in much smaller amounts. Some of these minerals, particularly iron, zinc and chromium may be lost in sweat, so this could cause deficiency, in theory, for those who are doing more exercise. Magnesium is an essential mineral required by virtually every cell of the body and is involved in many processes, perhaps the most important of which is energy production through ATP. It is vital to over 300 chemical processes including muscle contraction and relaxation, nerve function, hormonal interactions, bone health, blood pressure control and much more. Athletes in particular might find it easy to explain away fatigue or muscle cramps, lowered immunity, and even altered heart rates, and indeed these symptoms are common and multi-faceted in cause. However, a simple magnesium deficiency could also be the underlying factor. What foods contain magnesium? Nuts and seeds (especially pumpkin seeds) are excellent sources as are wholegrain breads and cereals. Spinach and broccoli provide some as well as rice and legumes. Some foods/supplements designed for athletes such as sport drinks or bars may contain added magnesium in recognition that this nutrient may be marginal in an athlete’s diet. In Australia it is recommended that men have 350-420mg of magnesium daily, whereas women need 265-320. In a good balanced diet it should be easy enough to obtain this through natural food sources. However, it has been suggested that in training athletes this requirement may be elevated. If considering taking a supplement, the upper limit of safety in Australia is 350mg. Now to zinc, a mineral involved in maintaining muscle tissue as well as immunity and energy production. Red meat, poultry and chicken are all good sources of zinc. It is also found in dairy products like milk, yoghurt and cheese. Some seafoods, especially oysters contain large amounts of zinc. You can see from this list that vegetarians, especially those who avoid dairy products may be at risk of a zinc deficiency. Nuts and legumes do provide some zinc in the vegan diet but their concentration is low by comparison to meat and dairy products. Absorption of zinc from animal foods is also higher than from plant and wholegrain sources (as is the case for iron) so 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
vegetarians, particularly strict or ‘vegan’ vegetarians, will need intakes about 50% higher than those set for Australian adults. The Recommended Daily Intake of zinc for Australian adult males is 12-14mg, whereas females only need 6.5-8mg. Phytates and fibre in wholegrain foods are the factors that inhibit the bioavailability of zinc. If taking iron supplements, this will also inhibit zinc absorption as iron and copper compete with zinc for the same absorption site. Zinc is not only lost in sweat but also through food processing. Canning or cooking in water can deplete the amounts of zinc in food because zinc is water soluble. Endurance athletes may develop a zinc deficiency because of a combination of either dietary deficiencies or increased zinc demands and losses. The high carbohydrate diet which has been encouraged for endurance athletes to enhance performance, can also be low in zinc if not well planned. Situations of stress, acute trauma and infection can lead to lower plasma zinc as well. Mild deficiency can result in impaired growth velocity, suboptimal pregnancy outcomes and impaired immune responses. Severe deficiency can result not only in growth impairment but also hair loss, diarrhoea, and eye or skin lesions. Poor appetite is one potential sign of zinc deficiency. Because zinc is involved in the growth and development of taste buds, deficiency reduces taste and can affect appetite. Zinc deficiency in athletes can lead to anorexia, weight loss, decreased endurance, fatigue and an increased risk of osteoporosis. Strenuous exercise may contribute to the zinc deficiency by increasing sweat losses. So make sure your diet includes a good variety of whole grains, fruit, vegetables, moderate servings of meat and/or legumes, low fat dairy foods as well as a few nuts and seeds. If you are going through a heavy training period, especially if you are sweating profusely, it may be wise to increase your zinc-rich foods. If you have the opportunity to indulge in half-a-dozen oysters, go for it! They would add an amazing 77mg in one sitting, at least six times your daily requirement! Failing their availability, red meat would be the next most zinc rich food in the Australian diet, so a good steak might help the cause.
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE This is a complex gold mining area first mapped in 1985. Since then there have been many events staged on this terrain. There are 15 differences between these two otherwise identical map sections. CAN YOU FIND ALL 15 ? Also, the picture (above) is of an erosion gully, looking east. Can you pick the gully?
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25
COACHING
A view from the 19th… Russell Blatchford (Newcastle OC)
FOR THE GOLFER IN ME – Take my medicine... Tale of the tape: Kevin Na / USPGA Tour Professional / Texas Open, April 2011 / hole 9 / par 4 Kevin Na is a great golfer and, at the time of the 2011 Texas Open, ranked 64 in the world! As you can see from the headline, (Newcastle Herald, April this year), he took 16 shots on one par 4 hole! It was the 9th hole, during the first round of the tournament. He is such a good golfer that he still finished the round with a score of 80, playing the final 9 holes of the course in three under par. But the damage was well and truly done, and he missed the cut for the tournament and received no pay cheque that week.
…… as an Orienteer, I make a reasonable ‘B’ grade golfer
The bizarre set of circumstances contributing to the 16 shots included finding his ball in an unplayable lie off the tee, going back to the tee and inexplicably hitting into the same unplayable area again, ignoring the advice of his caddy and hacking away at his ball in the hope of advancing the ball onto the fairway, and being struck by his own ball when it ricocheted off a tree (another penalty).
Despite the best of intentions, things do go wrong in sport. As a B/C grade golfer and orienteer, things do go wrong quite frequently. My response when things go wrong really does seem to have two components - 1) a process response, in terms of skills specific to golf/ orienteering, and 2) an emotional response, mindful of the need to take control of these emotions in order to ensure the wheels don’t well and truly fall off.
The point is not to dump on a magnificent golfing professional, highly respected on tour as a deliberate and well prepared player (and as if I have any right to do that anyway - not that I would). The point is that it can happen to the best of golfers, and a weekend hacker like me can take some heart from that. In a press conference after his round Kevin was quoted as saying “the only thing I can do is learn from this and hopefully it doesn’t happen again”. In my early searches for smarter golfing strategies I came across a very catchy phrase to guide a response when things go wrong in terms of golfing plans - that term was “take your medicine”. I like an early childhood image created by those three simple words: Mum jamming a tablespoon of cough mixture into a reluctantly presented, narrowest possible mouth opening, at the same time encouraging swallowing with a somewhat insistent ‘gentle’ push up and back on an uncooperative forehead (escorted down by a jelly-baby of course). Me pinching my nostrils because medicine really smelt yuck! But taking that medicine, no matter how unpleasant a thought, was the cure. Taking my medicine in a round of golf, for me as a B/C grader, involves an acceptance of the situation and a commitment to doing something simple (90% rule again!), to get myself back into the hole - a cure. I actually feel I am quite good at “taking my medicine” during a golf round, which in turn keeps my emotions in check, and that ultimately is the key to taking greater control of that which transpires in the next five to ten minutes. Nothing destroys a round of golf more than dwelling on “what if” whilst steam is billowing from your ears.
FOR THE ORIENTEER IN ME – Take my medicine ... One of the more fascinating elements of ‘mistakes’ in Orienteering, from the perspective of a B grader like me, is the fact that I have an amazing ability to make things fit in terms of map to ground and ground to map visualisation; therefore the realisation that it is time to “take my medicine” often comes well and truly after the need actually arose. In golf the realisation happens in the quickest of moments, was not expected and the emotional response is somewhat more instantaneous! However, there is also such a thing as an Orienteering volcano.
26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
Tale of the tape No. 1: ‘Limekiln Creek for Big Kids’ / June 8, 2008 / legs 8-9-10 In my first contribution (The Australian Orienteer, September 2010) I wrote of a 58 minute leg time control 8 to 9, followed immediately with a 22 minute leg time control 9-10. In my Attack Point log entry I wrote of leg 8-9 “Lost map contact in vague/ green area and panic set in. A bit later panic became frustration and I was gone from a thinking point of view. Then came that pathetic “woe is me” and I started walking. Then started walking the safety bearing - I am ashamed to admit it, but at that moment I had given up.” That’s three years ago now! Have I done what Kevin Na intended to do and made sure I learnt something from this? Have I learnt to “take my medicine” when Orienteering? I am going to dig for some positives - but first, an elite perspective, because just like golfer Kevin Na, it does happen to the best in Orienteering also.
Tale of the tape No. 2: David Shepherd / World Cup 2002 - Belgium / Middle Distance Final / leg 7- 8 David’s article in The Australian Orienteer, June 2003 was titled “Mistakes in the World Cup”. The blue line drawn on the map indicates that David found himself on a steep slope. In his own words “realisation that I was not where I wanted to be brought on panic. Instead of remaining calm and relocating, I became flustered”. David then saw a control in the gully on his left and ran to it, but the control was not his. However, he now realised he was in one of the creeks north of the control, ran south, but found himself on a track. At this stage, in his words, he “regained some composure, waited for the compass to settle, read the map and ran to the marsh and along it until I saw the flag”. In conclusion, David wrote “I lost three and a half minutes on that leg .... Maybe the mistake began at number 7 when the plan for the eighth leg was made ......” He then went on to write “The second part of the mistake was the loss of composure. Stop. Stop for 10 seconds relocate, modify the plan for the leg and start again”. In his concluding sentence David wrote “Forget the mistake. It’s also a 10 second rest. That rest could have halved the time lost - which translated to an improvement of about 10 places in the race.” So - am I learning to take my medicine whilst orienteering? SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27
COACHING
Tale of the tape No. 3: NSW SL event No. 2, 2011 / Wattle Ridge / M50A / course 5 / leg 8-9 competitor
#8 - #9 split
final place
Grant McDonald
13:14 (quickest split)
1
me
21:04
2
Malcolm Roberts
15:23
7
This is a tough area. I’m thinking there was progress in terms of “taking my medicine”. The splits table indicates a costly mistake still, though in reality most in M50 on this course this day coughed up a lot of time with mistakes, but second place does indicate I got out of this without the punishment I probably deserved. I mentioned the split of my fellow Newcastle cub member Malcolm because he was running 70 to 100 metres in front of me in a south easterly direction along the track shortly after leaving control 8. I left the track earlier than he did, but he also navigated to the path near point ‘x’. He completed the leg in a manner similar to the route indicated by the dashed line from the path at point ‘x’, south of control 2. That was my plan also, but I changed my mind at point ‘x’! I do this too often, and left myself the challenge of reading so much more rock detail. Malcolm’s decision reduced the need to read rock; with effective ‘aiming off’ when he finally got to the rock detail north of control 9 he had a very clear idea of his location and spiked the control. I stuffed around in the rock for way too long, and only became confident in my relocation when I got up out of the rock. As a B/C grader I must learn not to change my mind (commit), and to remember the KISS principle - keep it simple stupid! (simplify).
Tale of the tape No. 4: NSW SL event No. 6 / Mt Piper Hills South / M50A / course 5 / legs 1-2, 4-5 competitor
#1 - #2 split
#4 - #5 split
Mark Darvodelsky
5:31
4:04 (quickest split) 1
Geoff Todkill
5:06 (quickest split)
5:34
2
James Lithgow 5:51
5:37
3
me
6:14
5
7:32
final place
I got careless #1 to #2. Running strongly, I failed to take care crossing the track and vegetation boundary. Therefore, I was aiming off to the gully system south of control 2 from an imprecise position, and as a B/C grader, didn’t recognise the error as it played out. I actually aimed off to the correct gully for the control! I do remember thinking quite calmly as I ran north, away from the control, and had the presence of mind to think that something was wrong, but don’t panic. Maybe the decision to run down the spur to the gully system wasn’t smart, but I got lucky as from a distance I could see there was a control in the watercourse 28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
beside the clearing. I corrected, and reduced the carnage - not that two and a half minutes isn’t significant, but I thought I took my medicine well. Leg #4 - #5. Once again I fell victim to probably my most common process error, changing my mind mid-leg! The ‘x’ indicates the point at which I changed my mind. I was sucked in by the prominent cliff line at the top of the gully just west of this point, and thought to myself it would be easy to follow the rock line into the control. From the top of that rock face, on the line of my rough compass bearing I could see a control. I bolted, studying leg #5 - #6 as I ran. It wasn’t my control! But I was happy with my composure, thought about the gully that I had intended to follow into control 5, relocated because I had to be too high and even though I once more coughed up valuable time, the mistake was not a complete disaster. So, looking for the positive, perhaps in those three years since ‘Limekiln Creek’ I have got better at “taking my medicine on an orienteering course”. Well, I’m convinced. And that’s what I am going to allow myself to think anyway!
FOR THE ORIENTEER IN ME: Take my medicine ..... * The best of plans can come undone, so....
P Recognise and accept a mistake minimise the damage
P Stay calm and think
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SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29
WMOC 2011
2011 World Masters Orienteering Championships – Hungary Compiled by Maggie Jones – ONSW Communication
This year’s WMOC carnival was held in Hungary, around the city of Pécs in Central Europe. Pécs is the fifth largest city in Hungary and around 125km south of the capital Budapest, close to the Croatian border and nestled on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains. A 2010 European Capital of Culture, it is an ancient and beautiful city with its origins in Roman times.
I
nto the streets of this cultural capital were unleashed some 3300 competitors in the Sprint Qualification race. The course setter made great use of all aspects of the city’s features, and competitors were faced with a labyrinth of narrow streets, courtyards and castle walls making for tricky navigation with few obvious route choices. Competition in all age classes was fierce, none more so than in M60 and M65 where there were five large heats. Of the Australians, pride of place went to Victoria’s Jim Russell who finished first in his M50-1 heat. Blair Trewin, Susanne and Jenny Casanova, Grant McDonald, Debbie Davey and Ross Barr also placed well, achieving top-10 rankings in their heats. Other Australians also made it into the A finals by slimmer margins; Alex Davey just squeezed in coming 23rd in his M50-3 heat, Julia Prudhoe of Central Coast running in W55 and Southern Highlands’ Val Hodsdon (W60) also gained a place in their respective A finals. John Hodsdon in M70 had the misfortune of a gate closing just prior to his arrival and so he had to detour not realising the gate should have been open. The detour cost probably 25 places. On this detailed map, any pauses were costly.
Sweden taking 5 golds, 8 silver and 6 bronze medals. Of the Australian competitors it was the younger end of the age groups who fared best with Susanne and Jenny Casanova finishing 5th and 12th in their A Final, with Blair Trewin 17th and Paul Liggins 26th in M40. Susanne fell only 5secs short of a medal in her WMOC debut, squeezed out of the places by former JWOC medallist Annika Bjork and long-standing Romanian international Veronica Minoiu. Hermann Wehner added another to his long list of single-digit placings with a 6th place in M85. Unfortunately, Jim Russell missed out on a place due to a mistake near the end of his course. Jim punched #10 before #9, which were close together, and only realised his mistake after taking off from #10. He ended up in 13th position, just 1min 2secs behind the winner. Small mistakes cost serious places and although ACT’s Anne Ingwersen had a good race in W65 finishing 9th, for the Australian contingent there too many small mistakes which pushed their results down the leader board.
Long Distance qualifiers
The Sprint Final was held in the mining town of Komló, 22km north of Pécs, an area characterised by many short steep grassy slopes and lots of steps. The competition was essentially around a residential area of many blocks of Communist-era style apartments. The organisers were so concerned about the grassy slopes that they advised competitors to wear dobbed spike shoes, but this actually caused some competitors problems when negotiating the concrete steps or paved areas. There were a number of accidents with competitors slipping and falling near the Finish arena. Whilst the area was not as complex or as detailed as the qualification area there were still enough features for the setter to cause competitors problems especially near the end of the courses.
The first of the Long Distance Qualifier races was held some 16km to the NW of Pécs, in an area called Szarvaskut. The area of mainly spur-gully in normal circumstances would have suited the Australians but these gullies were numerous, deeper and steeper than Australian terrain, and being created by erosion were slippery underfoot. Small areas of fight also affected runnability and the general terrain was very green underfoot due to good recent rains. The Australian contingent had some great results with honours again falling to Victoria’s Jim Russell who topped heat 5 of the M50s, with Susanne Casanova 2nd in the W35 heats. Jenny Casanova also had a good run finishing 8th in W35 with Debbie Davey (W50) managing 10th and Paul Adrian (M90) 5th. Garingal contender Ross Barr made one error which pushed him down the rankings and Barbara Junghans of Garingal fell foul of the numerous tracks making an error which extinguished her chances of getting into the A or B finals.
The Finns and the Swedes were dominant in the Sprints. Finland swept away with a total of 8 golds, 2 silver and 4 bronze with
The second part of Long Distance qualification was hosted in Orfű, 14km north of Pécs. Quite a different terrain was offered
Sprint Finals
30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
here in the shape of highly technical karstic geography with numerous small and large sink holes and depressions, called ‘dolinas’. It was not only the competition which was heating up in Orfű; skies cleared warming up temperatures to around 35°C with a slight breeze. The start was a long steep walk to the beginning of the plateau, where the main part of the courses was on the magnificent limestone sink-hole terrain finishing with a steep descent through leaf-strewn dense dark sapling forest, a drop of some 160m. Susanne Casanova consolidated her A Final position with a 4th, leading a total of 12 Australians qualifying for A Final races including an improving Ann Ingwersen (W65) 8th, John Hodson (M70) 9th and Debbie Davey (W40) 18th.
Long Distance Finals The best map was saved until last with more of the karst terrain seen in the qualifications. Some of the sinkholes here were really challenging, being as big as football fields with steep 30m drops into the pits at the bottom - difficult to have to navigate around, assuming your control was not at the bottom of one, or on the side. Again it was the Scandinavians who showed their strength, with Finnish and Swedish teams scooping up 13 of the 24 gold medals available between them to add to their total for the whole competition of 33 and 34 medals respectively. And for Australia? Our contenders produced some solid top-20 results including Blair Trewin 13th, Jim Russell 7th, Hermann Wehner 7th and Jenny Casanova 9th but the best result for Australia for the whole Jim Russell ended up 13th in the M50 Sprint. Susanne Casanova won silver in the Long following up a 5th in the Sprint.
match was achieved on this last day with Susanne Casanova carrying off silver in W35. A consistent run saw her bettered only by many-times Romanian WOC representative Zsuzsa Fey, with Hungary’s Agnes Simon in third place. Unofficial Medal table: Gold Sprint W
M
W
M
Finland
1
7
1
5
Sweden
5
6
1
2
1
1
Switzerland
1
Norway
2
Denmark Great Britain
Time 13:26 13:35 14:23 14:24 14:28
W35-A LONG Name 1 Zsuzsa Fey 2 Susanne Casanova 3 Ágnes Simon 4 Liliia Shikhova 5 Silvia Chupekova 6 Kinga Schmal 7 Annika Björk 8 Jana Slamova 9 Jenny Casanova 10 Veronica Minoiu
6.8 km 310 m 17 C YB Nat Club 76 ROU Cluj-Kolozsvár 76 AUS Top End Orienteers 74 HUN Egri Testedz_ Club 73 RUS Moscow Compass MPEI 72 SVK Slavia ZU Zilina 74 HUN Taszár Honvéd SE 76 SWE Domnarvets GoIF 72 SVK ATU Kosice 75 AUS Wallaringa Orienteers 72 ROU CS UNIVERSITATEA Cra
Time 52:11 55:16 56:21 57:09 59:18 61:13 62:18 62:49 63:15 63:16
1
Slovakia
4 2
1 1
2
1
1 1
1
1 1
W
M
W
M
W
M
2
5
2
2
1
5
70
4
2
1
4
2
3
2
69
1
3
1
3
1
1
27
1
1
2
1
23
1
1
2 1
1
3
16 2 1
11 1
1 2
10 2
2
9 9 8 6
1
5
1
5
Lithuania
1
1
4
1
Portugal
1 1
Australia
Ukraine
Medal tally*
2
1
USA
New Zealand
Bronze Long
1 1
Italy
Bronze Sprint
M
1
Romania
Estonia
Silver Long
1
Hungary Czech Rep
W
2
Germany
2.2 km 80 m 12 C YB Nat Club 76 GBR Cleveland Orienteering 76 HUN Orvosegyetem SC 76 SWE Domnarvets GoIF 72 ROU CS UNIVERSITATEA Cra 76 AUS Top End Orienteers
Silver Sprint
Country
Russia
W35-A SPRINT Name 1 Karen Poole 2 Anna Füzy 3 Annika Björk 4 Veronica Minoiu 5 Susanne Casanova
Gold Long
3 1
1
3 2
1
2 1
2 1
1
Unofficial medal table compiled from results posted on WMOC 2011 site – Maggie Jones *Gold 3pts, Silver 2pts, Bronze 1pt SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31
32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
AUSTRALIAN SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPS
2011 AUS SPRINT Championships M17-20E, 3.9 km, 27 controls 1 Lachlan Dow BS A 2 Oscar McNulty LO.W 3 Ian Lawford AO A 4 Oliver Poland BS A 5 Oscar Phillips EV T 6 Max Neve MFV 7 Stuart Lawrie AL T 8 James Robertson BGV 9 Joshua Blatchford NC N 10 Kasimir Gregory NT 11 Oliver Crosato RR Q 12 Kurt Neumann EN Q 13 Bill Mann WO.W 14 Richard Hyslop PO Brodie Nankervis EV T Karl Bicevskis AL T Andreas Gafner SUI .
Time 16.53 16.56 17.11 17.31 17.48 18.01 18.20 18.35 18.50 19.16 19.39 19.40 20.01 26.53 mp dns dns
M21E, 3.9 km, 27 controls 1 Simon Uppill 2 Grant Bluett 3 Bruce Arthur 4 Murray Scown 5 Evan Barr 6 Rob Preston 7 Steve Fletcher 8 Lachlan Hallett 9 Eric Morris 10 Ben Corry 11 Sten Claessens 12 John Toomey 13 Ricky Thackray 14 Blair Trewin 15 Glenn Meyer 15 Paul Liggins 17 Rob Jessop 18 Kwok Keung Yeung 19 Graham Braid 20 Adrian Day 21 Ian Dalton 22 Raphael Neukom 23 Paul Williams 24 Tyson Hillyard 25 Paul Dowling
Time 17.07 17.18 17.40 17.42 17.45 18.10 18.50 18.54 19.21 20.00 20.07 20.17 20.18 20.28 20.42 20.42 21.02 21.07 21.26 23.18 23.23 23.57 24.12 24.23 27.15
OH SA AO A MFV AO A BG V CH V WO.W TE S BN N LO.W LO.W WO.W BO.W YV V WO.W MF V AK Z HKG . KO.W LO.W WO.W DR V WO W TJ SA BO.W
Lachlan Dow, winner of M17-20E.
Oscar McNulty. Photo: Tony Hill
Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor
Simon Uppill, first M21E.
Josh Blatchford Photo: Tony Hill
Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33
34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
AUSTRALIAN 3-DAYS
Pre-Frazzled Easter Prologue
W21E, 2.2 km, 20 controls
Time
Jasmine Neve.
1
Jasmine Neve
MF V
13.13
2
Mace Neve
RR
13.27
3
Anna Sheldon
UG Q
14.05
4
Susanne Casanova
TE NT
14.21
5
Tracy Marsh
BF
14.22
5
Vanessa Round
MF V
14.22
W17-20E, 2.2 km, 20 controls
Time
7
Shannon Jones
RR A
14.31
1
Belinda Lawford
AO A
15.52
8
Kathryn Ewels
CH V
14.34
2
Krystal Neumann
EN Q
16.34
9
Aislinn Prendergast
EUV
15.30
3
Claire Butler
AL T
17.03
10
Cath Chalmers
BF N
15.32
4
Georgia Parsons
BS A
17.18
11
Bridget Anderson
OH SA
15.41
5
Lilian Burrill
UG Q
17.48
12
Rachel West
BO.W
15.42
6
Katelyn Effeney
UG Q
18.13
13
Erin Post
WO W
15.46
7
Jacqui Doyle
EN Q
18.25
14
Jenny Casanova
WA SA
15.52
8
Emma Campbell
AL T
19.15
15
Rachel Effeney
UG Q
16.04
9
Michele Dawson
GO
19.28
16
Laurina Neumann
BGV
16.49
10
Amy Buckerfield
AL T
20.09
17
Sarah Buckerfield
AL T
17.54
11
Heather Muir
EN Q
21.28
18
Kellie Whitfield
SW.W
17.55
12
Rebecca Freese
TF Q
21.41
19
Isobel Cusick
AL T
18.31
13
Rebecca Butler
AL T
22.21
20
Wendy Read
UG Q
19.43
14
Emily Prudhoe
CC
22.37
21
Briohny Seaman
WR
20.02
14
Mary Fleming
CHV
22.37
22
Jen Graham-Taylor
WO.W
21.48
16
Jessie West
AL T
23.16
17
Sally-Anne Henderson
NC
26.27
18
Alinta Merrotsy
NT
28.12
Photo: Tony Hill
Belinda Lawford. Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor
Tracey Marsh. Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor
Shannon Jones.
Krystal Neumann.
Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor
Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor
Vanessa Round.
Anna Sheldon.
Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor
Photo: Jen Graham-Taylor SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35
MTB ORIENTEERING
MTBO NEWS Blake Gordon
Cadel Wins The Tour de France
I
’m sure that many of you have been watching the Tour over the month of July and have shared the excitement each day/night as Cadel ground out a much-deserved win in the premier multi-day cycling event in the world. Cycling will certainly get a boost from his determined victory, despite mechanicals, wintry conditions and tough competition. But it was Cadel’s comments about his support team and how they got him into good positions during the 3-week long event that caught my attention. It is the same in MTBO – it’s a team effort – and we all need to ask ourselves just how much of a contribution each of us is making to MTBO. Are you along for the ride or are you a working member of the peloton? So this year volunteer to help organise, set, check, or organise in your state so that some can shine on the MTBO stage.
World Championships Preview This will be the first World MTBO Championships since 2002 when there will be no Jackson in the Australian team. Adrian Jackson made a decision early in 2011 to finish his PhD studies and not seek selection for the WMTBOC team to Italy. The selectors went for youth this year by picking a strong 4-man M-20 Team of Chris Firman (QLD), Tom Goddard (TAS), Marc Gluskie (TAS), and Oscar Phillips (TAS). As a coach and former manager I know the pitfalls of making predictions about future performances on the world Orienteering stage. No one would have gone out on the limb to predict the 5th place podium finish that our M-20 Relay team (Firman, Gluskie and Luke Poland) achieved in Portugal in 2010. But the M-20 team has done its mental preparation, ridden faster, and made significant improvements in fitness, training and experience over the last eight months. So they are ready to make the next step – will it happen in Italy? Our senior members of the team – Alex Randall and Steven Cusworth (VIC) and Melanie Simpson (NSW) – have made significant moves toward improved performances. Melanie, based in Norway since last August, has gained valuable race savvy in Europe, while Steven has worked on riding fitness
Melanie Simpson, who now lives in Norway, was on hand in Vicenza for one of the pre World Champs training weeks.
and speed in preparation for his third WMTBOC. Despite a painful stick wound while training, Alex has recovered the good form that has seen him represent Australia in every WMTBOC except Israel since 2002. Without Adrian’s winning formula can this team improve the Australian standard in Italy? Watch and keep tuned to www.mtbo2011.org from 20-28 August. Also check out the team blog http://ozmtboteam.socialfx.net
2012 Australia-New Zealand MTBO Challenge After six years of events in Australia, the 2012 Australia-New Zealand MTB Orienteering Challenge will be contested at the Otago MTBO Carnival in the Long, Middle and Sprint Distance Championships from 8-14 January 2012. Otago MTBO carnival website www.otagomtbo2012.co.nz has details of the events plus entry. Australian teams of three + Reserves will be selected for the following age groups (if sufficient nominations are received): M-20, 21, 40, 50, 60, 70 W-20, 21, 40, 50, 60, 70 Any Australian citizen who is a current financial member of their State Association and a club (regardless of where they live) is eligible to represent Australia. Performances at the 2010 Australian MTBO Championships, 2010 National MTBO Rankings, 2011 National MTBO Series events, and the 2011 Australian MTBO Championships will be the primary guides to selection. People who contest only one of these will still be considered. To nominate for the AUS MTBO Team please advise your name, age class (as of 31 December 2012), State and club, email address, phone numbers, and whether you need an Australian MTBO jersey on the “Register” page of the http://otagomtbotrip.weebly.com. If you wish to purchase
The new Aussie jersey for the New Zealand trip. 36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
Largest MTBO event in Australia gets into the ‘Cadelebrations’ Left: Senior Boys head off from the start line with the three podium placegetters at the front already. Eventual winner Angus Robinson (centre) just pipped Tim Jackson (right) by 14 seconds with Will Bleeck (left) third. Below: Senior Girls winner Bronte McDonald was wearing Cadel’s BMC team jersey as she visited all controls well inside the 2 hour limit.
While the big welcome Cadel Evans home ‘Cadelebrations’ were in full swing in Melbourne city, the largest MTBO event in Australia was being held not far from Tullamarine airport at Woodlands Historic Park. The 2011 Victorian Schools MTBO Championships, now in their 6th year, attracted 188 entries with a mix of solo, pairs and mixed classes for junior and senior boys and girls. The event is a 2 hour score with separate start times for each class.
a jersey, check the size chart on the website. Please note that each selected member of the AUS team must ride in the same age class at each of the three events in the team jersey. The team will be announced by the National MTBO Selection Panel in early November. Keep up with the progress of the trip on the web page expertly put together by Craig Steffens (QLD M40) who will manage the AUS team.
National MTBO Series Preview With two rounds of the 2011 National MTBO Series in the record books (April in Victoria, July in Qld) the competition is hotting up for the National Oceania MTBO Championships in Beechworth. In the Elite Series Victoria holds a narrow lead over Queensland while in the Masters Series Victoria’s impressive perfect start at Barkstead (144 points out of 144) is being pegged back by QLD, NSW and WA riders. The four events in the Beechworth area from 14-16 October promise to be the most exciting in recent years with the addition of a “Relay among the grapevines” (that should provide a new twist!) to the Sprint, Middle and Long Championships (two WRE’s for the Elites). This will be a combined effort of Victoria’s Albury Wodonga club, led by Rick Armstrong, Norm McCann, and Leigh Privett, and the ACT organised by Ann Scown. Check out the website www.ooceaniamtbo.com, get your entry in and enjoy! Finally the 2011 season will roll to a close at the NSW MTBO Championships (Round 4 National MTBO Series) in late October near Jenolan. In 2012 you can pencil in Round 1 of the National MTBO Series (Selection Trials for WMTBOC in Hungary) in Central Victoria on 28-29 April; Round 2 in Queensland in July; and Round 3 (the Australian MTBO Championships), Taree NSW, in late October.
Orienteering Service of Australia www.osoa.com.au
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Orienteering Service of Australia www.osoa.com.au
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37
MTB ORIENTEERING
4 mapboards for MTBO Peter Cusworth
A mapboard is pretty much an essential item for MTBO. I have seen a few people compete without one, but to be able to read the map and plan your course as you ride is crucial for a clean ride.
W
hen I first started MTBO, like many others, I used a homemade board as investing good money on a plastic rotating thingy seemed a bit over the top. I didn’t mind carting along heavy clamps and bits of plywood but eventually, after a few failures, I was swayed by lighter and better made mapboard alternatives. The first Silva mapboards that you could buy clipped on to your handle bars in seconds, which was great, but they wobbled a bit and with time the plastic clips or board broke. Later, some of our Australian team reps brought home the Miry mapboard which is made in the Czech Republic, and this seemed like a big advance in design. The Miry featured a large support ring which gave the board a much more stable platform to read your map from. In this article, we look at four boards that are in the market place now. Three of them are manufactured in Europe and one is made here in Australia. They are all of a similar basic design in that they offer 360 degree rotation via a large ring turntable, have a clear plastic cover, and clamps to the handle bars. They all achieve their primary function in offering a waterproof, stable platform and give you an equal chance of reading your map successfully. As such, I am not going to rate them all and tell you which board I think you should buy, as any of them will do the job well. Where they differ is in the finer details which I will try to point out and let you decide which you may prefer.
Fitting your mapboard One of my pet hates at MTBO events is fitting the mapboard to my bike. The earlier boards featured clamps with two allen head bolts on each side – four bolts to attach – and these you had to do from underneath! Hence you were always dropping bolts or the top of the clamp, usually in rough grass, as you rush to get ready at events. Added to my dislike was the fact I used to have a number of family bikes to mount boards to, but thankfully, I only have to look after my own these days – they’re old enough to do their own! 38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
The next development in boards was the hinged clamp so that there is now only one bolt on each side to do up and most manufacturers have redesigned their clamp so that the bolt goes in from the top. Ahhh... no more scrabbling under the bars and through the brake cables to tighten it up. So you can see that the ease of attaching the board is of great interest to me and hence I have timed myself attaching each of these boards just to let you know. Surprisingly, the longest took me only 75 seconds, so I don’t know what I was complaining about, or perhaps this is an indication of how map board design has improved.
Board position Another point of difference is the position of the board relative to your handle bars. This seems to be a personal preference. Some are closer than others, and some are higher or lower than others. I like to still be able to see the front tyre over the front edge of my board so I can see what I’m doing on more technical riding and so prefer a board not set forward very much like the PilotOne and Miry. I have measured “set forward” distance for each board. This was done by measuring a horizontal line from the centre of the bars to the centre rotating point of the board. There is also the option of mounting the board backwards which would place the board closer to the rider, although with some boards, so close you may start clipping the board with your knees. You can also just tilt the board more towards you if you don’t mind a bit of extra wind resistance. The height of the board is pretty well set with each board’s design, although the Orifix board is available with two heights and also an extension to lift the board higher and closer to your face, if desired.
Handle bar size Bicycle handle bars come in two different diameters where they attach to the stem: 25.4mm or 31.8mm. The thin 25.4mm size used to be the norm, but it is gradually being replaced by the thicker 31.8mm bars that then taper to the thinner size. The Miry board is available in both sizes, so you need to order the correct size for your bars. The other three boards come in the 31.8mm size but a plastic adapter is either included or available as an option. The AutoPilot adapter is even advertised as fitting Miry boards.
T
he current Miry design is the result of a number improvements made over the years.
Miry Mapboard
A sturdy powder coated aluminium construction. Two separate models for each handlebar size, so if you change bars size, you’ll need to replace the main support part.
Dist forward# (mm)............... 20
The board is attached via two hinged clamps that are a snug fit on the bars and are tightened by two allen head bolts. There is an option to purchase two thumbscrews and thereby have “tool free” fitting. Plastic map cover is retained by metal press studs. There are reinforced plastic tabs to assist in undoing the press studs. Mapboard rotating tension can be adjusted via the central allen bolt and lock nut. The Miry is available in Australia with either an 275 x 275 mm (11 inch), or a 300 x 300 mm (12 inch) board. One option that Miry offers that is popular with many elites (including multiple World Champ, Adrian
Weight (gm)......................... 340 Fitting time (sec)................... 50 Height* (mm)....................... 102 Price AUD.......................... $145 Manufactured in Czech Republic Contact: Orienteering Services of Australia – www.osoa.com.au Dist forward – horizontal distance from centre of bars to the centre of the board. * Height from top of bars to top of board #
Jackson) is their Quick Load (QL) board. The plastic cover on this board is trimmed flush with three sides of the board and does not wrap around the edges. The cover is press studded from the top. This means you don’t have to fold your map to fit – you put the map on the board, put the cover down and press stud through the map. This can often leave some parts of the map hanging over the edges. This allows for very fast map loading at the start. Not so good on wet days though as you can actually lose parts of a sodden map.
Mapboard covers All four boards should keep your map dry in wet weather each using a similar clear plastic that wraps around each side of the board and is attached underneath. The Miry and Windchill boards use metal press studs fitted with reinforced tabs for easier undoing. The Orifix board uses velcro tabs and the PilotOne uses elastic loops over hooks. I have mostly used boards with the press studs but I can see some advantages with the other two methods. The metal press studs require regular cleaning and lubricating to keep them working well. At the start of most events, riders get 1 minute to position their map in their board. Often this involves folding several sides of the map so that it will fit under the cover, making the map somewhat thicker. I think we’ve all
T
he Windchill mapboard is manufactured by regular Victorian MTBOer Ralph Koch. You will see lots of these boards in use at local events, particularly in Victoria.
Windchill Map Holder
Ralph has recently released an improved version of his board where the main support arms have been simplified with just a single arm on each side. The Windchill is still the heaviest of these four boards weighing in at 490 grams.
Price AUD............................ $99
The clamps are machined slightly oversize to allow for a length of rubber strip wrapped around the bars to protect them from scratching. I attached the strips with a lap of electrical tape and one should leave these on all of the time for faster board fitting. The clamps have a double jointed hinge which can be a little fiddly when mounting. They are tightened via allen head bolts from the top – very handy. The board is supplied with plastic adapters for narrow handle bars and also 2 allen keys for assembly.
Weight (gm)......................... 490 Fitting time (sec)................... 75 Dist forward# (mm)............... 50 Height* (mm)......................... 84 Manufactured in Australia Enquiries: Windchill Sports Ph 03 9714 8540 www.windchill.com.au The 270 x 270 mm board is made from an almost indestructible plastic and tightened underneath by a large knurled knob. Quite a simple way to get just the right tension on the rotating board. The Cons: The Windchill is the heaviest and took me the longest to mount, but is not far off the other boards in these figures. The Pros: The Windchill is the cheapest, is locally made and can be supplied at most Victorian and major Australian events. Parts and repairs easily supplied too.
experienced a tight plastic cover and trying to get the press studs to still click in. Both the elastic loops and velcro tabs give a bit allowance in this situation and attach quickly leaving you more time to planning your the first part of your course.
How heavy and how much? If you are a bit of a weight weeny, I have weighed each of the boards so you can see how they compare. And the final thing that helps people make up their mind, is the price. The Miry and Orifix boards can be purchased from Australian agents, while the Windchill is Australian made. The PilotOne can be ordered from Europe via their website, although at this stage, payment being via bank transfer, is not so user friendly. SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39
MTB ORIENTEERING
T
he Portuguese made Orifix mapboard has recently been added to the product list of aussieogear.com, who are also the Australian agents for SportIdent.
Orifix Mapboard
The Orifix is a well made board that ticks most of the boxes. It is light, easy to fit, comes in your choice of four colours (with more to be added soon) so that you can colour match your board and bike. The two attachment clamps are hinged, finely machined and tightened by thumbscrews, so tool free fitting. The really good thing with these Orifix thumbscrews is that after undoing they are retained in the top part of the clamp so you can’t drop or lose them.
Height* (mm)......................... 92
Board size is 275 x 275 mm. The clear plastic map cover is retained by 4 velcro pads under each side which gives a bit of room for thicker maps and shuffling your map mid event.
Weight (gm)......................... 340 Fitting time (sec)................... 45 Dist forward# (mm)............... 43 Price AUD.......................... $119 Manufactured in Portugal Australian agent: aussieogear.com Ph 02 4384 5003 also purchase height extensions if you prefer the board even closer to you. The board rotating tension is adjust by 2 wingnuts, and so is tool free again. Apparently a revised model will soon be available as well, so this should be most impressive.
The Orifix is supplied with plastic adapters to fit the board to narrow handle bars. As an option, you can
T
he AutoPilot PilotOne board took my attention with its tool-free fitting that doesn’t even include any screws to do up. The two hinged clamps have a long arm that with the use of two adjustable plastic hose clamps tighten on to one of the main uprights. It’s hard to explain so I’ll include a diagram. Undoing the board was just as fast too. Just slip the hose clamps up and the main clamps open up and its off. Initially it was difficult to get the clamps really tight and there was some movement of the board on the bars, but by first adding some electrical tape there was less chance of the board slipping. The main structure is made from nicely machined alloy, painted black. The board we tested was 280 x 280 mm, but is available in some other sizes too. It is made from a yellow, almost clear, plastic core flute material (ie it has hollow
AutoPilot PilotOne Weight (gm)......................... 280 Fitting time (sec)................... 30 Dist forward# (mm)................. 0 Height* (mm)......................... 98 Price Euro (plus postage).....€€60 Manufactured in Czech Republic Contact: AutoPilot www.autopilot.makeit.cz/index_ en.htm tubes). I suspect this is where the PilotOne gets its weight advantage over the other boards, but the board seemed very firm and stable on test. I imagine it could suffer some damage in the case of a stack though. The plastic cover is retained by loops of clothing type elastic and metal hooks. Looked kind of clunky when I first saw them, but they work really well. Very fast and easy to fit a map with room to move in the case of thicker folded maps.
Photo showing the tool-free clamps on the pilotOne. Open (top) and closed (below) with the small plastic hose clamps pushed down over the clamp arm. The plastic hose clamps can be tightened by hand.
40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
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SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41 trailrunner-half4.indd 1
Arial Black 12pt spärrad +900
18/3/10 11:51:19 AM
JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
...some more JWOC photos from Valerie Barker
Lillian Burrill on the Relay mass start.
Oscar McNulty
42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
Georgia Parsons
TOP EVENTS 2011
2013 Sept 23-28
Oct 1-9
Oct 2-6
2011
OCEANIA
M TBO Championships
Oct 14-16
& Australian MTBO Champs
BEECHWORTH VICTORIA
Ned Kelly countr y
Nov 11-12 Nov 12-13 Dec 27-31
RadiO Asia-Pacific Champs 2011 Region 3 ARDF, Bendigo district, Victoria. www.ardf.org.au Oceania, Australian & Schools Championships VIC, NSW & ACT www.oceania2011.asn.au Puglia 5 Days 2011 Gargano, Italy www.orienteering.it Oceania/Australian MTBO Champs Beechworth, Victoria www.oceaniamtbo.com Adriatic Meeting 2011, Italy (near Venice) www.orienteering.it Venice City Race 2011, Italy. www.orivenezia.it Xmas 5-Days, Central Coast NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au
2012 Jan 8-14
AL I AUSTR
E
Easter 2012 3 Days
IP S NSH IO
3 DAY CHAM ANASTER 2012 P
April 6-9
Granite & G ra pes ST AN D THOR PE QL
April 28-29
June 16-17
July 1-8
July 7-14
July 7-14
July 12-27
July 14-22
Aug 20-25
Sept 22-30 Oct 27-28
Dec 27-31
Otago MTBO Carnival, NZ Christchurch & Queenstown www.otagomtbocarnival.co.nz Australian 3-Days, Stanthorpe, Queensland www.easter2012.com.au Victorian MTBO Champs & Australian Team Selection Trials Newstead & Maryborough, Vic. Jukola Relays Vantaa, Finland WMOC Bad Harzburg, Germany www.wmoc2012.de JWOC Kosice, Slovakia Tour O Swiss 2012 Basel to Lausanne www.tour-o-swiss.ch Tour de Halland inc O-Ringen 2012 Halmstad, Halland, Sweden, www.oringen.se WOC Lausanne, Switzerland www.woc2012.ch MTBO World Champs MTBO Junior World Champs MTBO Masters World Champs Veszprem, Hungary www.mtbo.hu/mtbwoc2012.php Australian Championships, St Helens, Tasmania Australian MTBO Championships Taree NSW mountaindevils.com Xmas 5-Days, NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au
Jan 5-13
June 29July 6 July 14-22
July 20-26
Dates tba
25 July – 4 August
2013 Oceania Carnival – NZ Wellington & Hawkes Bay areas www.oceania2013.co.nz JWOC 2013 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic www.jwoc2013.cz WOC2013 Vuokkati, Finland www.woc2013.fi O-Ringen 2013 Boden, Lapland, Sweden www.oringen.se MTBO World Champs MTBO Junior World Champs West-Viru, Estonia 2013 World Games Cali, Colombia worldgames2013.com.co
OR IE NTE E R ING PUBLICATIONS IOF Publications
Australian Publications
International Specifications for‑Orienteering Maps . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Competition rules for IOF events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Control Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Simple Maps for Orienteering . . . . $11.00 Trail Orienteering (BOF book). . . . . $30.00 Trail Orienteering (booklet). . . . . . . . $8.25 Trail O (leaflet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.70
Elementary Orienteering Instructors‑Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . $13.20 Level 1 Coaching Manual. . . . . . . . $22.00 Level 1 Coaching Syllabus. . . . . . . . $3.90 Level 2 Coaching Syllabus. . . . . . . . $4.40 Level 3 Coaching Syllabus. . . . . . . . $4.40 Among the Best Orienteers (video).$19.75 Sponsorship & Advertising, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . available from states Club Guide, available on disc.
Prices include GST and postage within Australia for single copies. Prices for bulk orders available on request. Orders should be addressed to Orienteering Australia, PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911, with cheques made payable to Orienteering Australia. Email: orienteering@netspeed.com.au
Advertise your event You can have a 6 x 8 cm event ad for just $50 In colour, if we have room, otherwise black & white Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au
Orienteering Australia – National Training Centre SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43
Letters
The Australian Orienteer welcomes letters. Preference will be given to letters which are concise and which make positive points. The editor reserves the right to edit letters, particularly ones which are longer than 300 words.
Y
Talent Identification
our article on page 45 of The Australian Orienteer, June 2011, stirred up an abiding interest I have in talent identification as the best way to find potential high performers for Orienteering (apart from those who come up through the ranks of orienteering families). In the Australian culture, there is not an inherent interest in being invited to go in to the bush by yourself to get lost; potential orienteers have to be discovered and enticed by enthusiastic, experienced and qualified talent identifiers. I can think of at least three such orienteers around the country who have done this in their own locale with outstanding results.... but as volunteers. ‘Should OA devote more resources to talent identification programs in the States?’. I believe the answer is ‘yes’ but not to the States; it is too big a job and a national approach should be taken on a professional basis. Is there a more efficacious way to spend the $86,000 from the Australian Sports Commission for the High Performance Programme than to pay for a national talent identifier? I look forward to an advertisement in your excellent magazine for a call from Orienteering Australia for applications for such a position in the near future.
FOR STOCKISTS CALL 1800 209 999
www.victorinox.com
On reflection, I’m so glad you raised the issue John Lyon (level 2 coach, level 3 controller, Tintookies O club, SA)
VICTORINOX AWARD The Victorinox Award goes to Kevin Vigar of Lincoln Orienteers for his excellent article in this issue on Urban O around Port Lincoln. He will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $119.
BOOK REVIEW Orienteering – Skills, Techniques, Training (Crowood Sports Guides) by Carol McNeill Crowood Press, Wiltshire, Great Britain; 2010; 128pages.
T
his latest book from highly respected British orienteer Carol McNeill, is a must for all levels of orienteer or coach. The beginner or regular orienteer will find information to absorb on every page, whilst elite orienteers of all ages will glean useful new tips and reinforce existing techniques. The use of over 200 maps and photographs in full colour is a real highlight, as these bring to life the techniques and terrain described. Eight pages are used to show the maps and insightful leg by leg analysis of outstanding British orienteers Graham Gristwood and Pippa Whitehouse in their Long Distance and Sprint races at the 2009 World Championships in Hungary. Four chapters devoted to training cover physical fitness, periodization, technical and mental training. Again, the use of colourful diagrams clarifies how to construct both annual periodization plans and week by week programs. Included also is an appendix with all International Control Description Symbols, a Glossary of Orienteering terms and index. This book is written for the British market but the skills, techniques and other concepts depicted are universal in use. Highly recommended. Available from www.crowoodpress.com, or through Orienteering Service of Australia for $34.95 Kay Haarsma 44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
O-SPY Folding Bike Orienteering Challenge in Hong Kong
L
en Budge spotted signage for this event in Hong Kong at the end of May, where over 400 participants with folding bikes make their way around a 50km course in Hong Kong and the New Territories.
“From Small Things Big things GROW”
Riders set off armed with urban survival essentials (but no iPads) and a compass to visit designated check points around Hong Kong. Along the way they were also allowed to use the local metro train system (but not taxis or buses), and had to perform set tasks at certain check points.
CELEBRATING TWENTY YEARS OF MID WEEK – MID YEAR SUBURBAN ORIENTEERING
I
n January 1991 Mark Besley (DRV) asked a question at a Melboune Park & Street Wednesday Eastern Suburbs Daylight Saving event - “Why not run a few events in March, the nights are still pleasant?” It started with four events in 1991, plus an event in Olinda Forest at 7pm in the dark. The series grew each year. There were 30 events in 1996, after just five years. Twenty years later Mark is still scoring, not five events, but (in 2011) 30 Wednesday evening 7pm Park & Street events in Autumn, Winter and Spring. Attendances per event have grown from an average of about 25 to around 100. The all-yearround week night score events have assisted in maintaining a strong, loyal band of healthy Orienteering participants in Park & Street Orienteering. Tuesday evening events are held in the Western Suburbs from April to June each year with an average attendance of about 65. Thirty 7pm Monday night events with 25 controls that require a pencil to record a one digit detail from each control site (light poles) are now run in Melbourne’s Eastern Suburbs from April to October attracting an average of nearly 60 people per event. Wally Cavill - DRV
Here is a link to a few youtube clips although competitors seem to spend most of their time running with their bikes! http://www.youtube.com/ user/sportsoho#p/u/4/ l7glJLk6OCI
Australian Institute of Sport turns 30
T
he AIS opened on Australia Day 1981 in response to a marked decline in Australian performances in international sport. Some five years earlier at the Montreal Olympics the Australian national anthem was not heard once. In fact, Australians won just one silver medal and four bronze medals. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser opened the AIS and renowned swim coach Don Talbot was appointed as the Institute’s first Director. By contrast with those ‘dark days’, at the 2004 Athens Olympics Australians won 17 gold medals and Australia finished in fourth place on the medals table. In fact, 10 of those 17 gold medals were won by AIS athletes; this would have placed the AIS in ninth position on the medals table, ahead of countries like Great Britain, Greece and Canada.
T
O rienteering at 2013 Maccabiah Games – maybe
he Maccabiah Sports Committee has conditionally agreed to include Orienteering — for the first time ever — at the 19th Maccabiah Games in Israel in July 2013. Final approval required the Israel Sport Orienteering Association (ISOA) to submit a list of 50 Jewish, nonIsraeli, Orienteering athletes by July 31, 2011. The Maccabiah is an international Jewish athletic event, held every four years in Israel. The Maccabiah is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and the World Federation of Sports. At the 18th Maccabiah Games in 2009, over 9000 Jewish athletes from 51 countries competed in 31 sports events. The ISOA is urgently seeking Jewish orienteers outside of Israel. It is hoped that these athletes will participate in the upcoming Maccabiah, but no commitment is required at this point. Potential participants are asked to provide only basic information (name, country, age, gender, email and phone number). If you are a Jewish orienteer, or know someone who is, please contact Doron Kaynar, ISOA Maccabiah Coordinator: doronks@smile.net.il The ISOA is asking orienteers around the world to help spread this message.
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45
RADI-O
Region 3 Champs Preview Ewen Templeton (ARDF-V)
P
lanning for the Region 3 ARDF Championships to be held in Victoria on 23 - 28 September is progressing well. Competitors are expected from China, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, USA, Kazakhstan and Croatia. Accommodation has been booked at the Blue Light Camp in Maldon with additional accommodation at the motel and caravan park also being booked. The Blue Light Camp will be the hub of the event as the majority of the teams will be accommodated there and it has space for team briefings and any other necessary meetings. The competitors will also be bussed from here to the competition areas. Meals will be provided by the Blue Light Camp which is walking distance from the caravan park and motel.
Online registration for the competition is open on the event website at http://r3.ardf.org.au To help make all this happen the Victorian ARDF group is looking for volunteers to help run the carnival. Examples of tasks include marshalling competitors onto and off buses at the airport or during the carnival; escorting them to the start quarantine areas; helping to erect tents and other infrastructure or handling results on the event days; and masterminding the Aussie BBQ on the tour day. If you are able to help please let Ewen Templeton (etempleton@ bigpond.com) or Bruce Paterson (brucep@netspace.net.au) know.
The first day of the carnival has a Model event where teams have time to check equipment in a bush area which is similar to the competition areas. In the afternoon there will be a fun Combo event in and around Maldon township which is open to everyone: competitors, volunteers and orienteers. The day concludes with an opening ceremony where the teams are introduced by country society and welcomed to the event by the president of the Wireless Institute of Australia and other dignitaries followed by some local entertainment. The second and fourth days of the event are the competition days. These days tend to be long as the competitors are required to be at the start quarantine area 30 minutes before the first start and then are started in groups at five minute intervals. Competitors have a time limit to complete the event. Between competition days we are planning a sight-seeing tour which will start with a steam train ride from Maldon to Castlemaine and then go to Bendigo by bus where there will be time to visit the Central Deborah gold mine and other attractions. The carnival will conclude with a closing ceremony after the second competition day. This includes a banquet meal, prize giving, entertainment and time to socialise and generally wind down after the events. Everyone then has two days to recover before it all starts again at the Oceania Orienteering carnival. 46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2011
8TH IARU REGION 3 ARDF CHAMPIONSHIPS Maldon Victoria Australia – 23rd to 28th of September 2011
NEW ZEALAND NEWS
TransTasman Tales
by Mick Finn
E
xciting news for New Zealand came in the form of a battery of superb performances at JWOC 2011 in Poland, from the “best-ever” Junior team.
A podium finish for New Zealand’s Angela Simpson coming home sixth in the Sprint at JWOC. Photo: Ian Simpson
From day one this Team was producing results and keeping late-night online spectators glued to their screens back home; starting with a podium finish for Angela Simpson. Her 6th place in the women’s Sprint has only been bettered by Tania Robinson’s 5th back 19 years ago in Finland (and Angela was only just 0.5 seconds behind 5th placed Julia Gross from Switzerland). But the consistency and depth of the NZ team was also evident as Matt Ogden (21st) and Toby Scott (30th) also cracked the top-30 and their team-mates Scott McDonald, Nick Hann and 15 year old Tim Robertson finished in the top half of the 158-strong field. A new day and the other end of the distance spectrum saw Simpson, Scott and Ogden once again in the top-30; this time Angela and Toby were 22nd and Matt 30th over the Long Distance course. Kate Morrison showed she was almost un-jetlagged with her 35th place - which she then followed up with a Finals qualifying run in the Middle Distance. And it wasn’t just Kate qualifying for the Final; in another first for NZ six of the team qualified with four - Angela, Toby, Matt, and Gene Beveridge all very comfortably in the top-7 of their heats, alongside Kate and Jaime Goodwin. Matt Ogden then made a claim for the NZ history books with a scintillating Finals run - his 15th place close to the best set by Richard Bolt’s 10th back in 1996, in the days when Simone Niggli was placing 9th at JWOC and Jo Allison 15th just behind her.
Polish runner raced in ahead of a long line strung out over several minutes. Toby had raced his heart out and stayed in touch but couldn’t get past the determined Europeans, bringing the team home in a spectacular 12th place. And the B teams showed the value of a week’s high-level competition to come in as next best of the non-European teams; both men and women - exciting prospects lie ahead for these younger members of the Team.
Test Match wins
But more fine work was to come from Matt and team-mates after their new team benchmarks in the individual formats. The last event of JWOC, the Relays, was a showcase of close racing and the organisers had gone all out to ensure that the teams were constantly split. First to adjust the record books were the NZ women with the newly-in-form Kate Morrison and Jaime Goodwin setting up the A-team in 10th place over the first two legs. Which wasn’t enough for anchor leg runner Angela Simpson - as she swiftly improved the team to 9th place to pick up New Zealand’s first top-10 in the Relay (after the 12th place achieved in Lithuania in 2006).
The platform for success of the Team as a whole was on display at the last domestic competition prior to JWOC: the SILVA Superseries finale and Test Match. Being just a few weeks before JWOC the finale traditionally features Aussie and Kiwi juniors hitting their peak, and fellow elites having to work very hard to take a win or even a place. This year top Bushranger Simon Uppill couldn’t get a win even as Superseries first and second placegetters Ross Morrison and Karl Dravitzki took one apiece, and junior Gene Beveridge snaffled the final day’s win - as did Angela Simpson and Kate Morrison to make three junior wins. Amber Morrison brought the balance back with her second day win.
The men started even stronger; Gene Beveridge stuck to the pack pace through a myriad of Relay splits and handed over to Matt Ogden in the middle of the lead pack in 8th place. Matt was aiming high and charged around looking to take the lead - he was at the spectator control 2nd, in the lead at two controls from the end, and at the changeover he was in third. After three top-30 Final placings he had run himself into supreme form and given the team its best ever chance for a win. But with over ten top orienteers heading out within a minute it was always going to be a daunting task for Toby Scott to regain the lead. It was a tough eight kilometres, with forkings aplenty meaning some runners were on a much shorter course, and when they emerged at the finish the host
While the locals prevailed again in the Test Match, the return match in Queensland will see the Kiwis as underdogs, but if the juniors in the Pinestars team bring across the form they took to Poland then watch out Bushrangers!
The highlight for many, amongst the tough individual races in the Woodhill forested sand-dunes, was the 2-person (male, female) Relay, Hagaby loop style. With points for both the Silva Superseries team competition and the trans-Tasman Test Match on offer the competition was the closest of the weekend. There was plenty for spectators to see as the racers looped back through the Start and the tight finish saw Ross Morrison charge in ahead of Simon Uppill with Tom Reynolds holding off the other Aussie teams for third.
SEPTEMBER 2011 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47
PHOTOS: JEN GRAHAM-TAYLOR
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