M AR CH 2 0 14
AUS/NZ MTBO Challenge
JUNIOR
PATHWAYS RRP $8.50 inc GST
SILVA National Orienteering League Event Program 2010
Round 1 – Brisbane, Queensland
Sprint Weekend
Saturday February 22 (AM)
Mixed Sprint Relay
Saturday February 22 (PM)
Sprint Qualification
Sunday February 23 (AM)
Sprint Final
Round 2 – Victoria
Middle & Long Weekend
Saturday March 22
Middle Distance (Yackandandah)
Sunday March 23
Long Distance (Kangaroo Crossing)
Round 3 – NSW
AUS 3-Days Carnival
April 18–21
Easter - Sprint, Middle, Long & Relay Distances
Round 4 – NSW
Relay & Long Weekend
Friday April 25
Mixed Sprint Relay
Saturday April 26
NSW Long Distance Championships
Round 5 – Victoria
Ultra-Long (Kooyoora)
August 31
Sun - AUS Ultra-Long Championship
Round 6 – Western Australia
AUS Championships Carnival
September 28 – October 5
Sprint, Middle, Long & Relay Distances
All race details can be found at www.orienteering.asn.au www.silva.se
SILVA is represented in Australia by FISKARS BRANDS. australia@fiskarsbrands.com
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA
The President’s Page Blair Trewin
I
’m writing this a few days after running in the Sprint Canberra series. We haven’t done anything quite like this before; while the numbers weren’t enormous, the event had a very vibrant feel to it with some great competition at the upper end (even if it was a slightly painful experience personally – I currently look like I’ve been sitting in a tub of beetroot courtesy of an argument with a flight of stairs during stage 2). The event was highly worthwhile in its own right but was also illustrative of a couple of things about trends in sport generally. Throughout the Australian sporting scene, the trend has been away from regular organised seasons or series, and towards more entrepreneurial, one-off events and people participating in individual events which are attractive to them. Sprint Canberra was a fine example of an event which got off the ground largely as a result of Dave Meyer’s initiative (following the lead of the highly successful Sprint The Bay series in New Zealand), outside the usual structure of State and National calendars. While I would expect that there will still be championship events and national series to give competitive structure to the season, I also see an increasing place in the calendar for events in attractive formats in attractive locations, and hope that other people will get ideas (although hopefully not all at the same time).
into place thanks to a lot of hard work in Tasmania. Tasmania is a State which punches well above its weight when it comes to major event organisation, but for something as big as a World Cup they will need a lot of support from the whole Australian orienteering community; expect to see a more specific call for volunteers in the coming months. For the event to be a success, it will also need to be well-attended, and I urge as many of you as possible to make Tasmania next January part of your plans (which is not to take anything away from what New South Wales and Western Australia are planning at Easter and in October respectively). For many of us, it has been a very hot summer – not the most pleasant of environments for training or competing, but also the type of summer which means that the thoughts of fire are never far from our minds. Sadly, this has been illustrated by the loss during January of two of the planned areas for next year’s Easter Carnival in South Australia. I’m assured that a good plan B is in place but it’s a reminder that as a sport, we depend on the availability of, and access to, good terrain and sometimes that can be fragile.
Another major success in Canberra was linking the event with a training camp for many of our leading seniors and juniors. While we do not yet have our full high performance coaching team in place (hopefully we will by the time you read this), we do have our WOC and JWOC coaching teams appointed. January has been a big month for training camps, bringing together many of our best orienteers on a scale we haven’t seen for some time. Whilst we shouldn’t expect overnight success, placing our high performance programs on a firmer structural footing should set us up well in the medium term.
All summers end (eventually), and this autumn has a lot to look forward to. See you at Easter (or at an event somewhere before then).
Our mountain bike orienteers have also been busy over the summer, with many of them travelling across the Tasman for an Australia-New Zealand Challenge in New Zealand. As has been the case in foot orienteering for the last couple of decades, home ground advantage was too much to overcome, but those who went still gave a good account of themselves. It is the start of a busy year for the mountain bike orienteers, who will be going to Queensland, Alice Springs and Western Australia during the course of the year. Some of our number have also enjoyed success away from the map and compass. Tom Goddard, who has achieved some excellent results at MTBO Junior World Championship level in the last couple of years, won his age group in the Wildside multi-stage mountain bike race in western Tasmania, while Rob Preston was second in the Cradle Mountain to Lake St. Clair race in early February – not much doubt in his capacity to handle the distance in long distance events this year….
TASMANIA AU S T R A L I A
2 -1 1 J A N UA RY 2 0 1 5
Around this time next year, we will be in the midst of the World Cup and Oceania events in Tasmania. Many aspects of the events are falling
o c e a n i a 2 015 . c o m Friday January 2
Tuesday January 6
World Cup Sprint Prologue
Saturday January 3
Oceania Middle Distance Championships A/NZ Challenge
World Cup Sprint
Wednesday January 7
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3 Thursday January 8 World Cup Middle Distance A/NZ Schools Test Match - Individual Public Event
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 MARCH 2014
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 President: Blair Trewin Director High Performance: Lance Read Director Finance: Bruce Bowen Director Technical: Jenny Casanova Director Special Projects: Robert Spry Director Communications: Craig Feuerherdt Director International IOF Council: Mike Dowling Executive Officer: John Harding High Performance Manager: Kay Haarsma High Performance Operations Manager: Nick Dent Badge Applications: John Oliver
orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 oa_president@netspeed.com.au h: 03 9455 3516 oa_highperformance@netspeed.com.au oa_finance@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6288 8501 oa_technical@netspeed.com.au m: 0427 605 167 rbspry@gmail.com craigfeuerherdt@gmail.com 0438 050 074 oa_international@netspeed.com.au orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0427 107 033 kayhaarsma@hotmail.com 08 8337 0522 nickdent7@gmail.com 02 4384 3627 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650
STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland Inc: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Admin Officer: Melissa Bowman admin@oq.asn.au ONSW: PO Box 3295, North Strathfield NSW 2137. Secretary: Anthony Darr, Ph. (02) 8116 9848 admin@onsw.asn.au 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 6094. Secretary: Ken Post Ph. (08) 9246 2552 kpost1@bigpond.com Orienteering Tasmania Inc.: PO Box 339, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005. Secretary: David Marshall, Ph. (03) 6260 4300 secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Zoe Radford topendorienteersNT@gmail.com
NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE
April 18. Time-sensitive: April 25
ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 1/14 (no. 173) MARCH 2014
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 pcusworth53@gmail.com Magazine Treasurer: Bruce Bowen Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1154 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully. Contribution deadline: April 18; Time-sensitive - April 25. 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 - Kay Haarsma; MTBO - Blake Gordon; Official News - John Harding; Nutrition Gillian Woodward; Training - Steve Bird; Coaching – Hanny Allston. 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 – batmaps.liz@gmail.com NSW: tba ACT: Philip Purcell – philippurc@hotmail.com SA: Erica Diment – diment@adam.com.au – tel (ah) 8379 2914 VIC, WA and TAS – vacant 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 T H E P R E S I D E N T ’ S P A G E.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 NZ MTBO CARNIVAL................................. 6 WOODHILL TO WHAKA – A Family Affair .... 12 O I N T H E N O R T H E R N T E R R I T O R Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 HANNY’S DIARY.................................... 24 SIMONE NIGGLI RETIRES......................... 26 PA N PA C S U B - J U N I O R C H A L L E N G E.. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 F T E M AT H L E T E D E V E L O P M E N T PAT H W A Y . . . . . 3 0 S W E D I S H J U N I O R S I N Q U E E N S L A N D .. . . . . . . . . . 3 4 RIC CHARLESWORTH.............................. 37 N U T R I T I O N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 8 HISTORY OF O CONTROLS........................ 39 O - S P Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 N AT I O N A L N O N - E L I T E R A N K I N G S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 N A T I O N A L M T B O R A N K I N G S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 . TOP EVENTS......................................... 47 Cover photo: Newcastle’s Malcolm Roberts competing in the Woodhill to Whaka MTBO Carnival in New Zealand in January. Photo: Sharon Withers. MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5
MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING
New Zealand’s North Island By Carolyn Jackson Photos by Sharon Withers
A large group of Aussies converged on Auckland in early January to contest 6 days of Mountain Bike Orienteering which was appropriately run under the title, The Woodhill to Whaka MTBO Carnival. This included an Australia / New Zealand Challenge in MTBO.
C
raig Steffens organised an Aussie tour group of 30, with about 20 more making their own travel arrangements.
There were plenty of Kiwis entered as well as a contingent from much further afield: Switzerland, Denmark and Scotland boosting entries numbers to around 170. The Woodhill to Whaka carnival consisted of six events spread over eight days, with the Challenge being three of those events: a Middle Distance, Long Distance and Sprint. The lure for many of us was some great sounding areas, including two pine forest single track maps on Rob Garden and Marquita Gelderman’s property, plus the world famous Rotorua single track. We knew that most of the maps were not new to the Kiwis, so they definitely had a ‘home’ advantage.
The ANZ Challenge team members. Photo: Carolyn Cusworth
6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
Murray Withers at Marquita’s Garden
After we assembled bikes in the heat, and discovered several aeroplane-induced mechanicals, the first event, aptly named Marquita’s Garden, proved to live up to the hype. It certainly was intense navigation and riding, but heaps of fun. An interesting new idea was allowing riders to ride through white on the map, as well as bright yellow, to stop cheating by riding between close together tracks. The whole map was basically green, so the white links stood out. It took a while to get used to the concept, but it seemed to work. The Kiwis knew this map really well and put in some blitzing times, so we Aussies didn’t have many placings!
David Firman
Craig Steffens and Heather Leslie leaving the start at Riverhead
Marquita’s Garden 1:10,000, 5m Course 1 – part 2 M open 18.9km, 585m
Straight after the event there was a lovely welcome BBQ at Rob and Marquita’s house. Views to die for, a pool, lovely food and a great social atmosphere made for a memorable function. Event number two was also a well used area called Riverhead. This was a totally different style, with long, fast, fire road legs, interspersed with some interesting single track. Early starters turned out to have the advantage, when about half way through the event the heavens opened. It turned those previously fun and fast single tracks into slippery rivers. Brown sodden riders started appearing out of the gloom. This race was a little more even as the map more closely resembled Australian terrain. Peta Whitford
A ‘rest’ day was next, but several of the group headed off for some single track fun at Woodhill Mountain bike park, MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7
MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING
Craig Holland
another very well known and highly regarded mountain bikers’ Mecca. A larger proportion of the group had a low-key day being tourists, many heading into Auckland. The third event, the Middle Distance Challenge was a return to Marquita’s map, with a new extension called Jessie’s Garden, named after their dog. Part of the extension was a challenging paddock section. Emerging from the intense single track into the open made us think it would be easier.....wrong! The paddocks proved to be bumpy to ride, making map reading while moving almost impossible. Interpreting contours was also difficult, with many large mistakes made out in those paddocks! Australia’s campaign had a shaky start as we only won one and a half classes .... the ‘half’ being W70 where an agreement had been made to contest that class with only two competitors. But it was swings and roundabouts .... we lost M60 by 3 seconds, but won W21 because NZ had a DNS and a DNF! Oh well ..... we all looked forward to the Long Distance, a new area for the Kiwis as well as us, and by the sound of it, terrain more like ours ......... little did we suspect! After another rest day, where those aforementioned keen riders actually did rest. We packed up from our less than desirable accommodation in Auckland (another story!), and headed south. Karl Withers
Peter Cusworth and Tim Jackson leaving the start at Jessie’s Garden. Photo: Carolyn Cusworth
We arrived at Maramarua for the Long Distance race to blue skies, but surrounded by steep hills. The huge climbs listed were looking very real. About 45 mins before the first starts some ominous looking clouds were spotted, and sure enough it started pouring. We all huddled in cars, vans or trucks, hoping it would ease. Alas, the first downpour was enough, but the subsequent rain totally destroyed the area. Even the ride to the Start was a push up a clay hill. Our shoes and bikes were full of horrible sticky clay ...... and we hadn’t even started. The event turned into an epic .... anyone who finished was a winner. Even Marquita said it was the worst mud she had ever ridden in. The wheels and frame were so clogged it was at times impossible to even drag your bike downhill, or stay upright. Unsurprisingly, in spite of it being the Long Distance challenge event, there were large numbers of DNFs. Wonderful foresight (or more likely intimate knowledge of what the clay based soil could do) saw a welcome bike wash and there were long queues of exhausted riders. Sadly, to add to the whole sorry day, some ill-advised one-way symbols plus an incorrect method to convey out of bounds roads caused the challenge for that day to be cancelled. It was decided the Long Distance was to be at Rotorua. It’s such a shame for the organisers too, after all their hard work.
Liz Randall won W70
8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
Tim Hackney
Angus Robinson
Picturesque control location in the Sprint
Tamsin Barnes
We had a long drive to Rotorua after the event, and Craig’s tour group settled into a Base hostel, and some in the youth hostel nearby, with showers being a high priority! The new Sprint map, Redwoods, at a school on the outskirts of Rotorua and adjacent to the mountain bike park, sounded a lot of fun and quite technical, AND it was a dry sunny day! It proved to have some surprise tricks ..... navigating at high speed through mixed yellow/white areas riddled with tracks and trying to sort out what was what caused many to come unstuck. It was a fantastic map and area, very worthy of the Challenge Sprint. The Kiwis were triumphant again, with the final outcome starting to appear inevitable. That evening a dinner and presentation night was another highlight of the carnival. The organisers created a great atmosphere at all the presentations with plenty of spot prizes, plus daily Leaders sock presentations including a special ‘sprint’ leg common on all courses. The final day, and everyone was looking forward to the Rotorua single track. The map was called Whakarewarewa, which is the Maori name for the area, and the Whaka in the carnival name. We knew we had to be very careful reading the map as it was a complex area, but added to this was the one-way track system. Locating the arrow symbols, and working out how to get to the controls on allowable tracks was quite tricky.
It is a really fun area to ride and orienteer and most came back with huge grins. Those that didn’t hadn’t noticed the last control tucked away right on the edge of the map, which caused a surprising number of mp’s. The travel group was an amazingly cohesive bunch and really added to the enjoyment of the trip. In a group this size, with flights and mud, there were many mechanicals and it was great how many would pitch in to help. The prize for the most disasters went to Tim Jackson, literally, as he in fact got a spot prize for his efforts! We had one member in hospital on a drip on a rest day, plus some nasty crashes and other mishaps. The final tally for the AUS/NZ challenge was NZ 23.5 to our 8.
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9
MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING
Jessie ’s Garden 1:10,000, 5m Course 2 W open, M20, M40 10.6km, 315m
Keith Wade
Chris Firman
NZ’s MTBO legend, Rob Garden, set courses for two of the events (on his own backyard) but competed in M40 on the other days gaining podium finishes despite being eligible for M60.
Results In the overall carnival results, counting the best 5 out of 6, Australia got many placings. Overall first places went to Ryan Biggs (M16), Andrew Power (M50), Peter Cusworth (M60), Liz Randall (W70), Carolyn Jackson (Wopen), and Lucy Mackie (W16). Second placings went to Angus Robinson (M20), Richard Robinson (M50), Tim Hackney (M70) and Gaby Withers (W16). Lots of fun for the kids.
Third were Karl Withers (M20), Ricky Thackray (Mopen), Malcolm Roberts (M50), Keith Wade (M70) and Peta Whitford (W60). New Zealand has such beautiful and fun places to ride. The organising team for the Carnival put on a truly great series of events, with excellent maps and terrain ..... and as for the weather .... well it IS New Zealand!!!
10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
NZ’s take on MTBO mapping by Peter Cusworth
Australia uses the MTBO mapping standard exactly as specified by the IOF. The New Zealanders have chosen to modify the IOF standard to suit their own map situations. It took us Aussies a little while to get used to these changes during the recent MTBO carnival in NZ, as the map often had more route options available that we had at first noticed. Their ideas are interesting though and deserve having a closer look at to see if they could improve events here. White forest symbol
T
he main thing they have changed is using the white forest symbol to show a permitted off track riding area. We map most of our forest areas as white, whereas they are mapping their normal forest areas as light green. The white forest symbol is then used, for instance, to show areas where tracks come close together and jumping from one track to another is possible and thereby creating more route choice options. This is particularly useful when used in MTB single track areas where tracks meander around and come very close to each other without actually touching. We have had issues with this situation at some of our events when some competitors have incorrectly moved across from one track to another while other competitors have chosen a longer (legal) route. This white area may have a similar forest appearance, on the ground, to the green area, so it is more showing that you can go across this part rather than showing a different kind of vegetation. NZ rule •R iders may travel on open land shown as full yellow and on forested land shown as white. These imply a ridability of 25-50%. •R iders may travel on open land with scattered trees shown as white with full yellow dots. This symbol is made up of two allowable colours as above and also implies a ridability of 25-50%.
Allowable Route symbol Another area of difference is they have created an “allowable route” symbol which is shown with a green track symbol. NZ rule •R iders may travel on green equivalents of the track symbols. The dash length of a green line will indicate ridability just as for tracks. Green lines may pass through otherwise non-allowed terrain. Or green lines may show a recommended or faster route through allowed land. They will follow clear terrain features such as forest edges, ridges, gullies.
A good idea for showing a permitted way through an area where there is no actual track or an area that can’t be mapped as full yellow. The sample shows a permitted route along a gully in a rough open area. The dash length also showing how easy or hard it would be to ride.
Fence symbol Fences have caused some issues at events in Australia. Generally in Australia we are not permitted to cross any fence unless there is a track leading to it and away from it with either a gate or opening, or a crossing point symbol is used. The Kiwis are treating fences more like the Foot O symbol as crossable and uncrossable. NZ rule •O n allowable areas, crossable fences are shown. These features may be assumed to require a dismount. •O n allowable areas, high fences are generally forbidden to cross. Any crossing points in these (eg gates) are marked with a crossing point symbol (if no dismount is required) or the obstacle symbol (if a dismount is required).
So with these rules you could have a track running parallel on either side of a fence and be permitted to cross. It could also be an area of full yellow and/or white on both sides of a crossable fence, and you would be permitted to cross.
•R iders may NOT travel on other types of yellow open land or green forest.
Another feature I like on the NZ maps is that the legend clearly shows “Areas ALLOWED to ride” and “Areas NOT ALLOWED to ride”. Something I feel we should do on Aussie maps, particularly for newcomers to the sport, but to also reiterate to all competitors what is permitted for that event.
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11
MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING
Woodhill to Whaka
a Family Affair Hamish Mackie
The Mackie family: Fergus, Amanda, Hamish and Lucy.
Lucy riding through the pine forest at the Jessie’s Garden event. She won W16 on 5 of the 6 days at the carnival.
Hamish caught in the rain at Riverhead.
M
y Woodhill to Whaka carnival was a family affair with my wife, Amanda, and two of my children, Lucy and Fergus, deciding to come along as well. As a member of the Australian team in the M40 category I was there to compete whilst my wife just wanted to enjoy some good riding and improve her map reading skills and the kids were there to have fun and to get to Rotorua as quickly as possible for two days of pre-planned adventure activities. Having never done any Orienteering overseas the first event at Marquita’s Garden was an eye opener. The irregular hilly terrain with multiple depressions was completely different to the ridge and gully terrain that I was used to. It was not until after I finished and someone pointed out the little ticks on the contour lines pointing downhill did I realise why half of the small hills that I was looking for were actually depressions. Needless to say my result for the day was poor, finishing almost 30mins down on the winner but the rest of the family cleared their respective courses and came back beaming. Amanda was tired but happy not to have got lost on the recreation 2 course and Lucy had a great day winning the W15 category. Fergus enjoyed the riding so much that he did a few tracks twice looking for checkpoints. Event 2 was at Riverhead Forest just north of Auckland which was noted in the event bulletin as being “clay based, and in wet conditions, will be slow and messy in places”. The day dawned overcast with showers being predicted later in the day. The rest of the family had early start slots which left me hanging around watching the clouds. The course and tracks were fast but rutted in places from motorbikes. I got off to a flyer until a small map reading error sent me back up the wrong track causing me to lose a big chunk of time. About half way through the course the predicted showers arrived which didn’t cause any problems on the main fire trails but on 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
the steep clay access tracks it was causing havoc. My small treaded tyres with high pressures had about as much grip as sneakers on an ice skating rink meaning that I was spending half my time trying to stay upright and half trying to re-mount after being thrown off. At the Finish I was done and again the results showed me over 30mins down on the winner. Not a good start to the carnival for me but the rest of the family was sitting in the van happy and dry as they had all finished before the rain arrived. Fergus regaled us all with his story of how he managed to hit a log and get launched over the handlebars losing his drink bottle and snacks in the process. Amanda and Lucy both had strong days, winning their respective categories. For the third carnival event and first ANZ Challenge it was back to the Geldermans’ property and I was doing my best to keep my confidence level up after the two previous poor outings. The course was in a different part of the forest to the first event and included some open farmland. I started well but was surprised to see the rider who started after me come flying past after the first checkpoint. Local knowledge really did count for a lot as he was taking tracks at almost twice my speed. Map reading on the open farmland was difficult due to its undulating nature and the fact that I had never done it before. Back in the forest again I found my rhythm and finished strongly with no major mistakes. After the long ride/walk back to the event centre I found that I had come 4th and was the fastest Australian in the M40 category. Lucy won W16’s, Amanda the WR2 category and Fergus finished 3rd in the M16. Overall a good day for the Mackie clan. Event 4 at Maramarua Forest had us leaving Auckland and heading south towards Rotorua for the second leg of the ANZ Challenge. This was a new map and so was supposed to remove a lot of the homeground advantage. Once again the event bulletin
Hamish finishing off event 4
Lucy waiting to start the Maramarua Forest event. The tracks didn’t get much better than this!
Fergus concentrating on his map at the Marquita’s Garden event.
Looking to the future. Australia’s dominant W16 duo, Gabrielle Withers (left) and Lucy Mackie, waiting for the bike wash after the mud at Maramarua.
forewarning was to prove somewhat understated, “if wet you can expect some slippery, difficult conditions due to the clay base”. The two thundery squalls that passed over just prior to the start turned the course into a sticky mud bath. The ride to the start was slippery and getting into the start box involved circumnavigating a very large puddle which did not bode well for the rest of the event. The clay was so sticky that it built up on tyres and frames preventing the wheels from turning. It was also very slippery underfoot making walking difficult. So with riding impossible in sections walking and carrying your bike with the extra weight of the accumulated clay was the only option. Mercifully the rain did not return and the sun came out but it was not the blessing we thought as it just made the mud even stickier as it dried. The Finish area looked more like a disaster recovery centre as exhausted riders completed their courses, lined up at the bike wash and compared war stories. Fergus found the going too hard and decided to pull out whilst Lucy continued her undefeated run and Amanda was the only finisher in her category. It was another poor showing from me as the conditions got me down which led to a number of poor route choices. No one cheered louder than me when the decision was made not to include this event in the ANZ Challenge but to use the last event instead. The following day in Rotorua dawned clear and warm for the Sprint event of the ANZ Challenge. It was around the flat parklands at the base of the Redwood Forest and included a mix of urban areas, open parkland with a little bit of bush and single track for good measure. Overall it was the perfect area for a Sprint event that favoured those who could ride fast and navigate well. Lucy lost her undefeated status to regular foot orienteer, Gabrielle Withers from Queensland, who showed that experience can win out over speed and enthusiasm. Fergus finished well but again
the lack of experience hindered him. I had a cracking day and was seeing the checkpoints like watermelons. Finally the MTBO gods were on my side and had me the fastest Australian in the category but sadly still off the pace of those pesky New Zealanders! Whakarewarewa Forest Mountain Bike Park was the location for the last event of the carnival and the ANZ Challenge. For those not familiar with mountain biking this park is the mecca for Australasian riders as it has some of the best mountain bike tracks in the world with trails to keep riders of all abilities occupied for days. To put it into perspective, the park has 130km of trails and the complete Long Distance course did not even reach to the outer trails. It was a beautiful day and not long after the start it was obvious the course setters had done their homework with the route options being tantilisingly similar but quite different in duration as I found out looking at the splits afterwards. It was a good day for me again as I cleared the course with no major mistakes in a respectable time that saw me finish as the first Australian in the M40 category but still almost 15 minutes behind the winner who was a local and 2010 world singlespeed champion. The rest of the family finished well with Lucy returning to the top of the podium, Fergus having his best finish of the carnival and Amanda finishing a close second in her category. Overall the carnival was a blast for us as a family as it was well organised and there was a great mix of course and terrain types. If only they could have had a bit more say over the weather (or maybe they planned it that way?) We all had a great time and achieved what we set out to do. I managed to be competitive, Amanda’s map reading improved and Lucy and Fergus are already bugging me about going to Alice Springs in June for the Australian MTBO Championships and return leg of the ANZ Challenge. Hope to see you there and with a bit more training I might actually be able to beat a Kiwi, not literally of course! MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13
2014 Australian & Oceania MTBO Championships World Ranking Events (Long & Middle) 2014 National MTBO Series, Round 2 Australian New Zealand Challenge These championships are a unique opportunity for Mountain Bike Orienteers to enjoy the riding and navigational challenges of the Red Centre. Actually concentrating on your map reading might be difficult with the spectacular scenery on offer!
O
rienteering South Australia and the Top End Orienteers have taken the bold step to hold the 2014 Australian & Oceania Championships in Alice Springs. Adding extra importance to these races is that the Long and Middle Distance Champs will also be World Ranking Events and all three races will also be an Australia-New Zealand Challenge and Round 2 of the 2014 National MTBO Series. Alice Springs is fast becoming a centre for mountain biking with an ever increasing number of trails being built around the edge of the city. Several large MTB races use this network each year and now it is the turn of MTBOers to enjoy the spectacular scenery and views of Central Australia. June is an ideal time of year for the championships with average temperatures around 20 degrees. It can get up into the 30s but nights are cool dropping down to around 5º. The organisers are planning the events to be as easy to attend as possible. Flights are direct with Qantas (or Tiger) from capital cities and once competitors arrive there will be no hire cars or driving long distances required. All events will have start locations less than 5km from Alice Springs CBD. So it will be a
short flat ride to the start from your chosen accommodation option. There will be an airport pick-up and drop-off service available (small fee) as well. The Event Centre will be the Chifley Resort where there is also an accommodation package available for competitors.
Program SATURDAY 14 JUNE Middle Championship • World Ranking Event • National MTBO Series • ANZ Challenge event
Alice Springs is a remote location but is surprisingly easy to get to and is well equipped to provide for a major event. The Middle Distance Championship will be held on Saturday on the north western outskirts of Alice Springs with starts from 2.30pm. The Long Distance Championship will be held on the northern outskirts of town on Sunday morning from 11 am. The Sprint Distance Championship will be on the western outskirts of town on Monday morning from 9 am. The events will be conducted on three separate map areas with a small overlap between finishes for the Sprint and the Long Distance races.
SUNDAY 15 JUNE Long Championship • World Ranking Event • National MTBO Series • ANZ Challenge event
There will be a Presentation Dinner at the Chifley Resort on Sunday evening. Entries are now open via Eventor. More details including Bulletin 1/2 can be found at www.ausmtbochamps.com MONDAY 16 JUNE Sprint Championship • National MTBO Series • ANZ Challenge event
14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
MTBO in a truly unique location
a us tr a lia n
& oce an ia
M TBO
You can’t miss these Championships!
c ham p i o n s hi p s 2 0 14
ALICE
2014 AUSTRALIAN & OCEANIA MTB ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
SPRINGS
NT
www.ausmtbochamps.com
IOF WORLD RANKING EVENTS NATIONAL MTBO SERIES ROUND 2 AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND CHALLENGE Saturday 14 June 2014 – Middle Distance (WRE) Sunday 15 June 2014 – Long Distance (WRE) Monday 16 June 2014 – Sprint Distance
• Ride the famous Alice Springs MTB trails
Presented by Orienteering South Australia and Top End Orienteers
• Direct flights from Capital Cities
Organiser contact details: Andrew Slattery Orienteering South Australia E: mapper@bigpond.com M: 0438 188 955
• A perfect mid-winter getaway
To Zing or Not to Zing? Craig Steffens
A rule change results in the demise of the humble ID reel for MTBO competitions.
F
ollowing approaches from riders, the IOF (international Orienteering Federation) decided to amend the competition rules to remove the requirement to have your SportIdent stick tethered to your bike. This rule was previously used to prevent cheating, so that you rode to each control and didn’t leave your bike, to run through the bush instead. Riders had complained that zingers got tangled in shrubbery, wrapped around bike hardware, got clogged with dust, jammed with mud and in the worst cases suffered a snapped string or attachment, resulting in lost SI sticks and DNF results. They were perceived as annoying to use and unreliable.
• All races start within 5km of CBD • Hire car not necessary • Event Centre accommodation package
ENTER NOW through EVENTOR
In order to align with other countries, the Australian MTBO Competition rules have been amended to align with the IOF rule and apply from 1st January 2014. Riders will still be able to use a zinger, lanyard or any other method to tether their SI stick to their bike, if they so choose, but wearing your stick on your finger, using an elastic finger strap, will now be permitted. Note – for security, use a wrist loop of elastic cord for stick security in case the finger strap fails.
2014 World MTBO Championships appointments
O
rienteering Australia has announced that Piotr Czajkowski (Coach) and Murray Withers (Manager) are the team officials for 2014 WMTBOC and JWMTBOC in Poland. Piotr is a former elite Polish international foot orienteer who has a great knowledge of Polish orienteering and culture as well as the competition area. He has competed in MTBO and adventure races in the past. Murray has attended the last two World MTBO Championships as a parent spectator and helper so has quite some experience of what is involved for the team.
Murray Withers
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15
PROMOTION
O in Northern Territory Kay Haarsma
“Miss, I’ve got ‘im …. I’ve got ‘im” yelled one beaming small aboriginal lad in Katherine as he raced towards me carrying a small mini-marker. After two weeks of doing “Orienteering 101” in schools and explaining about control cards and punching I had obviously failed.
I
spent five weeks in Northern Territory during 2013 doing O promotional work on behalf of the Top End Orienteers. Three of these were in Alice Springs and two in Katherine. Besides the equity aspect of spreading the knowledge of O to the outback, the main aim was to get the sport up and running in schools in several new NT regions, so as to meet the criteria of School Sport NT and thus enable NT to be able to send official teams to the Australian Schools Championships. This won’t happen overnight but significant steps have been made. In Katherine the demand for O was more than I could meet, with several schools on the wait list. However I ran an inter-school cluster event for 100 children and they were able to bring students to that event at the sportsground. I also course-set another event there and the cluster co-ordinator successfully ran that two weeks afterwards. In schools I generally did a 10-minute classroom intro and then had 5 or 6 courses of 3 controls each that students rotated through. This enabled everyone to get active quickly with no standing around. My daily routine was to get to the school about 7- 7.30am to put out controls, then teach sessions all day, collect controls and then spend the late afternoon map checking and course planning for another school on the schedule. Evenings were spent designing courses. Full on. One afternoon I drove 300km west to the small township of Timber Creek, stayed with the Principal overnight, designed courses quickly the next morning and put out controls, then introduced students to O. Did I mention that it was over 40 degrees and many kids ran over the prickle laden ground in bare feet? Not anything too abnormal here! My favourite control site was a full size boat in the sand pit. A late afternoon drive back to Katherine and then fronting at a school at 7am the next morning. In Alice Springs I ran four inter-school cluster events, increasing in difficulty. Several of the maps could host a NOL Sprint, they were so good. This included the CDU one which included the Charles Darwin Uni campus, two high schools, a primary school and a large saltbush area with tracks in the middle. I had four small “Sprint” type courses and one longer 2.5km course through the bush. The older students did one Sprint course and then the longer one. When they came back they then asked me whether they could “match race” each other on another Sprint course, with one going forwards and one backwards on the same course!! Yeh! And what races they were …all in 35 degree heat. The big Alice private school, St Philips, has an outstanding outdoor education program and they jumped at the chance to 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
learn about Orienteering, coming to all events. Their students showed heaps of talent and many would walk straight into a State junior squad. Their school grounds include lovely slabs of bare rock and big boulders. Being on the edge of town, they have three areas of bush adjacent. When I held an event there, for multitudes of kids, on a 41 degree day, I had six small courses within the school and two bush courses around Anzac and Spencer hills. Students from other schools came too, and loved exploring the intricacies of the St Philips grounds. Besides the bare rock, huge boulders, stairs and alleyways, there was also a control on a Hills hoist clothesline! The other highlight of this day was getting assistance in running the event from two other agencies. The inter-school cluster sport co-ordinator was teaching that day but sent his young admin assistant Talitha, who was invaluable. Earlier, I’d run into a couple of PE guys who were actually from the Blue Earth Foundation. They go into schools and provide PE type movement lessons to encourage activity, especially as few primary schools have PE specialists. One asked to see what I was doing and then offered to help at subsequent events. At St Philips, Josh was extremely useful, especially as I had a radio reporter who wanted to see what Orienteering was about on that day too! She ended up with an interview from me on O and one from Josh on Blue Earth, so a win-win situation for all. Blue Earth are interested in running O as part of their program, so if I can negotiate for them to be an O provider, it will be tremendous. Yirara College was an interesting place. It is a boarding school for indigenous students, housing 80 at the moment but with a capacity for 200. Many have little English, with at least three indigenous dialects being spoken. So my introduction was a little more “show and point” than usual. On my second visit, on a 40+ degree day, Orienteering was an option against the likes of swimming and bowling. So I was impressed that I got 20 starters and they all completed four courses at least. I took it as a compliment when one older guy said at the finish, “Miss, I could do this again.” A 2-hour bike or foot O rogaine on a 1:20,000 map on a Sunday morning attracted 30 starters, despite conflicting with a relay-forlife run and a triathlon on the same morning. Nevertheless, I had a 100% enjoyment factor from participants and more names to add to our email base. Watermelon afterward was well received, allowing people to discuss their routes. My control highlight this time was one on a burnt-out bus, and I was delighted that some
competitors stopped to climb inside, take photos and Facebook them! On the last day I had a normal type course on the spur/gully, rock strewn 1:5,000 “Scout” map. This is actually quite a good area and had some excellent cross country route choice options which the students did brilliantly on. I had warned about control #1, as contour detail was a little lacking there and I asked how they “attacked” that one. One student said, “I was gazing at my map near the knoll and an old aboriginal guy was walking past so I politely said “good morning.” He nodded, looked at me and said “go that way” and pointed.” (This control had also been on the public rogaine course the day before.) Besides me being “on the ground” in schools a lot of other people had done much preparation work. The Katherine maps were developed by Lachlan Hallett & Brett Saunders and had a last minute tidy up by Ken Thompson. There were four school maps, one of the sportsgrounds and two larger scale ones involving suburbia and some bush. The Alice maps came to fruition thanks to Andrew Slattery, who was already mapping in Alice for the 2014 Australian MTBO Championships. Initially he mapped four large areas, but he extrapolated seven specific school maps and another three bush maps from these. He also made up 1:25,000; 1:20,000 and 1: 15,000 maps of suburbia and the adjoining bush areas for a 4-hour bike and foot rogaine (run by Paul Darvodelsky) and a 2-hour one that I conducted. Also on the mapping side was Paul Hoopman (Tjuringa) who devised three “google earth” maps – one of Timber Creek, and two in Alice. These were surprisingly accurate.
My efforts in NT were aided particularly by Brett Spaulding (use of car and Darwin unit); Kate Radford (and parents) for selecting control sites for the first event in Alice and promoting O at a sports expo earlier in the year; and Michelle Chamalaun who provided accommodation, transport and food whilst in Alice. Sustainability in these areas? Katherine, being only 300kms from Darwin, can get some help occasionally from there, and Zoe Radford will be working in Katherine next year. The inter-school cluster is keen to have O events next year. In Alice there are actually four people with O experience currently working there, so I hope that a small program of events can be run in the cooler months. St Philips College will definitely include Orienteering in its program now. The impetus of the 2014 Australian MTBO Championships from June 14-16 should help. I got two excellent articles and a colour photo in the local paper, the Centralian Advocate too, so Orienteering is getting known. I have also negotiated for O to have an inter-school Alice Springs Championship next year in August. This will be held on the same day as the inter-school cross country, with starts an hour afterwards, so as to enable cross fertilisation between the activities, and also to limit the time off school. The venue will be the Telegraph Station, which has ideal terrain for Orienteering. I will run some more sessions in schools and further train teachers for a week or two later in the year.
St Philips College 1 : 2000
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17
Top End Orienteers have donated a box of lockable controls to both Katherine and Alice Springs and these will be loaned out from the inter-school cluster co-ordinator in each town to schools on demand. Digital copies of school maps have been given to schools. Also, Katherine High and St Philips College, as well as both town libraries, have been given copies of the recent Carol McNeil book on Orienteering. And School Sport NT has agreed to include a NT Orienteering Championships within its cross country and athletics carnival in September from 2014, while maintaining the Darwin schools O Champs. There is also a great opportunity for “O missionary” work in these towns and even smaller settlements. If anyone would like to do some Orienteering work, either teaching in schools or mapping, then let me know and I can establish the initial contact. I really loved my time in NT and my O work was really appreciated by students and staff alike. Being some-one different and doing an activity that they knew zilch about meant that the students were actually very keen to listen and get on board. Not only PE and outdoor education faculties but also geography teachers were eager to be involved. If you have other leisure skills (music; art; sport; juggling …) or even employable skills, then all the small schools like Timber Creek would welcome you with open arms. Could be a “working holiday” or an interesting interlude on a grey nomad trip. There are many great experiences to be had in the Aussie outback.
18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
Here we introduce The Adventures of Jeff !, by Duncan Currie. You will read more of Jeff in future magazines.
The Australian WOC JWOC and MTBO teams outfitted by Trimtex
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19
2014 AUSTRALIAN FOOT-O CHAMPIONSHIPS
Karrak Karnival Welcome to wonderful WA for seven Championships events over nine days, plus some informal events and the option of a Sprint series and MTBO championships in the following week.
K
arrak Karnival will be in the middle of Spring, which is characterised by mild, dry conditions in this part of Western Australia. This is at the height of the well-known wildflower season in the region. The three individual Australian Championships – Sprint, Middle Distance and Long Distance – have IOF World Ranking Event status. While this directly affects only Elite classes it means that competitors in all classes will enjoy interesting terrain and courses set by skilful planners. In addition to the three individual national Championships, the Australian Relay Championships are part of the SILVA National Orienteering League and may well determine the winners for the year. Weekend 1 The Karnival opens on Saturday September 27th with the WA Long Distance Championships near the village of Bindoon, in generally open wandoo woodland on Spice Brook, a popular spur/gully map that has been remapped by Alex Tarr and extended to include adjacent farmland suitable for sub-hard courses. 20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
The Australian Middle Distance Championships near Toodyay the next day are on Lovers Ridge, an area with varied vegetation, an extensive gully system, localised areas of small granite, and small patches of complex disused quarry workings unique to WA orienteering. Mapping by Paul Dowling covers mostly new terrain and part of the existing Stonebrook. The public holiday weekend ends with the Australian Sprint Championships on the very detailed, gently sloping campus of Curtin University in suburban Perth.
Mid-week The Australian Schools Individual and Relay Championships with their following public Kocky’s Overture and Kockies’ Chorus, respectively, will use the sparsely vegetated rolling farmland and granite detail of Peterdine, southwest of Northam. Peter Komyshan will update details on this Eric Andrews map.
Weekend 2 The Australian Long Distance and Relay Championships will be held on Waranine Brook and the adjoining Moondyne Road, south of the village of Clackline. These new areas, mapped by Alex Tarr, are in moderately hilly but generally fast terrain, roughly half
cleared land and half residual forest. There are areas of granite detail, some areas of slow running (forest litter), occasional thickets and rare gully features.
Any Time On rest days visit Fremantle, Perth’s port city, for Fabulous Fre-O, a free Orienteering discovery activity that you can do at any time. Fabulous Fre-O will lead you to most of the historic features of the area, past many of the 50 coffee shops in Freo and surrounds, and even to the home of the future AFL Premiers! You can use the Karrak Karnival Facebook site to see how you fared against your friends and foes!
Travel and accommodation All events are less than one and a half hours driving time from central Perth and just a few minutes from major highways. There is a wide variety of accommodation options within Perth and closer to the event sites – see the website for links. Entries are scheduled to be available via Eventor in April. See 2014ausochamps.com for more details and announcements.
Sprints and MTBO Two days after Karrak Karnival, on Tuesday 7th & Wednesday 8th October, the SWOT club is staging a four-event Sprint the Southwest series. Events start in Bunbury, 175 km southwest of Perth, then move further south to Busselton and Margaret River, in the centre of the famous wine region. See facebook.com/ sprintthesw for contact details. At the end of that week three National League Mountain Bike Orienteering events will be based on Margaret River. The WA Long Distance Championships are on Friday 10th, the WA Middle Distance Championships and a Sprint race on Saturday 11th. After that there will be time to recover by enjoying the wineries, beaches, dining, caves and other attractions of southwest WA before the famous Cape to Cape MTB race starts on Thursday 23rd. See wa.orienteering.asn.au/events/mtbo-nol-2014 for details. Many West Australians have enjoyed orienteering in other States and Territories as well as in New Zealand and overseas so we hope you will allow us to return your hospitality by visiting us later this year. MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21
2015 Oceania Championships & World Cup Mike Dowling
Are you planning to come to Tasmania in January 2015 for the Oceania Championships and opening round of the IOF World Cup? You should be as it promises to be a brilliant week of high class Orienteering with fantastic, varied Tasmanian orienteering terrain; coupled with the opportunity to enjoy many of Tasmania’ s scenic and cultural attractions.
T
hat’s not all. In conjunction with the Oceania Championships and World Cup we will be hosting an Australia/New Challenge and an Australia/New Zealand Schools Test Match. And as if that is not enough to whet your Orienteering appetite, stay on another week and take part in the six-race Hobart Shorts in and around Tassie’s capital city in the following week. It will the perfect way to round off your 2015 Tassie adventure The Tasmanian organisers are working hard to ensure this will be a Championships carnival to remember. We have secured a special arrangement with AutoRent Hertz to provide the best possible rates for interstate and overseas visitors for vehicle and campervan hire. The Examiner newspaper is the official carnival paper and will have extensive coverage of all the races. State and local government are enthusiastically supporting the Carnival. We have an excellent technical team in place to ensure there will be high class courses with the maps being made by renowned mappers Mike Morffew, Paul Pacqué and Alex Tarr. The Carnival commences in Launceston on Friday January 2nd with the World Cup Sprint Prologue. This will be in the spectacular setting of the First Basin Reserve in Launceston’s Cataract Gorge. It will be a most fitting locale to kick off the Oceania Carnival. The following day will be the World Cup Sprint and Oceania Sprint on the UTAS Launceston campus north of the Launceston city centre. This map was first used for the 2009 Easter Prologue and is a classic university campus with many buildings, paths and parkland. It will be an excellent area for the lovers of this Orienteering format. The opening three days will then culminate on January 4th with the Oceania Relay on the Ben Bullen map north east of Launceston. This area was also used for 2009 Easter and is quite a unique orienteering area for Australia. Nestled under the eastern flank of Mt Barrow, with spectacular views of the mountain, it is a mix of eucalypt plantation and farmland on old rainforest terrain. As a result there are many marshes and for Scandinavian visitors they will feel the most at home during the carnival. With a rest day on the Monday, the Carnival will then move to a new area for Orienteering on Tuesday January 6th for the Oceania Middle Distance. This is just to the east of the township of Avoca in the Fingal Valley. The dominant feature is the granite hump known as Rajah Rocks. Mapper Mike Morffew is most excited about this area on the northern flank of the South Esk River. Lots of interesting granite detail on the slopes and very good runnability will make this a most enjoyable, yet technically challenging, event. 22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
On Wednesday January 7th, with the Event Centre now moving to Swansea on Tassie’s east coast, will be the first of the AUS/NZ Schools Test Match days and the third of the Oceania Carnival Series races. This is another new area for Orienteering, located south of Swansea on the Kelvedon Hills. Uniquely interesting rock formations and sensational views across Great Oyster Bay to Freycinet National Park will be the order of the day here. Excellent cafes and treats await competitors when they return to Swansea after the event. On Thursday January 8th will be a feast of orienteering at Coles Bay for the World Cup Middle Distance, the second of the AUS/ NZ Schools Test Match days and the fourth of the Oceania Carnival series races. Coles Bay is a challenging orienteering area that will test both technical and physical abilities, especially for the World Cup competitors, with its complex granite formations and steeper slopes. The amazing views of The Hazards, dominating the skyline to the south west, will no doubt be a tempting distraction for competitors to stop and view while on their course. It has not been used for many years and was part of the 1992 IOF Veteran World Cup as it was then known. After another rest day on the Friday to enjoy the scenic sites, fine food and beverages of the east coast, the Carnival will have a fitting finale with the World Cup Long Distance on Saturday January 10th and the Oceania Long Distance on the following day in the granite and tin mining forest west of St Helens. This will be on the Constable Creek map south of the areas used for the 2012 Australian Championships Middle and Long Distance events. With additional terrain to the west and south of the existing map it is perfect Long Distance terrain. Granite covered hillsides, remnant tin mining and dense marshes and vegetation in some of the valleys provide a mix of great route choice and technical orienteering. With so much in store make Tasmania your Orienteering and holiday destination next January. Remember too that, as in many parts of Australia, early January is a major holiday time and it is strongly advised to book accommodation, travel to Tasmania and vehicle hire as early as possible. Booking accommodation early is especially advisable for the east coast, particularly if you are after something more luxurious than camping. Check out the Championships website at oceania2015.com and follow us on Facebook @ Oceania2015OrienteringChampionships for all the information you need and to keep up to date with all the latest news as we count down towards Oceania 2015. We are really looking forward to seeing you in Tassie next January!
TASMANIA AU S T R A L I A 2 -1 1 J A N UA RY 20 1 5
o c e a n i a 2 015 . c o m Friday January 2
Tuesday January 6
Thursday January 8
World Cup Sprint Prologue
Oceania Middle Distance Championships A/NZ Challenge
Wednesday January 7
World Cup Middle Distance A/NZ Schools Test Match - Individual Public Event
A/NZ Schools Test Match - Relay Public Event
World Cup Long Distance
Saturday January 3 World Cup Sprint Oceania Sprint Distance Championships A/NZ Challenge
SaturdayJanuary 10
Sunday January 4
Sunday January 11
Oceania Relay Championships
Oceania Long Distance Championships A/NZ Challenge
A/NZ Challenge
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HANNY’S DIARY
Ruminating on the World Cup in 2015 Hanny Allston
I
recently attended the Orienteering Australia High Performance Camp in St Helens, Tasmania, on 2-7 January. Twenty-two Australian orienteers and coaches attended the camp. The focus was on building our understanding of the areas in NE Tasmania which are to be used for the World Cup in January 2015, especially the forests adjacent to St Helens and Freycinet. During the evenings, our team focus was discussing orienteering technique for consistent, high-level performance and the wonderful question, ‘How can we beat the Europeans?’ Our training consisted of fast, technical racing and longer training runs. During a corridor exercise on the Mt Pearson map, I crested a hill and looked down on the white sand and blue waters of the Tasmanian East Coast through the leaves of the ironbark forest. I found myself thinking: ‘We can win this’. Five days of hard training later, my enthusiasm for kicking off the 2014 Orienteering year is higher than ever. It was over eight years since I had orienteered in the St Helens vicinity and I had forgotten how enjoyably challenging the terrain there can be.
for beautiful scenery. But we can also look at each of them and think: ‘Runnable; not-so-runnable; and definitely not runnable’. I have a feeling that some of our European friends might start to question their route choices when they are lumbering through the tussock grasses under the intense glare of an Australian sun.
Perhaps I am generalizing and making a few too many assumptions, but here are my thoughts on how we can challenge those speedy European legs on our own terrain at the World Cup.
Further to this, I can’t forget to mention here that we know how to kill a March Fly. Wait for it to become dizzy as it turns circles around you. Wait for it to land and regain its balance. Then wallop. And our race focus remains in check. Would a European know how to do this?
Dinky-di Aussie Terrain
Wombat tunnels
The St Helens terrain is physically tough. The branches you brush past don’t snap, but catch between your legs, trip you over, and send you hurtling. And the ground is often covered in bracken that leaves remnant hunks in your legs. Add to this slippery leaf litter that makes hill climbing a ‘two steps forward, one step backwards’ affair. Is our familiarity with such harsh terrain an advantage?
Sticks & Stones Being a granite area, the terrain has a number of hillsides covered in towering boulder outcrops. These make fantastic navigational aids. Having grown up with granite, we understand why a rock is a knoll and a knoll is a rock. Similarly, we know why a cliff is a boulder and a boulder is a cliff. It just makes sense! And when we think about running into the rock, we know that it is like entering a large kids playground – under a stick, over a stick, under a log, over a log. Simple fun!
Snakes, Spiders and Creepy Crawlies The swampy wetlands and dry hillsides are heaven for wildlife with or without legs. And yet as an Australian orienteer, we know the difference between a snake and a stick. We also know how to stop at the last minute to avoid a spider web bigger than a hammock, or when to just bulldoze through them like a wombat and accept the consequences. Easy!
Marshes and March Flies The marshes on the St Helens maps will create excellent route choice opportunities in the long distance races. They also make 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
When it comes to route choice, in St Helens we are often faced with long creeks with fingers of dense tea tree and cutting grass. As we race down a hillside towards them, we know how to look up and through the tree canopies to pick out wombat tunnels that we can crawl through. Would a European think about animal runs as route choices? In all seriousness, it is these little Tasmanian charms that we take for granted. And yet, from the experience I have gained travelling around the world with my Orienteering and meeting friends from throughout Europe, I know that it is these aspects of coming to Australia which terrify them the most. They are fearful of jetlag, our animals, our insects, bushfires, and the heat. They will find it hard to focus on map reading when every stick looks like a snake. They will find running up scrappy, slippery hillsides supremely challenging compared to running in deciduous forests. And the mere thought of spider webs in the forests will detract from their focus. Taking all this into account, maybe we will have the upper hand when January 2015 comes around? With twelve months remaining to prepare for the event, I am returning home with a sense of purpose to my training. I have been reminded that I need to do more terrain interval and strength training to develop more power through this heavy forest. I also need to increase the quality of my hill running to ensure that the length and steepness of the hills will not detract from my technical focus. Finally, I must begin to really fine-tune my control routines to ensure that, when distractions do occur in a race, I can focus on navigation. I believe these will be the keys to world-class performance when race day arrives at the 2015 World Cup in Tasmania.
2014 WMOC in BRAZIL Porto Alegre / Canela / São Francisco de Paula - BRAZIL 1st to 8th November, 2014
Program Thu 30 Oct: Arrival. Training. Event Centre opens. (Porto Alegre/RS) Sat 01 Nov: Opening Ceremony. Sprint Model Event. Cultural event. (Porto Alegre) Sun 02 Nov: Sprint Qualification, (Porto Alegre). Moving to Canela
Terrain The Sprint qualification will take place in Porto Alegre in an urban park situated at sea level. All the other terrains are placed at an altitude of 800-900 m. The forests consist mainly of planted pine, some eucalyptus mixed with native woodlands, open grazing lands, smaller rocky areas with cliffs and boulders, and passable watercourses. Welcome to Brazil ! WMOC 2014 Organising Committee
Mon 03 Nov: Sprint Final and Prize-giving Ceremony. (Canela) Tue 04 Nov: Rest day, Long Distance Model Event. (Canela) Wed 05 Nov: 1st Long Distance Qualfication Thu 06 Nov: 2nd Long Distance Qualification Fri 07 Nov: Rest day Sat 08 Nov: Long Distance Final Race, Closing/Prize-giving Ceremony
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INTERVIEW
Switzerland’s Simone Niggli retires
Simone Niggli, 35 and mother of three, who retired after the last European Orienteering season, is one of the most successful competitors in elite sport. In an interview with Swiss magazine “Swiss Orienteering”, Simone Niggli talked of her times as a competitor, and a little of her future plans. Extracts translated by Ian Baker.
Simone, how did your fans react to your announced retirement? Nearly all say that retirement was a pity but it is the right moment. And that they consider that few athletes get the timing right. And many consider that when I’m no longer an elite something will go from Orienteering . Let’s look at your beginnings in Orienteering. Was the sport “Love at the first control” for you? Yes, although when I began I was always very nervous at the start. So at times I went quite badly. Early on, the social component was the most important for me; friendships were developed through Orienteering. My parents took me Orienteering; we are a classic Orienteering family. Do you remember your very first event? The first one I did on my own I was ten years old and
I can still remember that the course was difficult, open terrain with few tracks. I had to ask the way (laughs). Where did you finish? I can’t remember the position but not down the bottom. Have you been keen on other sports? Until I was 21 I liked playing a lot of volleyball, in the first division. In winter it was volleyball and in summer Orienteering. But there were more and more clashes so it was not possible to do both at a high level. I liked athletics and cross-country skiing, and still do. Observers have always been impressed by your strong nerves. From training or in-born? They developed. In my first years in elite I felt a lot of pressure at the start and sometimes thought to myself, “ I don’t want to run wrong.” As soon as I
26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
Gold in 2012 WOC Sprint.
got going I felt better. Later I worked on this aspect with our team psychologist Andrea Binggeli. In recent years I’ve really enjoyed the World Championships.
We’re having this conversation in the forest. What is better: to be in a place like this or to run over the finish line, knowing you’ve won?
The best moment in your career?
Running in the forest. There is a harmony with the surroundings, everything flows and I know this control must be just there and that one is there. I observe and go forward – it’s a wonderful feeling. I can still have it in the future.
It’s hard to pick out one single moment, there were so many. Obviously recent experiences are the freshest and the World Cup final in Baden was right up there. The 2013 World Championships in Finland and the World Championships here at home in 2012 and 2003 are others. And the worst moment? The Relay at the 2009 World Championships in Hungary. When I was in a very good position I had to hunt for a control in the green. So that was bad as I was running not just for myself but also for my other team members.
Getting away from just competing. The environment in which elite Orienteering is conducted has undergone enormous changes in the years of your career. For the better? The introduction of the Sprint discipline, of GPS tracking and similar things, I do consider very exciting. The sport is more interesting not just for the public but also for us athletes. And ten or fifteen years ago you
Photo: Suunnistaja
WOC 2012 – Simone celebrates with Swiss Relay team. Photo: Skogssport
Photo: Skogssport
Simone wins another gold medal – WOC 2013 Long Distance.
Winning the World Cup Final in Baden, Switzerland.
couldn’t imagine there being a live TV broadcast.
knockout Sprint, is not my thing.
All for the best, then?
There is another pointof-view which preaches a ‘pure’ form of Orienteering.
Yesterday I went for a run without having pre-decided how far and at what speed. Preparations for JWOC 2016, where Matthias (Matthias Niggli, her husband) and I are co-directors, are on course. I’ll be discussing future involvements with my sponsors. And I’ll be helping to organise training in the
Of course, there are some things; the change at the next World Championships with the introduction of the Mixed-sex Relay, should be stopped. Traditional Orienteering should be maintained in the forest. I don’t know if a reason for this Mixed-sex Relay is the wish to get into the Olympics. Some people push Orienteering in this direction. You are critical of the Mixed-sex Relay? Apart from one race a few years ago at the World Games, I’ve no experience. What I do criticise is that this Relay is now becoming a World Championship event (in 2014) without first having been tested in the World Cup. What I can say is that the mayhem at the controls, something that occurs in a
I think it needs both extremes to eventually reach a good middle way. On both sides there are people who exaggerate a little so as to make a case. But I do not see myself in either of these two camps. Clearly you cannot organise any elite sport without the public and without the media. But if you want to make Orienteering more attractive for spectators, that’s harder if it’s in the forest. At the same time the forest is what makes Orienteering and way we like to do it. How is your 2014 schedule looking? It’s really nice that I can decide my own sport programme and can set my own timetable according to time available and how I feel.
national performance centre in Bern. Which is more probable: that we see you as national coach or as association president? At the moment I’d say rather as national coach. In general I can see myself in a coaching job. But not next year, I’d still be too recent an active participant.
Simone Niggli’s greatest achievements World Championships
23 Gold 2 Silver 6 Bronze 11 participations 2001-2013
Junior World Championships 1 1 1 3
Gold Silver Bronze participations 1996-1998
World Cup races
8 firsts 1 second 70 race wins
Swiss female athlete of the year, 2001-2012
3 firsts 4 seconds 2 thirds
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27
DEVELOPMENT
David Poland, Blue Sparks convenor and the Pan Pac kids activity. Photo: Alison Inglis
Pan Pacific Sub-Junior Orienteering Challenge
Caroline Pigerre
Part of the 2013 Australian Orienteering Championships Toni Brown – Blue Sparks, OACT
A
n exciting new idea for the AUS Championships in 2013 came from the powerhouse team at OACT Blue Sparks - The Pan Pacific (Sub) Junior Orienteering Challenge! Devised by families keen to keep children motivated in the sport the aim was to provide competition, build friendships and have Key challenges fun, all whilst really • Making it fair getting stuck into the Championships in • Making it fun a way the children • Making all sub-juniors eligible to would remember. take part regardless of their State’s sports body rules
A key goal was to embed the challenge into the Australian Championships but not significantly increase the workload for any of the organisers or State managers. The solution? All non-novices under 14 year olds racing over the first two days would score for their State. Day One event was a perfect location for the first race – a “safe” school grounds venue at Canberra Grammar School. This meant more kids were Key successes willing to have • Children went from tagging along a go on their with their families and running solo, own and built to competing in a team challenge the excitement • Younger schools team runners for Day Two could contribute to a team which was more competition where their scores technically made a difference challenging. • Teams included an Islands Team (NZ/TAS) and a SA/NT/WA team so all States were in with a chance •E ntry to the Championships was entry to the Challenge – no extra work for anyone except the score keepers!
Arm Chair Administration Early in 2013 the Challenge concept was accepted by the OACT AUS Championships convenors provided it did not interfere with the main game, that of the Australian Championships with world ranking status. The Challenge was administered almost entirely from the computer. Information about the Challenge was publicised via OACT, AUS Championships, ONSW and OA websites and e-Bulletins. Flyers were circulated in New Zealand and New Caledonia. Key contact persons were sourced from each State and NZ and each were invited to nominate captains whose first job was to choose the team colours.
•N ot adding to the workload of the Championships organisers
Jensen Key. 28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
Jed Fleming.
Some of ACT’s winning team.
Lili Wrigley.
Noah Poland.
Making it add up The scoring had to be simple so it was easy to understand and even easier to administer: A Class Events
Torren Arthur
B Class Events
Place
Points
Place
Points
1st
10
1st
3
2nd
8
2nd
2
3rd
6
3rd
1
4th
4
5th
2
6th
1
Jo-Anna Maynard. Photo: Tony Hill
Noa Millman.
And the Champions? The ACT Team flew home with the trophy, with the NZ/TAS team holding off NSW for second place. But winning a trophy was the smallest part of the success for this new idea. There was plenty of fun, many friendships made and an opportunity to join in for the smaller States and Territories. Northern Territory sole representative, Evan Keith, found himself on the SA/WA/NT team, meeting other junior orienteers and finding out about how large scale Orienteering events run, which is quite differently he discovered to his local events at home. Games were played, poetry (yes, really) was written and emails exchanged. Dante Afnan won his own slice of the competition writing an O’crostic and scoring a Trimtex top. The Pan Pacific Sub-Junior Challenge engaged over 120 kids in fun and yet serious competition. With little recognition from the event organisers and quietly performed, it gave both children and adults an additional layer to their Championship experience.
Zoe Melhuish.
Dante Afnan in his winning Trimtex O top.
A special thanks must go to Maggie Jones of the NSW Wildfires – brains trust and motivator; to Mikkel Lund of Trimtex; to all the contact people in the States (Anne Arthur, Anthea Feaver, Kim Nankervis, Jean Cory-Wright, Chris Stocks, Felicity Crosato, Peter Miller); Jenny Hawkins for her efforts in creating awards and “allowing” us to have presentations concurrent with the Long Distance Championships; to Wendy Read for acknowledging the value of the competition and to junior Bushflyers Tristan and Patrick Miller and Noah Poland who lovingly crafted the trophy that they hope will, in another year, travel outside the ACT. And the Future? It was so much fun the Blue Sparks think it should run again and become a standard part of the Nationals Carnival. If future Australian Championships organisers would like to encourage future Australian Champions, please email bluesparksact@gmail.com !
Patrick Miller.
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29
DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS
AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEERING
FTEM - Athlete Development Pathway Nick Dent – OA High Performance Operations Manager (Aligning the AIS FTEM development pathway to Orienteering - this is a draft working copy which will be added to and adjusted before it becomes the final version.)
NON ELITE (Foundation Movement) F1
FTEM Phases
F2
F3
Descriptions
Basic Movement Fundamentals
Extension and Refinement Movement of Foundations
Sport specific Commitment and/or Competition
Benchmarks
•E njoy physical activity
•S tart competing in State events
•P articipate in local Orienteering events
•D emonstrate ability in age class
•R egularly compete in State events
•C ontinued participation in local events
•A ttend State junior training camps •C ompete in National events (AUS Champs / Easter)
SKILLS Physical
•S tart developing agility, balance, co-ordination and speed (ABCS) •P articipate in a wide range of sports (physical activity) •D evelop speed, power and endurance using games
Mental
•H ave a positive association with movement •G ain enjoyment and fun from participation
•B asic elements of training- warm • Terrain running techniques up, cool down, recovery, rest •F urther develop ABCS and diet. • Core stability and strength • Focus on aerobic fitness • Flexibility and agility exercises • Participate in complementary sports • Develop a plan for the race •D evelop concentration through having routines • Develop pre-race preparation
• Draw imaginary maps
•L earn to deal with success and failure • Practice imagery • Develop self confidence •G oal setting (SMART) Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time frame. •H igh level of specific Orienteering comprehension
Technical
• Orientate the map using features • P ractice feature familiarization and recognition • Folding the map and thumbing
• Using aiming off
• Using compass to orientate map
•M oving from short legs to longer legs
• I dentify features on the map and in the terrain
• Using attack points
• Introducing basic route choice
• Identify and using handrails
• Distance estimation
• Map walks
•C hoosing and following handrails
•P ractice specific tactics to make skills routine
• Start developing 3D thinking
• Basic relocation techniques
the map
• Control procedure
• Learn international symbols • Think ahead
30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
PRE-ELITE FTEM Phases
(Potential to be International Elite) T1
T2
T3
T4
Descriptions
Demonstration of Potential
Talent Verification
Practicing & Achieving
Breakthrough & Reward
Benchmarks
•M ember State Schools team • State squad training camp • Top 3 at State Champs • Top 6 at AUS Champs / Easter in age class
•S election in Schools Honour Team • Selection in Australian Schools team • Demonstrate skills at training camp • Win State Champs in age class (M/W14, M/ W16, M/W18) • Place getter at AUS Champs / Easter in age class
•C ompete in NOL events - achieve a number of top-3 places • Follow an individualized training plan • Top 3 in AUS Champs / Easter in age class • Continued success at Schools Champs (senior age group) • Participation and demonstration of effective skills at training camp
•S election in JWOC team • Selection in AUS Uni team • Top 3 in NOL point score in age class • Win a number of NOL events in year • Win an AUS Champs or Easter event in age class • 3km time trial less than (see Appendix A) • Selection in Bushrangers team • Compete and perform at elite standard in Europe
SKILLS Physical
•S trength • Make aerobic development- using power and aerobic own body weight endurance a training priority • Aerobic power and endurance training • Continue to develop levels of speed, • Relate training strength and to the PHV (peak flexibility height velocity) of the athlete ie: the • Adapt the quantity of period of growth training to the PHV of and development the athlete when an individual’s growth is undergoing the most rapid period of change
•F ollow individual training plan - up to 10 hours per week • Increase training volume • Cross training for endurance • Learn importance of long term and short term training (rest and recovery)
•P ersonally tailored physical conditioning and recovery program (Coach) • (at least 10 hours/week) • Training for strength - hill training , terrain running, long runs > 90mins • Train for agility and stability • Undertake event specific intensive physical conditioning (Sprint, Middle, Long, Relay) • Learn to perform under a variety of competitive conditions during training • Prepare optimally: taper and peak performance
Mental
•F urther development of SMART goals • Concentrate in the face of distraction • Play O simulation games
•G uided error detection and correction • Practice breathing for control and relaxation • Accept discipline and structure • Develop good nutritional and hydration behaviors
•T ake responsibility for training • Coping strategies • Focus on selfimprovement • Learn to deal with winning, losing, injury, rejection • Pre-race planning • Relaxation techniques
•M anage an optimal level of pre-race tension • Visualization to stay positive and focused • Learn to re-focus your thoughts • Practice goal setting • Develop self-belief through improved tactical understanding and consistent competitive performance • Practice mental skills under competitive conditions
Technical
•U sing collecting features • Reading using and under-standing contour features • Further develop relocation techniques
•M ap reading at competition speed • Use compass for fine navigation • Introduction of longer legs and route choice • Controls on small features • Automatic execution of Orienteering process • Study maps to practice route choice
•A dvanced planning techniques • Map simplification • Contouring at speed • Safe, controlled and consistent orienteering • Think like a course setter
•S tart developing skills for each discipline • Competition plans • Competition analysis • Practice difficult controls in less detailed terrain with few catching features • Further develop and refine the skills of map simplification and generalization so they become automatic • Learn to select the features that are relevant to the chosen route in a variety of terrains MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31
DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS
INTERNATIONAL ELITE (Senior International) E1
FTEM Phases
E2
Descriptions
Senior National Representation
Benchmarks
Selection in WOC team, World Games Top 6 in any discipline at WOC, team, World Cup (2015) World Games, World Cup.
Podium Success
SKILLS Physical
•A thletes follow personally tailored physical conditioning and recovery programs
• Training hours per week 11-17
Sustained Success at E2 Continue to perform at E2 level
•T raining based on individual strengths
• •A erobic capacity and aerobic power training remain the main focus • • Develop endurance to be competitive in long events • • I mprove physical capacities to enable the maximization of international performance
M1
Increase the quality and quantity of training High values on all physical parameters Focus on hill running and terrain running
• 5000m time • Training camps on specific terrain
•T ake planned breaks to prevent injury and burnout •D evelop a balance between training and competition Mental
• I ndependent error detection and correction •C oncentration, focus, thought control •F urther develop self-confidence through consistent performance, setting and achieving goals •R efine performance routines and pre-race preparation •D evelop determination for long term development and hard work •E xhibit the mindset (patience) that is needed to reach the top
Technical
•D evelop an understanding of the personal “balance” between your physical, mental and technical skills •A bility to perform at the highest level in stressful situations •M aintain motivation to do the “hard work” •U se imagery that incorporates tactics, problem solving, preperformance and performance routines
•H igh level of proficiency in all technical skills
•S pecific terrain training focused on WOC
• Automatic application of these skills
•T raining camps to create the supportive training environment
•B old orienteering (test your boundaries) • Develop a personal style •A djust speed to the terrain and to your strengths •C onsistency and control during complex decision making • Develop skills for each discipline •E xperience of a variety of terrains (training and competition)
•A chieve and maintain a balance between the four key components of being the best
•D etailed understanding of different • A . Physical mapping styles and terrains •B . Technical, • Training at competition speed
• C. Mental
•D isplay the highest possible level of consistency and control over complex decision making
• D. Environment and support
•D evelop a high level of “technical stability” (balance between physical and technical skills)
Appendix A
Appendix B
3000m time trial time as a guide (minimum and maximum for each age). Applies from T4 onwards:
Squad Structure in relation to FTEM Phases High Performance Squad
at least E1 and above
Men 18.......... 9:45-10:45
Women 18........ 11:30-12:30
Elite Development Squad
at least T3 and up to E1
Men 20.......... 9:00-10:00
Women 20........ 10:45-11:45
Talent Development Squad T2
Men 21>....... 8:50-9:30
Women 21>..... 10:30-11:10
State Development Squads T1 Local Club Training Squads F3
32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
INTERNATIONAL ORIENTEERING RACES FOR WHICH AUSTRALIAN TEAMS WILL BE SELECTED JWOC Bulgaria July 21-27
WOC Italy July 5-12
WUOC Czech Aug 11-16
BUSHRANGERS NZ Test - June
BUSHRANGERS AUS Test - Sept
WORLD CUP JAN 2015 (note that results from WOC, JWOC and other international races in 2014 will count towards selection)
AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEERING RACES WHICH WILL BE USED AS TRIALS IN 2014 JWOC
WOC
WUOC
Brisbane Sprints Feb 22-23
N
Y – primary Sprint trials
Will be considered
Beechworth Middle/Long Mar 22/23
Y
Y
Will be considered
Easter Fri-Mon April 18-21
Y
Y
Y – primary trials
Anzac Fri 25-Sat 26 April: Mixed Sprint Relay, Long
N
Y
Australian Champs week WA Sept 27-Oct 5
N/A
N/A
BUSHRANGERS BUSHRANGERS NZ Test AUS Test
WORLD CUP JAN 2015
All races will be used in order to select the best available team from the HPS. Junior Bushrangers’ team proposed also.
Considered under all known previous form
Will be considered
All races will be used in order to select the best available team from the HPS. Junior Bushrangers’ team proposed also.
N/A
N/A
N/A
Y – primary trials. Athletes are encouraged to attend all races.
Considered under all known previous form Considered under all known previous form Considered under all known previous form
Elite High Performance Squad (EHPS) Allston Hanny 28 (TAS ) Neve Jasmine 28 (VIC) Brown Felicity 30 (NSW) Round Vanessa 27 (SA) Crane Grace 31 (TAS) Uppill Simon 27 (SA) Dent Julian 29 (NSW) High Performance Squad (HPS) Anderson Bridget 25 (QLD) Arthur Bruce 40 (VIC) Barr Evan 28 (VIC) Blatchford Josh 23 (NSW) Dow Lachlan 23 (ACT) Effeney Rachel 26 (QLD) Keely Bryan 26 (VIC) Lawford Ian 21 (ACT) McNulty Oscar 20 (WA) Meyer Dave 29 (NSW)
Nankervis Brodie 20 (TAS) Naunton Chris 28 (VIC) Parton Matthew 28 (NSW) Poland Oliver 20 (ACT) Prendergast Aislinn 25 (VIC) Preston Kathryn 34 (VIC) Preston Rob 36 (NSW) Scown Murray 28 (ACT) Sheldon Anna 33 (QLD)
National Development Squad (NDS) Barnett Andrew 21 (ACT) Brownridge Clare 27 (VIC) Brownridge David 30 (VIC) Doyle Jacqui 20 (ACT) Effeney Katelyn 23 (QLD) Fleming Mary 21 (VIC) Gillis Lauren 25 (SA) Gregory Kas 22 (NSW)
Gregson Mark 36 (QLD) Lawford Belinda 23 (ACT) Massey Alex 22 (NSW) McGuire Matt 27 (QLD) Meyer Ian 33 (NSW) Muir Heather 21 (QLD) Neumann Krystal 23 (QLD) Rattray Kerrin 31 (SA)
Australian Junior Development Squad (AJDS) Blatchford Nicola 19 (NSW) Burrill Alison 19 (QLD) Dawson Aidan 18 (NSW) Dawson Michele 20 (NSW) Day Jarrah 17 (TAS) Dowling Anna 17 (TAS) Doyle Matt 18 (VIC) Fuller Melanie 19 (SA) Goddard Hannah 17 (TAS)
Hill Daniel 17 (NSW) Marshall Nicola 19 (TAS) McNulty Henry 18 (WA) Melhuish Stephen 17 (ACT) Mill Oliver 17 (ACT) Nankervis Ashley 18 (TAS) Sprod Olivia 19 (SA) Steer Lanita 18 (VIC) Young Sally 18 (SA) MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33
COACHING
Swedish juniors help coach Queensland orienteers Liz Bourne
Queensland orienteers gained the benefit of having two visiting Swedish juniors in the State during January and February. Ludvig Ahlund and Annika Carlberg decided to come to Australia to combine a holiday and to offer their expertise to Orienteering Queensland. In 1987, Ludvig’s father, Jan, spent some time in Queensland doing some mapping, staying with John and Joan Bourne in Stanthorpe and competing in the Easter 3 Days at Cherrabah, outside Warwick. So by an amazing coincidence, his son has now returned to the same area!
The training camp started with local mapper, Eric Andrews, conducting a map walk through a section of The Cascades, west of Stanthorpe, to explain the way granite is mapped so that orienteers could better understand the limitations of space when trying to fit in complex rock features. In a sea of boulders, it is often difficult to work out why some are on the map and others not, so Eric was able to explain how he decided which ones came to be shown on the map. He was also able to outline the difference between boulders, high points and knolls - something that often challenges those new to granite.
N
ineteen-year-old Ludvig has been orienteering since he was 10 and attended a special Orienteering high school in Örnsköldsvik for three years where he met Annika, also nineteen. He considers his best performance was when he won the M16 class in the Swedish Championships for Youths near his home town of Sandviken. Ludvig has been in Sweden’s National Junior Squad and was in their JWOC team for the first time last year. He is also vying for selection in this year’s team in his final year as a junior. Annika has also been orienteering from a very young age and came second in the World Schools Championships in Italy in 2011. Ludvig and Annika participated in a three day training camp on the Granite Belt over the Australia Day long weekend with thirty junior and senior orienteers from across South East Queensland participating. The local orienteers thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned a lot from undertaking a variety of challenging training exercises over the three days.
Map walk – Eric Andrews points out features.
That afternoon, Ludvig offered four training exercises of both a hard and moderate standard. After a control picking exercise, people could then rotate through a contour only exercise, sticking to a corridor and an exercise aimed at simplifying route choice. Even amongst the complex terrain at The Cascades, everyone managed to complete these exercises successfully. The next day’s exercises were conducted on the Dalmoak and Wilmot’s Waterholes maps, east of Stanthorpe. First up was compass training through the southern section of Dalmoak where most of the map had been deleted and orienteers had to rely on compass bearings and the most basic contour detail and major features to find the controls. With so much map detail missing, this really caused people to have to concentrate on using their basic compass and distance estimation skills. Following this exercise, there was then a short control picking course through the rocks.
34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
The Cascades Scale 1:10000
Map reduced to 75% to fit page
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35
After lunch, Ludvig then introduced everyone to a cap-O relay event on the nearby Wilmot’s Waterholes map. This fun event, done in pairs, involved one team member navigating to an unmarked control site and leaving their cap (in this case a party hat) where they thought the control should be. They then returned to their partner, who had to navigate to the hat and move it on to the next control site before returning back to the start and sending their partner off again to find it. There was lots of fun and confusion, especially when people did not quite place their hat on the correct feature or when they inadvertently took some other team’s hat! Then it was off to the Stanthorpe High School for a quick Sprint around the buildings, taking care to read the map and not stray into out of bounds areas or through uncrossable fences. That night after tea at the Storm King Dam camp outside Stanthorpe, Ludvig and Annika gave a very interesting and informative talk about Orienteering techniques for each of the disciplines - Sprint, Middle and Long Distance events - as well as discussing their orienteering experiences in Sweden. The final day’s exercises were held on the Rosenthal Creek map, north of Dalveen. Everyone was given a map that was missing most of the detail except around the control circle and had to mark up the features they thought they would need to locate it. It made people focus on how little terrain and other detail they really needed to navigate successfully. Having completed this exercise, the orienteers then returned to the assembly area via a control picking exercise through the granite. While staying in Stanthorpe, they were able to also train on local granite maps with Ludvig rating The Cascades map as one of the best he had ever run on. “So fast and yet so complex, technical and challenging,” he said after one run. “It was a perfect opportunity for me to prepare for the competitions back home.”
Visit Australia in our Summer Teach our club how to orienteer. $A 2,500 scholarship available to enjoy Orienteering and coaching in Canberra, Australia. Applications welcome from both overseas and Australian coaches. For details look at: http://act.orienteering.asn.au/coaching/ Scholarship/ To apply please email your details, a brief CV, a photo and a short letter to Orienteering ACT <orienteering.act@webone.com.au> Applications close April 25th. Earlier applications encouraged. 36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
Ludvig and Annika also spent time in Brisbane and Toowoomba during their stay, participating in local Sprint events, including the NOL Sprints in Brisbane on 22 and 23 February, and organising training activities. It was a great boost for local orienteers, particularly juniors, to be able to learn so much from them about their training and navigation techniques and be inspired by what they have both achieved.
Advertise your event You can have a 6 x 9 cm event ad for just $50 In colour, if we have room, otherwise black & white Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au
In memory of Rex Saye, the orienteering software which he designed and wrote (OTrack and Corpse version 7 with new features) is now available free of charge at
www.o-ware.com
COACH
RIC CHARLESWORTH
Coach Extraordinaire Michael Hubbert
Last year I had the great pleasure to attend a presentation by Dr Ric Charlesworth, arguably one of the greatest team coaches this country has ever seen. We know him as a doctor of medicine, cricketer, hockey player, member of Parliament for 10 years, author, coach of the Hockeyroos during their most successful years 1993 – 2000, and now coach of the Kookaburras.
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ccording to Charlesworth, athletes fear change. But coaching is fundamentally about change. He quoted Charles Darwin – “the species that adapts to change will survive and thrive”. He said, “In managing transition you need a process focus. The poison in sport is when you have an outcome focus. You have to be committed to the process and be committed to the detail.”
“You want people to be able to make decisions and judgments and not to be riddled by doubt, unable to decide what to do next,” he said. “The reason that teams don’t do so well in sport away from home is that they lose the contest between doubt and belief. That little quote says it perfectly. We become indecisive, we don’t have a go because we’re afraid of failing.”
Charlesworth said, “The Hockeyroos team I coached in the ‘90s was number one in the world for eight years, which is a terrific example of sustained high performance. We had talented individuals. Remember, no sports coach succeeds unless he or she has talented athletes. We always had players good enough to win the major competitions. When people ask me to name that particular group’s most defining quality, I always say it was their sense of humility.
Charlesworth emphasised the importance of never losing focus. Focus on the task, not the outcome. (If you’re doing well twothirds of the way around your course, don’t start thinking about the medals.)
Humility underpins an attitude that says, “We can get better. There is more to do. We have to improve.” It underpins a disciplined approach to your lifestyle and your training – how you prepare and acquire skills.
Teamwork is a moral issue – doing the right thing at the right time, in the right way. Each detail counts. Players develop trigger phrases in their self-talk during a game which are designed to maintain focus and performance.
Shakespeare wrote, “A fool thinks he’s a wise man, a wise man knows he’s a fool”. That’s about humility – about understanding your limitations and that there’s more to learn. Humility is the defining quality of outstanding teams – not overbearing confidence or arrogance.”
Top teams(or athletes) all have similar superior capabilities. If your team is to win you have to take calculated risks. If you don’t, you won’t win. What defines a top athlete in a team?
Charlesworth said he was inspired by William Shakespeare’s genius and used the Bard’s works to help his teams and athletes reach their potential. He has written a book called Shakespeare the Coach. His favourite quote from Shakespeare is: “Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt.” He said, the struggle between doubt and belief leads inevitably to indecision. “As a coach you are always looking for different ways to say things and for messages that came from someone else,” he said. “Over time I found I had a collection of lines that Shakespeare had written which were relevant to sport. I had used many of the messages as a coach myself and it seemed to me that there was a book in it. “As an athletic coach or as a coach in any sport you constantly want to lift the bar on the athletes and to challenge them and to put them into circumstances where they are unable to cope,” he said. Charlesworth admires Shakespeare`s insights into human nature and motivation. “‘Sweet are the uses of adversity’, is a quote that comes from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, that I have used,” he said. “It means pushing people sometimes harder than they want to be pushed. The message is that you need to do that if you are going to develop and grow and improve and be better, and be able to handle those conditions when they come along.”
Sport rewards merit. Most athletes in the team don’t know how good they can be. Every day is about continuous improvement. The question to be asked is “What might seem impossible or unlikely, but might make a difference if we did it?”
• ability to cooperate; • competitive instincts and resilience; • strategic/tactical/technical understanding; • superior athletic capacity; • individual skills Leadership is about two things – knowing where you’re going; and persuading others to go with you. Charlesworth once said, “the interesting thing about coaching is: trouble the comfortable and comfort the troubled.” It is all about nurturing and supporting the players while always avoiding complacency. He is known for having said that “flair” is overrated. “I think it is important that people have the opportunity to express themselves and be creative, but you make a mistake when you go searching for that. The stuff that makes your game solid is the everyday essential skills. The best players have the best basics and what some people see as flair is superior practiced skill. Roger Federer is an example of that. No-one scores a goal against our team unless generally we get four or five consecutive things wrong. If any of those errors are not made, we have the ball and it’s heading in our direction.” He closed with a telling take-away quote: “Athletes who are selfconfident worry me; Athletes who are very self-confident worry me a lot.”
MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37
NUTRITION
Getting back into shape after Christmas New Year Indulgence! 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.
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he festive season would not have such effect on our waistlines if it only lasted two days! But somehow it seems to extend from the office/work parties in late November through to Australia Day. Indulgences on occasions are very acceptable even when one follows a healthy eating plan but when these become the rule rather than the exception, those kilograms creep onto the hips or around the middle at rather a rapid rate. Before you know it, your clothes are too tight! Obviously, if you boost up your training regime you may burn up some of those unwanted fat stores, but you probably need to look at your dietary intake as well to see where you can trim the fat. A word of warning before you are tempted to try one of the many ‘fad diets’ that are around at the moment. Many of them are low in carbohydrate, your main muscle fuel, so are not advisable for active people, especially those in training. In a recent survey of local gyms in northern NSW, I found the following diets to be in vogue late in 2013: The Fast diet (5:2), Paleo (cave man), Blood Type, Harcombe and Alkaline Balance diet. Whether you are considering following one of these or any other fad diet, you need to be asking yourself the following questions. If answering ‘no’ to any of these, then the diet is not considered to be nutritionally adequate, nor will it be sustainable in the long term. • Does it include all 5 food groups – ie grains, fruit, vegetables, meat or alternatives, dairy? • Are there no restrictions on any of these healthy foods from the above food groups? • Are the carbohydrate foods (ie bread, cereals, potatoes and other starchy vegetables, pasta, rice, milk, yoghurt and fruit) from the above groups severely restricted or omitted? • Are there special ways in which you must/must not combine foods? • Does it fit in with your normal family/lifestyle/work routine? • Are the foods specified able to be purchased in the normal stores at which you shop? • Will the foods/pills recommended add extra expense to your budget? • Does it offer a quick solution to a long term problem, ie does it sound too good to be true? • Is it full of rituals or sacrifice? • Is someone making a fast $ out of it by promoting extras like books, potions, equipment, etc? Most of the ‘popular’ diets promoted in magazines or on the internet fail when you ask the above questions. One thing many of them neglect is the energy expenditure side of the equation. They don’t emphasise the need to balance your food intake with the amount of exercise you do, so that you will burn up just a little more energy than you have consumed. This is the best way to lose weight. 38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
Some of the fad diets may not hurt if you only followed them for a short time. However, the low carbohydrate ones will definitely leave you with unwanted side-effects, especially if you try to do your normal training:- headache, nausea, lack of energy, irritability, light-headedness, constipation and bad breath to name a few! Apart from these short-term consequences there are longer term health problems as well. The Atkins Diet (most famous low carbohydrate diet) has been shown to increase blood cholesterol levels by 25% and overall heart disease risk by 50%. Low carbohydrate diets tend to be higher in protein and sometimes in undesirable (saturated) fats. The increased load for the kidneys to break down excessive protein is a concern especially for those who are at risk of declining renal function. The high protein diet also reduces the body’s absorption of calcium which may have long term effects on bone health, speeding up the progress of osteoporosis. Disturbances in heart rhythm have been linked to sudden death in some people following low carbohydrate diets for extended periods of time. So where does this leave us with our extra Xmas kilograms?
Do something that makes absolute biological sense - move a little more and eat a little less. Especially less of the most concentrated sources of energy - the hot chips, crisps, fried/battered foods, sugary drinks and snacks (not to mention Xmas cake - one of the most energy dense treats available). Try to eat more of the vegetables and fruits that still abound in Summer/Autumn, wholegrain cereals and breads, low fat dairy foods and moderate serves of lean meat or vegetarian alternatives (like legumes, tofu, eggs, etc).
Do a weekly shop that ensures you have these foods on hand. Try not to visit the supermarket daily as you will be tempted to buy more than you really need each time you enter the store (proven by market research to be the case).
Don’t restrict yourself totally from having some of your favourite foods. If you eat chocolate daily, try limiting it to 3 times a week and having a good quality type that tastes more exotic and lasts longer. If crisps are your downfall, try interspersing them with a small quantity of nuts or some popcorn (home made with added spice that you enjoy).
Don’t be too critical of yourself if you fail to keep to your new rules on one day. Just turn a new page the next day and keep going with your new habits. Keep positive. Remember that change in any area of life is difficult. Altering life-long food habits can take a lot of perseverance. Enlist support of friends or family or someone sympathetic to your new healthy lifestyle attempt. Keeping going is the most difficult part of any weight loss regime so recognise you may need help from those you trust or maybe from a counsellor/health coach or psychologist who can give you wonderful strategies to help you make lifestyle changes seem easier.
HISTORY
History of O Controls
Even that material was not easy to obtain. Punches were imported from Sweden.
The original markers were a deeper red than the orange-red used today, this being the only red colour that was available. These markers were not always David Hogg easy to see, particularly for colour-blind people. The colours you race around your course using blindness issue was well known a super-quick SI stick to record each in Europe, where research was control visit, and receive a printed report on undertaken to determine the your successes and failures at the Finish, it is optimum colour combination easy to think this is the norm and to forget for Orienteering markers. At one it was not always the way of registering at stage, a combination of blue and Orienteering controls. orange was considered, but the current orange-red and white In August 1969, when Tom Andrews Bucket control with pencil. combination was ultimately organised the event at Upper Beaconsfield, adopted. Meanwhile, Western Australian orienteers jumped the Victoria, that led to the establishment of Orienteering in gun and produced some blue and orange markers, and later some Australia, he and his co-planners hung four-gallon metal drums, red and white markers with blue stripes. painted red with a white stripe, at each of the control sites. These were clearly unwieldy for regular use and at subsequent events Punches remained the norm for many years, hanging from were replaced by red plastic buckets with a white stripe and hung marker flags for most events but attached to metal stands for upside down. Orange buckets, half painted white, were used major events. Early stands were made of steel and were very solid when Orienteering was established in Canberra in 1971. A few but heavy to carry, requiring an army of volunteers to put out old-time orienteers still use the term ‘bucket’ when talking about and retrieve the controls. Over time, the stands became lighter, control markers. initially being of a lighter steel design, then of aluminium. While buckets represented the best design available at the time A major change in control technology took place in the1990s and could make the controls very visible, they sometimes had with the introduction of electronic punching for major events. their problems. At an event at Bullarto Reservoir in Victoria in Initially, the Orienteering Federation of Australia supported a trial 1970, it snowed and the rims of the buckets trapped the fresh of the Norwegian Regnly system (now known as Emit), but this snow, which soon covered the buckets, making them difficult to system was never widely used in Australia. see. This problem, rather than the snow itself, prevented most Then SPORTIdent hit the world Orienteering scene. The ACT competitors from completing their courses. Orienteering Association, which had been debating electronic
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Later that year, at a night event in Studley Park, Melbourne, luminous tape was added to the buckets to improve their visibility by torchlight. However, the tape also attracted the attention of a passing motorist who souvenired a stack of buckets left beside a road during control collection. Despite holes in the bottom, which would have made them useless for their original purpose, and an appeal in the sporting column of The Age, the buckets were not returned. With the lack of other recording devices being readily available in Australia, pencils tied to the control were used to record competitors’ visits. A technological upgrade was attempted in 1972 by importing special self-inking stamps from Britain. These stamps, however, dried out on hot days, smudged or did not work in the rain, and were sometimes chewed by bush animals that apparently considered the ink to be tasty. Around 1973, the use of cloth control markers and pin punches reached Australia. Such markers could not be purchased in Australia, so they were handmade by orienteers from separate red and white nylon material of suitable consistency.
systems for start and finish timing for some time, seized the opportunity and invested in SI equipment, initially for use at the 2000 Australian Three-Days and World Cup events. Other States soon followed suit and SPORTIdent became established as the timing and control recording technology for all major events in Australia. Its initial use was focused on major events, but its use has extended over time to a wide range of State and club events. As the preferred electronic punching system in many Orienteering countries, it has become refined progressively in terms of both hardware and software. Several Australian orienteers have tried their hand at writing software for local use, with some simple programs proving to be quite effective at this level. Over time, however, there has been a gradual move to adopt more sophisticated and standardised European software. With sophisticated splits analysis, tracking technology and other refinements which are likely to become commonplace, it is perhaps refreshing to occasionally take a big step backwards to enjoy the wonders of plastic buckets and coloured pencils which set the standard for Orienteering control technology in Australia in the years that followed the first moon landing! And, at last year’s AUS Championships carnival a special “Flashback” event was staged at Mount Majura, on the outskirts of suburban Canberra, using the original black & white map produced for Orienteering in 1971. The control markers were red & white buckets as used in those early days.
Peter Nicholls stamps at the control, 1972. MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39
O-SPY MEMBERSHIPS
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good indicator of growth or otherwise in State Association membership is the ordering pattern for The Australian Orienteer magazine by State Associations over the past few years. Numbers of magazines ordered include copies for Full Memberships (at $6.55 per copy), copies to bodies such as the State Library, and copies obtained at a heavily discounted rate ($1.50 per copy) to be used for promotional purposes. Magazines go to both Individual members and to Family Memberships
so the actual numbers of magazines ordered is not a good indication of the number of orienteers in each State. Those State Associations with high proportions of Family Memberships will have far more individual orienteers than their magazine orders might suggest. But, the trend in orders by State Associations remains a good indicator of their growth. The chart shows that some State Associations’ ordering patterns have been essentially static in recent years, whilst NSW has increased its orders substantially and Victoria has reduced its orders, also substantially. In all States there is a natural attrition in Memberships every year, so State Associations need to keep recruiting new members each year just to maintain the status quo. To achieve
growth in Memberships they have to recruit even more. From Memberships data recorded by Orienteering Australia, the two most populous States for orienteers are NSW and Victoria, with ONSW Membership numbers being some 65% greater than OV Memberships. A critical observation is that the proportion of Family/ group Memberships in NSW (60%) is much greater than in Victoria (41%). The fact that Family/group Memberships in NSW are proportionally higher indicates that the number of individual orienteers in NSW is substantially much higher than in Victoria. Does this perhaps suggest that ONSW has reached a critical mass of individual orienteers beyond which growth becomes much easier to obtain, whereas Orienteering Victoria has not ?
SPORTident Hint !
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hen storing your SI gear please note NOT to wrap the cords attached to the BSM main stations around the units. This may eventuate in fraying of the cable where it enters the unit. This is not easily repaired and also not cost effective. Colin Price can replace batteries and beepers when necessary. If you have any other questions you can contact him at colinp53@ yahoo.com.au http://www. aussieogear.com/
POLAR VORTEX
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evastating floods throughout Europe and a ‘polar vortex’ over north America bringing snowstorms and record cold to much of the US and Canada. Is truth even stranger than fiction? In “The Sixth Winter” by Douglas Orgill & John Gribbin, the jet stream becomes unstable laying down sheaths of ice over Russia and north America. In the final scene a man climbs over the railing at the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago and skis away.
40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
TV COVERAGE OF WOC 2014
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he World Orienteering Championships (WOC) 2014 will be held in Trentino and Venezia, Italy, at the beginning of July. In order to secure high-level TV production of WOC and raise the interest of TV customers and spectators the IOF has decided to take over the International TV production of WOC 2014 together with the Gearbox Production company. To satisfy both traditional Orienteering TV takers and less traditional or less capable Federations and TV stations, a variety of distribution formats will be offered, including full live TV coverage at one end of the scale and highlight cuts at the other. TV TIMES (Italian time) Saturday 5 July Sprint (M;W) 15:30 – 17:30
Monday 7 July Sprint Relay (M+W) 17:25 – 18:40 Wednesday 9 July Long Distance (M;W) 14:00 – 17:00 Friday 11 July Middle Distance (W) 13:00 – 14:30
TRIMTEX “NEW IMAGE”
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rimtex have recently upgraded their logo so you will see their clothing carrying a mix of the old and new logos.
Middle Distance (M) 15:30 – 17:00 Saturday 12 July Relay (M;W) 13:55 – 16:55 RATE CARD (Excluding transmission and commentary costs) Multilateral live feeds – all Finals package - EUR 25,000 Multilateral live feed – daily package - EUR 6,000 Daily highlights - EUR 2,000 Daily newsfeed - EUR 300 Overall highlights - EUR 3,000 We’re unlikely to see it on our local TV screens but it does appear to be progress in the right direction.
ATHLETICS AUSTRALIA DRAFTS BAN ON USE OF SUPPLEMENTS
OACT SCHOLARSHIP FOR COACH
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rienteering ACT is providing a $A 2,500 scholarship for an enthusiastic orienteer to volunteer as a Club Trainer during the summer months of 2014-2015.
within the city. The Coach will meet Orienteering families, experience some upside down orienteering and gain experience teaching Orienteering. In return we will provide billets, free entries to events and some spending money. Work includes coaching to members, to kids in schools, after-school care centres, and mapping local areas. It follows on from the success of a Swiss coach, Lukas Funk, who has just completed his Scholarship in 2013. For details visit the OACT website coaching page act.orienteering.asn. au/coaching/Scholarship/. This year Australians and New Zealanders can also apply.”
David Poland said, “This is a great opportunity for a young person to live in Australia’s bush capital city – with some of the world’s best granite terrain at its doorstep and plenty of fast forested spur/gully maps not every high-performance athlete required supplements, and that the vast majority ‘’certainly did not’’.
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Athletics Australia will instruct all athletes to adopt a blanket ban on the use of supplements because the controversial products are considered to be of dubious physical benefit while the risks they present are great. The athletics body’s integrity and ethics unit has drafted a policy outlining a push for a sweeping ban on supplements, except in cases such as an athlete requiring iron or vitamins as recommended by a doctor or health specialist.
The draft notes that claims of specific health and performance benefits regarding supplements are not supported by scientific evidence, the spokesman said. ‘’The strong recommendation to athletes is that supplement use be discontinued except in a very limited number of cases. The draft policy includes a ban on virtually all supplement use by under-age athletes. It takes a hardline approach for young athletes based on the belief that situations in which individuals under the age of 18 would be required to use dietary nutritional supplements for sporting purposes are rare.
AA cannot prohibit an athlete from using a supplement that is not on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list, but the policy highly recommends that athletes follow its advice. AA would also provide no assistance to purchase supplements. AA said the policy change was needed as there were greater concerns over the source of supplements, many of which were now available on the internet and sourced from overseas, so athletes could not be certain they had not been contaminated.
‘’Athletes under the age of 18 would be discouraged from using any performance-enhancing supplements, even group A supplements, such as caffeine, creatine and bicarbonate. The policy also recommends that the use of supplements should only take place on the advice of an accredited sport medicine professional. A stronger stance on supplementation is important as there are now widespread concerns about the availability of supplies that can be guaranteed as being uncontaminated.’’
The integrity unit said there was no scientific evidence to support claims of specific health and performance benefits. The policy implied that most supplements had no beneficial effect on performance, and those that might improve performance were banned under the WADA code anyway.
The spokesman said athletes would be advised not to take a supplement if:
n an announcement last December it was revealed that:
‘’Our integrity and ethics unit will shortly submit a draft policy on supplements in sport to the Athletics Australia board of management for their consideration,’’ an AA spokesman said. “It is based on the three principles of athlete health and safety, evidence-based science, and compliance with the WADA code.’’ The spokesman said the draft policy recognised that
• I t cannot be found on the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority ‘’Know your Substance’’ website; •A fter a match on the website, it is revealed that it is prohibited in sport; • It has been sourced from overseas or the internet. ‘’If in any doubt, an athlete will be expected to adopt a ‘no supplement’ policy,’’ he said. AA is understood to be the first sporting body to recommend a broad ban like this. MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41
SPOT the DIFFERENCE
This time Spot the Difference goes to classic gold mining terrain in northern Victoria. With the Bush-O season upon us you need to brush up on your map reading skills in complex terrain like this. Here, in two otherwise identical map sections, we have created 25 differences. CAN YOU FIND ALL 25 ???
42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
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.
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Hanny’s Long Race
so enjoyed this brilliant article by Hanny. I love articles like this for the insight they provide into the tactics and strategy of such a good orienteer. I learn a great deal from them. Thank you so much for a wonderful magazine. Robin English (Wallaringa Orienteers – SA)
No longer stuck in the past!
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our seconds! Just 4 seconds behind the 3rd placegetter! I had just run the Sprint Final at 2013 WMOC in Sestriere, Italy, W70 class. As I charged up the Finish chute I thought “good run, no mistakes”. I waited until the last W70 runner was in then went to check the results. There was my name, a thrill to be in the top ten (a long held ambition), but then I saw it – just 4 seconds behind #3! Could I have made up that time somewhere? I mentally ran the course again. Too slow up the hill from #2 to #3? But, on checking the splits I did better than most; I had hesitated at #7, maybe a second lost; poor route choice from #7 to #8? No, I was up near the top. So maybe I just had to accept that I couldn’t have made up that 4 seconds. Then suddenly, the light went on. My old, trusty E-stick, bought in the first year of their use, was like me – old and needed to move with the times. I had noted that other competitors in W70 had E-stick numbers with seven digits (“nothing wrong with my E-stick”, I used to think, “and my five digits are much easier to memorise”). Those whiz bang, flashing seven digit E-sticks actually “record the data at least twice as fast as earlier models” (says the
specifications), taking 0.5 sec. With 11 controls an SI #11 would have saved me at least 5.5 seconds! So there were those missing 4 seconds and the place on the podium. So, farewell old faithful, I’m moving with the times and am now the happy owner of a seven digit SI #11, with flashing light indicating data is recorded – just what I’ll need when I can no longer hear the beeps. I can’t wait for the next WMOC Sprints. Ann Ingwersen (Parawanga Orienteers - ACT)
funded situation! Even if the money we get in Germany could rise through Olympic recognition the disadvantages are clear. I CANNOT understand why the IOF are still messing around here - it can only be for some ideals of recognition which do NOT help the normal orienteer..….. Wilf Holloway (Germany)
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Printed Start Times
wish to express my disappointment at comments published in the O- Spy column in the December 2013 edition of The Australian Orienteer. Your columnist was unhappy at the decision by the organisers of the Australian Orienteering Championships in the ACT in September/ October not to include start lists in every registration bag. I, on the other hand, applaud this decision. The mistake on the part of the organisers was that they did not warn
Ann Ingwersen at WMOC 2013 (pic CompassSport).
Orienteering in the Olympics?
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ow right you are with this Olympics issue regarding Orienteering. Not only your comments but also Nick Barrable’s editorial (CompassSport Dec 2013) and reprint of Rod Dominish’s report from WOC 1972 (!!!) prove the worth of NOT wasting our money and time getting into the Olympics. At present the financial assistance for our sport in Germany has gone down from an absolutely necessary 50,000 Euros to under 15,000 Euros in recent years, making national squads a privately
competitors in advance that start lists would not be provided, so that they could make other arrangements if they wanted. The time to stop the practice of including start lists at registration has come. Let’s show that we are an environmentally aware organisation and stop the waste incurred in printing reams of paper much of which goes rapidly into the bin. If your columnist wishes to have a personal and complete start list, let him print out his own. Or better still, print (or write) just those few relevant times in which he is interested. My own disappointment was that the organisers chose to print a traditional program rather than the smaller pamphlet-style program that is becoming the norm and once again, uses less paper. Jenny Hawkins (Bushflyers – ACT)
Custom O Tops & Bike Jerseys from $45* each For clubs, teams, special events or individuals, feel a part of it in your custom made top. We can design something for you, or use your own design. Free design service for quantities over 20. Quantities from 1 to 100+
*for quantities over 20
Contact: Peter Cusworth pcusworth@bigpond.com Ph 0409 797 023 MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA
2013 National Rankings – non-elite Darryl Erbacher – OA Statistician
R
ankings for non-elite classes have been determined as in previous years based on results in the Australian Championships (AS, AM, AL), and the Australian Easter 3-Days (E1, E2, E3).Points are awarded for each event completed on the basis of 100 points for 1st place, and lesser points for other competitors. An orienteer’s best three events count towards their rankings. The first 10 orienteers ranked in each class are published here. State Association secretaries have lists of all orienteers ranked between 50 and 100 points inclusive. When more than one orienteer in a class has 100 points, the first ranked orienteer is determined by the average of their three best winning margins. Some points of interest in the 2013 rankings: • Winner by the largest margin was Craig Feuerherdt (BG.V) by 12.21 percentage points. • There were a number of equal firsts: M75 - Pauli Piiroinen (BS.A), Clive Pope (UG.Q); M80 - Graeme Cadman (YV.V), Kevin Paine (BS.A); M85 - Hermann Wehner, (WE.A), Neil Schafer, (GO.N). • There were 32 clubs that had members in the first three placings in the rankings with the most successful clubs being: MF.V (9); PO.A (7); YV.V, BS.A (6); EV.T, GO.N, AL.T, BF.N, UG.Q (4); NC.N, WH.N (3); BG.V, WR.T, RR.Q, UR.N, EU.V, WO.W, RR.A, NE.V, SH.N, WE.A (2); DR.V, EN.Q, SH.N, GS.N, BK.V, TE.S, YA.S, TJ.S, CC.N, OH.S, AW.V (1). • Families with two or more members in the first three places in the rankings were: de Jong (Laura W10, Ellie W14); Enderby (Mikayla W10, Jennifer W45); Melhuish (Zoe W12, Tara W14); Czajkowski (Karolina W12, Piotr M45); Hill (Joanna W12, Daniel M16); Hogg/Jessop (Andy M40, Cathy W35, Rob M45); Bourne/Lawford (Jenny W55, Geoff M55); Tarr (Janet W70, Alex M70); Miller (Tristan M12, Patrick M14); Key (Aston M14, Warren M50); Wehner (Martin M50, Hermann M85). • The classes with the most ranked runners were, for the women, W65 (22), and the men M60 (27). • Tara Melhuish (PO.A) was ranked in both W14 and W16. • Graeme Cadman (YV.V) and Kevin Paine (BS.A) both scored 100 points but cannot be separated as they each won all their races without opposition. Class M10 1 Serryn Eenjes BG.V 100.00 E2E3AM 2 Laura de Jong RR.Q 89.85 ALASAM 3 Mikayla Enderby NC.N 87.12 ASE3E2 4 Natalie Miller BS.A 70.35 ASE1E3 5 Jessica Madden LO.W 65.37 E1E2E3 Class W12 1 Zoe Melhuish PO.A 100.00 ASAMAL 2 Karolina Czajkowski MF.V 97.47 E3E1AS 3 Joanna Hill GO.N 92.96 E2E1AL 4 Sophie Jones UR.N 91.80 E1E3AL 5 Venla Salonen UG.Q 90.33 E2E1E3 6 Emily Sorensen TT.S 83.03 ALAME3 7 Riley Lane PO.A 78.99 ALAME3 Class W14 1 Tara Melhuish PO.A 100.00 ASAMAL 2 Ellie de Jong RR.Q 99.70 E1E2E3 3 Rachel Allen AL.T 82.21 ALASAM 4 Zazi Brennan RR.Q 79.73 ASALAM 5 Lili Wrigley EV.T 78.83 ASAMAL 6 Jo Anna Maynard BO.W 72.17 AMASAL 7 Jasmine Bevelander TJ.S 66.60 E3E2E1 8 Heather Lane PO.A 61.96 ASALAM 9 Caroline Pigerre UG.Q 59.24 ASALAM 10 Lauren Baade UG.Q 52.89 ASAMAL Class W16 1 Hannah Goddard EV.T 98.15 E3ALE2 2 Asha Steer DR.V 93.68 E1ASAM 3 Georgia Jones UR.N 90.16 E2E1AS
4 Winnie Oakhill UG.Q 87.90 ASAMAL 5 Heather Burridge UG.Q 87.43 E2E1AM 6 Zoe Dowling WR.T 86.51 E2E1AL 7 Leisha Maggs BG.V 77.14 ASE3E1 8 Celsey Adams EV.T 71.32 ASAMAL 9 Tara Melhuish PO.A 65.72 E3E1E2 10 Sammy McDougall RR.Q 58.96 ASE2AL Class W35 1 Cathy Hogg PO.A 100.00 E2E3AS 2 Brook Martin GO.N 92.68 ALASAM 3 Hania Lada YV.V 88.51 E1E3E2 4 Liliia Glushchenko BK.V 83.59 E2E1E3 5 Anna Fitzgerald GS.N 81.82 AMASAL 6 Kim Carroll AL.T 80.92 ASE3AL 7 Jane Pulford AL.T 79.23 ASAMAL Class W40 1 Clare Hawthorne WR.T 100.00 E1E2E3 2 Cathy McComb AL.T 92.61 E3E1E2 3 Heidi Salonen UG.Q 88.65 E1E3E2 4 Susie Kluth PO.A 88.36 E2E3E1 5 Tamsin Barnes RR.Q 87.83 ASE3E2 6 Anna Hyslop PO.A 64.83 ASE1E3 Class W45 1 Jennifer Enderby NC.N 97.97 E1ALE3 2 Su Yan Tay UG.Q 95.68 E1ALE3 3 Nicola Dalheim MF.V 94.95 E3E1AL 4 Anita Scherrer RR.A 93.53 E2AMAL 5 Barbara Hill GO.N 91.78 ASE3E2 6 Karen Blatchford NC.N 91.24 AMALE1
44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
7 Wendy Read UG.Q 90.11 AME3E1 8 Sue Hancock WR.T 89.90 AME2E3 9 Clare Leung UG.Q 85.40 E2E3AL 10 Paula Savolainen GO.N 82.14 AMALAS Class W50 1 Christine Marshall AL.T 100.00 E1E2E3 2 Christine Brown EV.T 97.85 AMALE2 3 Gayle Quantock NC.N 97.14 E1E3AS 4 Anthea Feaver LO.W 92.43 ASAME2 5 Toni Brown BS.A 85.62 E3E2E1 6 Ana Herceg PO.A 84.84 ASALAM 7 Felicity Crosato RR.Q 83.27 ASALAM 8 Carolyn Matthews NC.N 77.79 ASALAM 9 Andrea Schiwy AL.T 71.09 ASE1E3 10 Carol Harding BS.A 63.03 ASAMAL Class W55 1 Liz Abbott PO.A 100.00 E2E3AM 2 Jenny Bourne EU.V 99.89 ASALE3 3 Carolyn Jackson MF.V 97.44 E1ASE2 4 Debbie Davey WR.N 82.06 ALAME1 5 Sue Key MF.V 80.52 E1AME3 6 Robin Uppill OH.S 78.15 E2ASE3 7 Hilary Wood CC.N 72.33 ASE1AM 8 Mary McDonald AO.A 70.92 AMASE3 9 Geraldine Chatfield UG.Q 65.30 E2E3E1 10 Margi Freemantle YV.V 59.72 E1E3E2 Class W60 1 Carol Brownlie WO.W 100.00 E1E3AS 2 Lynn Dabbs WH.N 99.16 AME3E2 3 Lynda Rapkins EN.Q 93.27 E2E3E1 4 Robyn Pallas CC.N 87.10 ASALE3 5 Alison Radford TT.S 85.66 E1E3E2 6 Ann Scown AO.A 83.30 E2E1AL 7 Barbara Tassell AL.T 82.39 E2AMAL 8 Jan Hardy AL.T 77.16 ALE2AS 9 Hilary Cane AL.T 70.58 E2E3E1 10 Jan Candy KO.W 69.71 ALAMAS Class W65 1 Jenny Hawkins BS.A 100.00 E1E2AM 2 Val Hodsdon SH.N 94.73 ALE3E1 3 Judy Allison RR.A 93.03 ALASAM 4 Toy Martin NC.N 91.75 ASALE3 5 Pat Miethke PO.A 87.97 ASALAM 6 Meredyth Sauer SO.Q 86.40 E2E1AM 7 Kathy Liley YV.V 86.11 ASE3E1 8 Bryony Cox GO.N 81.86 E1E3E2 9 Janet Fletcher LO.W 79.23 ALASAM 10 Robin Spriggs UG.Q 78.69 ASALAM Class W70 1 Jean Baldwin GS.N 100.00 E1E2AL 2 Ann Ingwersen PO.A 98.06 ASALE3 3 Janet Tarr YV.V 89.61 AME3AS 4 Dale Ann Gordon EU.V 85.59 E3E1E2 5 Valerie Brammall EV.T 74.90 AMASAL 6 Carolyn Chalmers NC.N 66.67 ASALAM 7 Christa Schafer GO.N 62.48 E1AMAS 8 Ann Sutton RR.A 59.16 E1E3E2 Class W75 1 Helen Alexander BK.V 100.00 E1E3AS 2 Janet Morris WH.N 98.17 E2AMAS 3 Caryl Woof EV.T 77.01 E2E1E3 Class W80 1 Sue Healy NE.V 100.00 E1E2AS 2 Maureen Ogilvie UR.N 97.45 E3AMAS 3 Joyce Rowlands NE.V 73.64 E2E3E1 Class M10 1 Will Fleming EV.T 100.00 ASAMAL 2 Torren Arthur MF.V 95.84 E1E2AL 3 Oscar Bertei TE.S 83.57 E3E2E1 4 Remi Afnan YA.S 79.23 ASE1AM 5 Leith Soden HW.V 71.44 E3E1E2 6 Joseph Wilson BS.A 70.27 ASAMAL Class M12 1 Dante Afnan YA.S 100.00 E2AMAL 2 Tristan Miller BS.A 95.12 E1E3E2 3 Noah Poland BS.A 92.11 E3E2E1 4 Jared McKenna UR.N 91.97 E1E3E2 5 Andrew Kerr PO.A 83.03 ASAMAL 6 Mason Arthur MF.V 80.87 E1E3E2 7 Jensen Key MF.V 65.59 E1E3AL 8 Ewan Shingler BF.N 62.43 E3E2AS 9 Jack Wigney BG.V 58.42 E1E2E3 Class M14 1 Oliver Martin WO.W 99.48 E2E3AS 2 Patrick Miller BS.A 99.39 ALASE2 3 Aston Key MF.V 98.87 E1E2AM 4 Luke West AL.T 90.21 ASALE2 5 Alastair George BF.N 80.28 AMALAS 6 Duncan Currie GO.N 77.21 ASAMAL 7 Lachlan McIntyre UG.Q 73.21 AMASAL 8 Michael Loughnan BG.V 72.85 ASE3AL 9 Jimmy Cameron BG.V 70.59 E1ALE2
10 Jed Fleming EV.T 68.77 ASAMAL Class M16 1 Patrick Jaffe MF.V 100.00 E1E2E3 2 Daniel Hill GO.N 95.00 AME3AS 3 Oisin Stronach AL.T 90.38 E2E3E1 4 Toby Wilson GO.N 86.69 E3ASE2 5 Ewan Barnett BS.A 83.18 ASE3AL 6 Riley de Jong RR.Q 80.13 ASE2AL 7 Simeon Burrill BB.Q 76.06 ALE3E1 8 Jack Neumann EN.Q 75.11 AMASAL 9 Joseph Dickinson EV.T 74.38 ASAMAL 10 Oliver Mill RR.A 73.95 ASALAM Class M35 1 Craig Feuerherdt BG.V 100.00 E1E3AM 2 Douglas Jay SH.N 87.79 E2E3AS Class M40 1 Greg Barbour BF.N 99.45 E3ALE2 2 Andy Hogg PO.A 99.02 E1E2E3 3 Matthew Sherlock BF.N 98.71 ASE2E1 4 Scott Simson NC.N 90.95 AME2E1 5 Jason McCrae RR.A 90.09 E3E1AM 6 Shane Trotter NC.N 89.43 AME2E3 7 Greg Morcom TJ.S 89.18 AME1E2 8 Jonathan McComb AL.T 86.45 E1E2E3 9 Ant Burnett BF.N 77.97 E1E2E3 10 Greg Lane PO.A 58.88 AMASE1 Class M45 1 Rob Jessop PO.A 99.44 E1ALE3 2 Piotr Czajkowski MF.V 95.69 E3ASE1 3 Paul Liggins MF.V 93.61 E2E3E1 4 Ian Jones UR.N 86.51 ASE3AM 5 Steve Doyle CH.V 83.00 E3E1AS 6 Lance Read UG.Q 81.88 ALAMAS 7 Ruhi Afnan YA.S 81.69 E3E2E1 8 Andy Simpson BF.N 81.63 AMASAL 9 Rohan Hyslop PO.A 81.08 AMASE1 10 Fergus Fitzwater MF.V 78.88 ALE3E1 Class M50 1 Warren Key MF.V 100.00 E1E2E3 2 Michael Burton BF.N 91.91 ASALAM 3 Martin Wehner WE.A 91.28 ASE1AM 4 Jemery Day AL.T 88.78 ASALE3 5 Tim Hatley BK.V 85.75 ASALE3 6 Ian Prosser AO.A 85.35 E3E2E1 7 Bernard Walker WR.T 81.56 E2E3E1 8 Ari Piiroinen BS.A 80.88 AME3E1 9 Russell Blatchford NC.N 79.04 ASALAM 10 Mark Nemeth TF.Q 73.96 ALASAM Class M55 1 Geoff Lawford EU.V 100.00 E1E2E3 2 Eoin Rothery BF.N 95.33 AMASE3 3 Ted vanGeldermalsen YV.V 91.34 E3ASE1 4 Robert Vincent NC.N 88.85 ALAMAS 5 Paul Pacque EV.T 88.82 AMALAS 6 Grant McDonald AO.A 86.00 ASE3E2 7 Geoff Todkill NC.N 79.86 AME3E1 8 James Lithgow GO.N 79.58 E3E2AS 9 Alex Davey WR.N 78.52 ASE3AL 10 Richard Robinson SO.Q 76.82 AMALE3 Class M60 1 Paul Hoopmann TJ.S 98.14 E2E3AL 2 Nick Dent CC.N 96.53 AMASE3 3 Adrian Uppill OH.S 95.85 ASALE1 4 Gordon Wilson BN.N 92.42 E2E3AS 5 John Scown AO.A 92.31 E1ALAM 6 Robert Elson AL.T 89.67 E1E3E2 7 Richard Matthews LO.W 88.41 E1ASE3 8 Robert j Preston NC.N 86.73 E3ASE1 9 Bruce Bowen PO.A 86.64 E1E2AM 10 Colin Price CC.N 79.41 ASALE1 Class M65 1 Leigh Privett AW.V 95.08 E2E3E1 2 Hugh Moore RR.A 93.92 E1E3E2 3 Greg Chatfield UG.Q 92.82 E3ASE2 4 Steve Flick BN.N 92.53 E3E1E2 5 Ross Barr GO.N 91.10 ASE3E1 6 Terry Bluett BN.N 87.85 E2E1AS 7 Paul Elam TK.V 87.78 ASE2E3 8 Bob Hawkins NT.N 81.44 ASE3E2 9 Tony Simpkins LO.W 79.82 ASAMAL 10 Jim Merchant GO.N 77.69 ASE3E1 Class M70 1 Alex Tarr YV.V 99.37 E3AMAS 2 Tim Dent YV.V 98.18 E3E1AL 3 John Le Carpentier SH.N 96.43 ASALE1 4 Ron Junghans GO.N 93.85 E2E1AS 5 Mike Howe LO.W 87.79 E1E3E2 6 David Hogg PO.A 87.21 E2ALAS 7 Blake Gordon EU.V 83.97 E1E2E3 8 Peter Searle BG.V 82.00 ALE1E3 9 John Hodsdon SH.N 79.66 E1ALE3 10 Ted Mulherin WH.N 79.22 E2E3E1
Class M75 1 Clive Pope 2 Pauli Piiroinen 3 Barry Hanlon 4 Geoffrey Dabb Class M80 1 Graeme Cadman 2 Kevin Paine Class M85 1 Hermann Wehner 2 Neil Schafer
UG.Q 100.00 BS.A 100.00 WH.N 85.21 BS.A 55.93
2013 Australian MTBO National Series
E3ASAM 0.128 E1E2AL 0.104 E1ASAM ASAMAL
ELITE STATE TEAMS
YV.V 100.00.00 E1E2E3 0.000 BS.A 100.00.00 ASAMAL 0.000 WE.A 100.00.00 E1E2E3 0.479 GO.N 100.00.00 ASAMAL 0.102
2013 Australian MTBO Rankings Best 5 of 8 events. Compiled by Blake Gordon
M-16 1. Declan Dickson 2. Eddy Prentice 3. Stephen Melhuish W-16 1. Gabrielle Withers M-14 1. Patrick Miller 2. Tristan Miller 3. Tom Maher M-20 Elite 1. Karl Withers 2. Timothy Jackson 3. Tom Goddard 4. Angus Robinson 5. Paulo Jun Alvear Fujii 6. Paul de Jongh 7. David Tay 8. Ian de Jongh 9. Declan Dickson W-20 Elite 1. Alysha McNee M21-Elite 1. Ricky Thackray 2. Callum Fagg 3. Ian Dalton 4. Alex Randall 5. Todd Nowack 5. David Simpfendorfer 7. Chris Firman 8. Steven Todkill 9. Jim Russell 9. Oscar Phillips W21- Elite NZ Marquita Gelderman 1. Carolyn Jackson 2. Danielle Winslow 3. Janet Street 4. Rebecca Shaw NZ. Rachel Drew 5. Jennifer Enderby 6. Jasmine Sunley 7. Gail Young 8. Cass Percival 9. Carrie Edney 10. Christine Raviart NZ. Cath Heppelthwaite M40NZ Rob Garden 1. Craig Steffens 2. Bruce Paterson 3. Hamish Mackie 4. Steve Truscott 5. Tony Keeble 6. David West 7. Dion Keech NZ. Peter Swanson 7. Michael Reed 9. Sean Sunley 10. Anthony Jones 10. Christopher Taylor W401. Carolyn Matthews 2. Julie Sunley 3. Monica Dickson 4. Kay Haarsma 5. Tamsin Barnes 6. Kelly Young 7. Kim Beckinsale 8. Raynie McNee 9. Joanne Rogers 10. Su Yan Tay
VIC NSW ACT
150 135 81
QLD
150
ACT ACT VIC
87 87 30
QLD VIC TAS VIC QLD ACT QLD ACT VIC
132 121 90 78 65 60 48 30 20
ACT
90
WA TAS WA VIC ACT ACT QLD NSW VIC TAS
138 110 98 87 78 78 76 65 61 61
NZL VIC TAS ACT VIC NZL NSW ACT QLD QLD VIC VIC NZL
147 144 84 48 46 46 45 44 41 38 24 22 22
NZL QLD VIC NSW ACT VIC NSW VIC NZL ACT VIC VIC QLD
127 123 91 79 70 63 62 57 57 57 50 39 39
NSW 150 VIC / ACT 121 VIC 89 SA 89 NSW 78 ACT 70 QLD 57 ACT 49 QLD 46 QLD 41
M501. Malcolm Roberts 2. Robert Prentice 3. Andrew Power NZ. David King 4. Murray Withers 5. Duncan Sullivan 6. John Skilton 7. Bill Vandendool 8. John Gavens 9. Tony Howes 10. Richard Robinson W501. Heather Leslie 2. Norah Skilton 3. Carolyn Cusworth 4. Ann Scown 5. Peta Whitford NZ. Jacqui Sinclair NZ. Ros Clayton NZ. Deb Bain 6. Jan Leverton 6. Toni Brown NZ. Sally Dickson 8. Debbie Gordon M601. Peter Cusworth 2. Paul Haynes 3. Rick Armstrong 4. Leigh Privett 5. Reid Moran 6. David Firman 7. Greg Bacon 8. Tim Hackney NZ. Nick Collins 9. Lee Merchant 10. John Chellew W601. Kathy Liley 2. Julie Fisher 3. Peta Whitford 4. Ann Scown 5. Marg Barker 5. Judy Hill 5. Judy Allison M701. Keith Wade 2. Blake Gordon 3. Graham Fowler 4. Bernie Nichols 5. John Sheahan NZ. Chris Gelderman 6. Eino Meuronen 7. Richard Barker W701. Dale Ann Gordon 2. Jenny Sheahan NZ. Yett Gelderman M801. Graeme Cadman W801. Joyce Rowlands
NSW NSW NSW NZL QLD WA QLD VIC VIC QLD QLD
150 127 121 121 106 105 82 81 70 63 62
VIC QLD VIC ACT VIC NZL NZL NZL QLD ACT NZL QLD
141 119 100 84 57 54 52 50 48 48 42 38
VIC NSW VIC VIC QLD QLD NSW NSW NZL SA VIC
141 138 127 116 108 85 82 74 65 57 54
VIC QLD VIC ACT VIC VIC ACT
147 135 87 60 24 24 24
VIC VIC NSW QLD VIC NZL ACT VIC
147 141 138 109 107 51 22 21
VIC VIC NZL
150 81 57
VIC
90
VIC
90
Top 2 individuals - each state M21-Elite WA Nomads 49 1 TAS Foresters 30 2 NSW Stingers 30 2 VIC Nuggets 27 4 QLD Storm 27 4 ACT Cockatoos 25 6 W21-Elite VIC Nuggets 62 1 QLD Storm 18 2 ACT Cockatoos 18 2 TAS Foresters 14 4 NSW Stingers 10 5 M-20Elite QLD Storm 41 1 VIC Nuggets 39 2 ACT Cockatoos 27 3 TAS Foresters 15 4 W-20Elite ACT Cockatoos 27 1
MASTERS STATE TEAMS
Top 2 inidividuals - each state Men 40- QLD Storm 60 1 NSW Stingers 45 2 VIC Nuggets 32 3 ACT Cockatoos 19 4 Women 40- NSW Stingers 62 1 VIC Nuggets 34 2 SA Arrows 21 3 QLD Storm 18 4 ACT Cockatoos 16 5 Men 50- NSW Stingers 70 1 VIC Nuggets 49 2 QLD Storm 48 3 WA Nomads 16 4 16 5 E D I T O RACT I A L Cockatoos Women 50- VIC Nuggets 64 1 Talented Juniors Storm 54 WHAT greatQLD performances by Hanny Allston and Julian Dent2at the recent JWOC in Switzerland. Of course, all the team did well but Hanny ACT Cockatoos 25 3 and Julian stood out – one 3rd place Bronze medal to Hanny and 4th and 11th places to go with it; and 4th and 8th places to Julian. Hearty Men 60- VIC Nuggets 63 1 congratulations. junior are regularly achieving good results so it E DAustralia’s I T O RNSW I A L orienteers 47 2 Yet I would appear that the Stingers junior development program is bearing fruit. suspect that those good performances are more the result of individual QLD Storm 46 3 Talented Juniors raw talent than of focussed training programs and finely-tuned skills. The reasons forArrows this are obvious – Orienteering is a sport built on 10 WHAT greatSA performances by Hanny Allston and Julian Dent4at the volunteers. We don’t have the resources to employ highly-skilled coaches
recent JWOC in Switzerland. Of course, all the team did well but Hanny and administrators, or to run regular camps for focussed training. Yet, it’s and Julian stood out – one 3rd place Bronze medal to Hanny and 4th equally obvious that we need to do more. We owe it to the kids who love and 11th places to go with it; and 4th and 8th places to Julian. Hearty Orienteering so much that they’re prepared to devote so much time and congratulations. effort to it. Australia’s junior orienteers are regularly achieving good results so it In France, Orienteering is not a major sport either – 5888 orienteers would appear that the junior development program is bearing fruit. Yet I and 187 clubs in 2003 (the latest data available). The French have suspect that those good performances are more the result of individual resources problems similar to those we face. True, they’re closer to the raw talent than of focussed training programs and finely-tuned skills. European action, but Stockholm is still a long way from Paris. France’s The reasons for this are obvious – Orienteering is a sport built on Thierry Gueorgiou is established as one of the world’s best. He is an volunteers. We don’t have the resources to employ highly-skilled coaches exceptional talent and the French are taking advantage of his presence and administrators, or to run regular camps for focussed training. Yet, it’s in designing programs to nurture other talented orienteers. equally obvious that we need to do more. We owe it to the kids who love Orienteering so much that they’re prepared to devote so much time and effort to it. In France, Orienteering is not a major sport either – 5888 orienteers and 187 clubs in 2003 (the latest data available). The French have resources problems similar to those we face. True, they’re closer to the European action, but Stockholm is still a long way from Paris. France’s Thierry Gueorgiou is established as one of the world’s best. He is an exceptional talent and the French are taking advantage of his presence in designing programs to nurture other talented orienteers.
Women 60- VIC Nuggets 54 1 QLD Storm 35 2 ACT Cockatoos 25 3 Men 70- VIC Nuggets 72 1 NSW Stingers 56 2 QLD Storm 25 3 ACT Cockatoos 5 4 Women 70- VIC Nuggets 72 1 Men 80- VIC Nuggets 27 1 Women 80- VIC Nuggets 27 1
2013 STATE MTBO SHIELD
staged over Australian MTBO Champs 3 races Victoria 105 Queensland 87 New South Wales 80 ACT 41 WA 13 Tasmania 7 South Australia 1
Mike Hubbert, Editor Some 75% of the French JWOC team train in Pole France, the national training centre in St. Etienne where Thierry Gueorgiou trains. The results for France at JWOC were positive. French juniors gained 2nd and 3rd places in the men’s events and 11th & 12th and a relay 5th amongst the women. Australia must learn from the French example. Raw talent is one thing but focussed development is needed to really bring the best out of our Hubbert, young orienteers. Mike Editor There is a program at ACTAS and there is talent identification in Tasmania, but we need to do more. I hope you find this edition as good a read as ever. Some 75% of the French JWOC team train in Pole France, the national training centre in St. Etienne where Thierry Gueorgiou trains. The results Good navigating, for France at JWOC were positive. French juniors gained 2nd and 3rd Mike Hubbert places in the men’s events and 11th & 12th and a relay 5th amongst the women. Australia must learn from the French example. Raw talent is one thing but focussed development is needed toNext really bring the best out issue of our young orienteers. There is a program at1ACTAS and there December 2005is talent identification in Tasmania, but we need to do more. I hope you find this edition as good a read as ever. Contributions deadlines Good navigating, Mike Hubbert
Time-sensitive: 22 October All other contributions: 15 October
Next issue
1 December 2005 Contributions deadlines
VICTORINOX AWARDTime-sensitive: 22 October All other contributions: The Victorinox Award goes to Adrian Uppill. He receives a October a watch/ Victorinox Voyager with 20 tools and features15including alarm/timer; retail value $109.95
A Family Affair
VICTORINOX AWARD
IN the last issue of The Australian Orienteer there was not a single mention of the Family Relays at Easter 2005. The Family Relays is a wonderful event. It is about Award participation of families a friendly, social atmosphere. The Victorinox goes to Adrian in Uppill. He receives a It is an opportunity forwith families to catch to friends from other parts of Victorinox Voyager 20 tools andupfeatures including a watch/ Australia. The event many$109.95 ways reflects one of the essential ingredients alarm/timer; retailinvalue of Orienteering – a family sport. South Australian families had a great result by achieving a trifecta with the Uppill (OH), Merchant (TJ) and Dose (TT) families placing 1st, 2nd A Family Affair and 3rd respectively. The Family Relays should be promoted and given media coverage IN the last issue of The Australian Orienteer there was not a single mention in The Australian Orienteer as it has over many years proven to be of the Family Relays at Easter 2005. The Family Relays is a wonderful an invaluable breeding ground for future orienteers, including elite event. It is about participation of families in a friendly, social atmosphere. orienteers. It is an opportunity for families to catch up to friends from other parts of Adrianingredients Uppill (SA) Australia. The event in many ways reflects one of the essential of Orienteering – a family sport. South Australian families had a great result by achieving a trifecta with the Uppill (OH), Merchant (TJ) and Dose (TT) families placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Family Relays should be promoted and given media coverage in The Australian Orienteer as it has over many years proven to be an invaluable breeding ground for future orienteers, including elite orienteers. Adrian Uppill (SA)
1800 209 999 www.victorinox.com
FOR STOCKISTS CALL
SEPTEMBER 2005 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3
AO Sept 05.indd 3
27/8/05 10:03:57 AM
1800 209 999 www.victorinox.com
FOR STOCKISTS CALL
VICTORINOX AWARD AO Sept 05.indd 3
SEPTEMBER 2005 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3
27/8/05 10:03:57 AM
The Victorinox Award goes to Carolyn Jackson for her recent articles on MTBO carnivals. Carolyn will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $119. MARCH 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA
SILVA Medal 2013 Darryl Erbacher – OA Statistician
T
he SILVA medal for 2013 M50 Warren Key MF.V has been won by Warren Key (M50 - MF.V). This year M55 Geoff Lawford EU.V the SILVA Medal is based M16 Patrick Jaffe MF.V on points for participating M75 Clive Pope UG.Q and placing in the following W60 Carol Brownlie WO.W events: Australian 3-Days (each day considered as a separate M21 Matthew Crane AO.A event); Australian Sprint, W21 Lizzie Ingham AO.A Medium and Long Distance W35 Cathy Hogg PO.A Championships. Each orienteer who completes the six events W55 Liz Abbott PO.A in M/W16 and above is eligible W70 Ann Ingwersen PO.A for the SILVA Medal. Maximum M75 Pauli Piiroinen BS.A points available is 24. There M35 Craig Feuerherdt BG.V were two orienteers who achieved maximum points and a count back system based on winning margins has been used to separate those on maximum points. In effect, Warren has performed relatively further ahead of the field in his age class than Geoff Lawford (M55 - EU.V) who also gained maximum points.
24 (0.082) 24 (0.072) 22 21 20 20 20 20 19 19 19 19
Warren Key, winner of the 2013 SILVA Medal.
OA Statistician, Darryl Erbacher, interviewed 2013 SILVA Medal winner, Warren Key. DARRYL: Warren, you have had a fabulous year. Six wins from six starts. Congratulations. WARREN: Thanks, it has been a fun year and nice to race against a few new faces. D: You have broken the four year long Bourne/Lawford grip on The SILVA Medal. This is no mean feat, congratulations. W: Geoff and Jenny are high quality orienteers so thanks. I ran my first WOC in 1979 with Geoff and together with Jenny we were all in the team in 1981, including my sister Sue and bother Stephen. D: We all make mistakes. Yours must be tiny? W: Mistakes are part of our game. Mine are not small compared with the likes of Matt Crane but I guess I can manage them quite well. I think I improved in this area the most when I was finally able to pinpoint the moment the error began and recognise how and why, even knowing the emotions of the circumstance are important, I think then you are on the
way to avoiding them next time round. D: To what do you owe your success? Is it Natasha’s coaching? W: Yes, of course! Coaching Natasha when we first met certainly made a huge difference to my own orienteering. It taught me the significance of technique, or at least having one, and ultimately how a good technique can help insulate your confidence and performance against many of the errors that occur in Orienteering. I think we oldies could probably be more active in passing on these hard learned skills and techniques to the young ones coming through. D: You have excelled in all three disciplines. Are your techniques different for each? W: No and Yes. Sprint orienteering is really like putting your navigation under a microscope, at full speed. It requires an exactness and decision making process that is not often as challenged by forest orienteering. Of course many unique skill sets apply
46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2014
to forest racing, the biggest ones being subjective interpretation and direction, but most of the basic and important techniques apply across all forms of Orienteering. If I was starting out again and advising myself, I would spend most of my early time racing and training for Sprint. The core of this would be aimed at exposing technical flaws (the forest tends to hide these), to develop processes with each control which lead to good habits and to increase speed that ultimately measures your ability. D: How do you maintain consistency? W: I really like going orienteering. I love being challenged by the map and course and trying to overcome those challenges. As soon as I turn the map over my brain kicks into gear, asking (hopefully) the right questions and coming up with the best answers. So, I guess the main reason I am pretty consistent is because I have developed a skill set that can answer most challenges and I am lucky
to have a body that can still deliver some performance. D: I am having a year, at least, off with a broken foot. It is a pain in the ... What advice do you have for me so that I might remain injury free for longer periods? W: It can be hard to appreciate you are not alone. I think most of us older orienteers are injured in some way most of the time. Perhaps the best advice on injuries is to act early on your body’s warning signs but also to be a bit tough. If those niggles are only minor you need to push through. Either way it is always hard when an injury happens but its best to look forward to the pleasure you will have of running in the forest again. It’s one of the great treats of life. D: Keep up the good work. Geoff is only marginally behind you. Congratulations again, Warren. W: Geoff who?
TOP EVENTS 2015
2014 April 18 - 21
June 14-15
au s t r al i an & o ce a n ia
MTBO
June 14-16
c ha m p i ons h ips
2014
Alice Springs, NT
June 27-29
June 27-29
July 5-13
July 20-25
July 19-26
July 21-27
August 1-5
August 2-10
Aug 24-31
Sept 27Oct 5 Oct 11-19
Nov 1-8
Australian 3 Days Carnival 2014 Lithgow/Mudgee, NSW www.onsw.asn.au/easter2014 2014 Jukolan Viesti (Jukola Relay) Kuopio, Finland www.jukola.com/2014 AUS & Oceania MTBO Championships, Alice Springs, NT www.ausmtbochamps.com ICE-O 2014 Iceland www.orienteering.is 2014 Norsk O-FESTIVAL Norefjell, Norway www.o-festivalen.com WOC 2014 Trentino, Italy www.woc-wtoc2014.com O-Ringen 2014 50th Anniversary Rinkaby, Skåne, Sweden. www.oringen.se SOW 2014, Swiss O Week Zermatt, Switzerland www.swiss-o-week.ch JWOC 2014 Borovetz, Bulgaria www.jwoc2014.bg OO CUP Kamnik Savinja, Slovenia www.oocup.com 2014 Canadian Championships Whistler, British Columbia Canada. http://coc2014.ca WMTBOC, JWMTBOC & WMMTBOC Bialystok Poland www.wmtboc2014.pl Karrak Karnival, AUS Champs Carnival 2014, West Australia wa.orienteering.asn.au/karrak-karnival Race the Castles 2014 Scotland www.racethecastles.com WMOC 2014 Porto Alegre, Brazil www.wmoc2014.org.br/
Jan 2-11
Jan 13-16
April 3-6
July 1-5 July 5-12
June 8-14
Oceania Championships 2015 & World Cup, Tasmania oceania2015.com The Hobart Shorts near Hobart, Tasmania oceania2015.com Australian 3 Days Carnival 2015 Events ~ 200km N of Adelaide South Australia MTBO 5 days 2015 Pilsen, Czech Republic JWOC 2015 Rauland, Norway www.jwoc2015.org WMMTBOC 2015 Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal
July 19-24
O-Ringen 2015 Borås, Sweden. www.oringen.se
July 25 Aug 1
WMOC 2015 Gothenburg, Sweden www.wmoc2015sweden.se
Aug 1-7
WOC 2015 Inverness, Scotland www.woc2015.org Scottish 6 Days 2015 Inverness, Scotland www.scottish6days.com WMTBOC, JWMTBOC 2015 Czech Republic AUS Championships Carnival 2015 Ballarat region, Victoria www.vicorienteering.asn.au
Aug 1-8
Aug 14-23 Sept 26Oct 4
2016 Dates tba July 24-30 Dates tba Aug 20-26
JWOC 2016 Engadin, Switzerland WMTBOC, JWMTBOC 2016 Aveiro-Coimbra, Portugal WMOC 2016 Tallinn, Estonia WOC 2016 Stromstad – Tanum, Sweden www.woc2016.org
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