The Australian Orienteer - June 1997

WINTER 1997

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Editorial Ian Baker National magazine of the Orienteering Federation of Australia Inc.

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 3/97 (no. 107) Winter 1997

Editor and Advertising: Ian Baker, PO Box 294, Black Rock, Vic. 3193 Phone/fax (03) 9551 1758 Art and Assembly: Peter Cusworth, 8 View Street, Avonsleigh, Vic. 3782 Phone (03) 5968 5254 Magazine Treasurer: Kathy Liley Printer: Priden Heppell , 28 Tarnard Drive, Braeside, Vic. 3195 For details of section editors, state contacts and direct subscription rates, see page 39.

Next issue: Spring (September) Deadline: 25 July in Melbourne Guidelines for Contributors are held by state magazine representatives.

Editorial policy

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S editor of The Australian Orienteer I will be working to three simple basic rules: Be a good read We will have a diversity of content from all parts of Australia. Section editors have been appointed to prepare and to coordinate material on topics where they have special expertise. You can find our initial list of these people on page 39.

Be financial David Hogg is handing over the magazine with money in the bank. Our policy is not to spend money we do not have. We will actively seek advertising - both commercial and events - to help generate funds to improve and support the magazine.

Be on-time The OFA, the states collectively, has determined that your magazine will be published four times a year - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Our production timetables will allow for despatch in bulk to states a week prior e.g.

23 May for this issue.

For us to keep to this schedule, deadlines must firm. The word “deadline” does not mean this is the requested date for material: it is the last moment. If most material comes in on deadline, then the magazine is liable to run late. The majority of editorial can be supplied on a progressive basis, helping to smooth the work involved.

Your constructive comment about the magazine will be welcome.

David Hogg David was editor from the beginning of 1986 until the March issue 1997. The OFA AGM in March in Broken Hill thanked him for his eleven years of devotion to The Australian Orienteer, a sentiment that will be shared by all orienteers.

Profile: Ian Baker

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AN Baker is now the editor of The Australian Orienteer.

Ian started orienteering in 1970 and has taken part in 1383 events, thought to be more than anyone else in Australia; event number 1500 should be run in early 1999.

He was the founding editor of this magazine in its current form in 1979.

Founding president of Bayside Orienteers, now Bayside Kangaroos.

Instigator of Ski-O in Australia and current chair of the OFA Ski-O committee.

Ian’s professional background is in marketing and advertising. Now M60 he is retired from fulltime employment.

His position as editor and as National Marketing Officer is funded through the Australian Sports Commission.

INDEXINDEXINDEXINDEXINDEXINDEXINDEX

Front cover: Just seconds from victory.

First year M21E Rob Walter (Red Roos, ACT) on his way from the last control to the finish at the Australian Easter 3-Days in Broken Hill. Full report and photos in this issue. Photo, Mark Nemeth.

5 Letters 6 Did you Know?

8 World Orienteering Championships 10 Australian 3-Days 16 Juniors 20 JWOC Team 22 Ski-O 24 Mountain Bike-O 25 IOF Report

26 Coaching Connection 28 Running the Business 29 OFA Badge Scheme 30 OFA Report 32 Great Legs 33 Who Orienteers?

36 Coming Events 38 Classifieds 39 Spot the Difference

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Guest Editorial Sue Johnston, President, OFA.

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S I was travelling to Broken Hill for the Australian Three Days at Easter, I read over the 1996 OFA Annual Report in which Don Young wished me (as the only nomination) luck as the new OFA President who would probably guide the OFA into the new millennium. I was particularly struck by the daunting responsibility that I was about to assume from the time of the AGM at Easter. The attraction of orienteering at Broken Hill was sufficient to prevent us turning the car around and I am now officially in the position of President which brings with it this responsibility of helping to guide the OFA towards its future.

Let’s gaze into the crystal ball and see what this future might hold. I believe that the challenges for the OFA lie in two main areas.

The first area relates to raising our profile in the wider community which is a challenge we share with the IOF and indeed all sports.

A high profile is important for ensuring that we remain competitive within the sporting market-place. In order to compete with other sports for members, participants, sponsors, government funding and media

coverage, we must present a professional image in all aspects of our organisation, including events and administration. We must have professionally prepared and presented national teams which bring us creditable results at the international level.

Our strategic planning and our resources must be directed at increasing the profile of orienteering within the wider community and ensuring more and more people know about orienteering. Those who hear about orienteering and, even more so, those who come and try our sport must feel positive about what orienteering offers.

All of this cannot be achieved by just doing things as we have always done them or we will find ourselves left behind in this competitive environment of Australian sport. More and more in the next few years we will be looking at ways of enhancing the profile of orienteering and we will be calling on all of our members to help in that endeavour.

The second main challenge for the OFA is to maintain a close and cooperative relationship with the State Associations. The OFA is the State Orienteering Associations and little can be achieved at a national level

Profile: Sue Johnston

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ue began orienteering in 1979 and has been trying to get it right ever since. As a school teacher in 1979, she took a group of students to a camp at Leslie Dam in Queensland so that they could learn about orienteering and she got hooked herself. She took about three hours to complete her first course, but then gradually moved up the ranks from W21B to W21A courses and was relieved after several years to reach the milestones of W35 and W40. Then this year she moved to the first year of W45 and celebrated with first place at Easter.

Sue has been a proud member of the Australian team for a few Australia/New Zealand Challenges and even the Captain for one successful campaign. Although she has a couple of Easter and Australian championship wins to her name, she considers her best overall performance was her fourth in the World Veteran Orienteering Championships in 1992.

The OFA Presidency is not the first of Sue’s administrative positions in orienteering. She was one of the group which formed the Ugly Gully Club in Queensland and even admits to being at the meeting which decided on the name of the club. She was President of Ugly Gully for some years, then Treasurer of QOA and the President of QOA before resigning at the end of 1993 because of a career move to ACT. Although she thought the move might mean the end of her administrative roles, she was soon nominated as OFA Vice-President (Development) and held that position for the three years prior to becoming President.

In her life other than orienteering, Sue Johnston is Director of the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching and Scholarship at the University of Canberra.

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THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

unless efforts at the state levels reflect the national priorities. For this reason, there must be mutual respect and effective communication between the OFA and the State Associations as well as among the State Associations. We might be competing against other sports, but competition and rivalry among our own fraternity (except out on an orienteering course) can only be destructive.

My aim is for individuals as well as the State Associations to feel some ownership of the OFA and some obligation to help orienteering move towards mutually agreed goals at the national level. I invite all individuals and State Associations to raise issues with me and to work closely with me and the rest of the OFA Executive to develop the sport we all enjoy so much.

Through a concerted and collective effort, I am confident we will plot a very successful future for orienteering in Australia as we move into the new millennium.

Australian Five Days CANBERRA 27-31 December 1997 Come to the traditional end-of-year event The very best areas from Easter 1994 and the Oz ‘97 carnival

Full range of age classes Entry forms with The Australian Orienteer, state newsletters or contact ACTOA.

L e t t e r s

The Australian Orienteer welcomes letters from members. Preference will be given to letters which are concise and which make positive points.

Identify the leaders

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hat about an orienteering equivalent of the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey? Perhaps we could get a sponsor to advertise on a distinctive O-top worn by the elite winners of the Easter 3-Days.

On the first day the top could be worn by the previous year’s National Champion and it would pass to the overall leader over the remaining two days. Eventually, the jersey might even be worn throughout the year. (In cycling , the world champion wears a rainbow coloured jersey for the next year).

Jock Davis (NSW) Jock’s idea could be extended. The first three in M/W Elite could wear gold, silver and bronze O-tops on Day One at multiday events. The tops would pass to the leading three for subsequent days, or for the next major competition.

Peter Creely (Bendigo, Vic) has told The Australian Orienteer this idea will probably be used next Easter at Maldon, if not earlier.

One of my special bugbears is the length of time it seems to take to distribute results booklets for major events. By the time they arrive, they are too often ancient history. Surely the booklet can be pre-formatted and the results dropped in from the event computer system. A quick printer should be able to complete the job within 24 hours, meaning we get the booklet in three or four days maximum.

We will welcome readers' suggestions on how to make events as interesting as possible. Ed.

The Twenty-four hour Walk

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eoff Lawford’s report on the World Rogaining championships (Nov ‘96) mentioned his participation in the annual Melbourne University Mountaineering Club 24 hour walk in 1976. This jogged my memory of a work colleague Dal Swaine (a Melbourne University graduate, now 77) telling me of his participation in the first such event in 1947.

I had been associated with Dal during our time with CSIRO and although we have

both been retired for some years and had had little contact in the past 10 years I contacted him and asked if he would write a short piece on his recollections of the event as 1997 would be the 50th anniversary.

This proved to be a very popular event, so it was continued in later years, but I do not know for how long. The 24 hour walk was a good blend of endurance, tempered with navigational skill. The freedom to choose your own route certainly appealed to us.

Neil Schafer (NSW) n early initiative of the Melbourne University Mountaineering Club was the 24 hour walk. The first one was 50 years ago. The main aim was to see how far people could travel in a 24 hour period from about 2pm on a Saturday until the same time the next day.

Members were asked to meet at a specified place where they were given instruction.

The conditions were that the route to the designated finishing place had to be via four specified places on the sketch map supplied. How one reached these checkpoints was the choice of each pair of contestants. At each checkpoint, the contestants had to sign their names on a piece of paper which was left in a tin or other receptacle. I think the time of arrival had also to be noted. At the end of the 24 hour period, contestants had to note their locations. The event was not umpired, but depended on personal honesty. After all, we were all university students or graduates!

The first 24 hour walk started at a railway station in the vicinity of Ferntree Gully and the route was through the Dandenong Ranges to Lilydale station. It was arranged that the early part was mostly on lower ground so that the ascent to the ranges was in the dark (it was in winter).

At the start people hurried off in different directions and I made an error which meant crossing a billabong with the consequent discomfort of wet feet thereafter! My partner was my brother, an ex-Commando, so we moved along fairly smartly. We encountered a railway line as planned, and walked beside it for several kilometres. At this time we were apparently leading the field until we made a bad navigational error at about 3am, probably because of tiredness. I recall that our food was mainly bacon sandwiches, honey sandwiches, nuts and dried fruit, with plenty of water.

Nobody reached the appointed destination at the end of 24 hours, but ultimately we congregated there and compared notes.

Nobody got lost.

Dal Swaine

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Future of ANZ Challenge

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n issue 2/97 David Hogg requested comment on the format and future of the ANZ Challenge. As someone unlikely to ever be directly involved, I thought I may be able to provide some balanced input.

I think the model which Rob Crawford has suggested is entirely appropriate. If these challenges are to be seen to be genuine international competition then it is essential that each country be represented by their best available competitors in each class. This means that junior and elite classes should be eliminated from the challenge for the reasons outlined by Rob, and the challenge only held in conjunction with another major event which would in any case attract the majority of top competitors from both countries.

In establishing guidelines for the revised competition flexibility needs to be the keynote. I would suggest the following as a potential basis: • Mandatory classes to be M/W35, 40,50 and 60.

• Additional veterans’ classes to be added at the discretion of a visiting country.

• Location of challenge to alternate between the two countries.

• Challenges to be held at intervals not less than one year and not greater than three years.

I believe that a system based on these guidelines will lead to a strong competition which will effectively measure the comparative orienteering strength of the two nations.

Richard G Robinson Enoggeroos, Queensland.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Did you know?

V

ICTORIA'S Peta Whitford will be masterminding up to three courses a year in Melbourne for orienteering beginners.

Feedback from novice instructors at events and phone calls to the VOA have established the need for instruction beforehand to give confidence. There will be two evening sessions and one day in the bush.

➫ Mountain Bike Orienteering is developing fast, especially in Europe. International Orienteering Federation (IOF) specialist MBO committee has objective of a first MB-WOC in 2001 or 2002. Blake Gordon (Eureka,Vic.) is Chair of the new OFA MBO committee. ➫ OFA has applied to the 2002 Commonwealth Games Committee for orienteering to be included. ➫ Finnish compass firm Suunto, current sponsors of the IOF, have bought Switzerland's Recta. Last year Silva of Sweden took over Brunton of the USA . ➫ IOF has decided to change the name of the Veteran World Cup to World Masters Orienteering Championships. It is felt the new name will have marketing advantages. ➫ The Working Group for the 2000 Asia-Pacific Championships (APOC) in Queensland have been busy inspecting potential map areas. Max Read, now returned with Heidi from working in Hong Kong, is APOC General Manager.

Details are promised for The Australian Orienteer, spring issue. ➫ All states have copies of a manual recently prepared by the OFA, Event Sponsorship and Advertising, a step-by-step guide to raising funds and generating advertising. Queensland has circulated a copy to every club in the state. ➫ Bennelong Northside in Sydney have a new club project, "Eat your way around the world".

The first leg in March was Mongolian in the Genghis Khan restaurant, with leg two scheduled for Italian at La Tavola. ➫ British Orienteering Federation is launching a credit card for members in association with a bank; commissions are paid into the sport. OFA is already looking into similar scheme for Australia.

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First off the mark to take out an orienteers' policy with Ansvar Insurance was just retired as OFA President Don Young. Don signed off on the OFA contract with Ansvar's Greg Thomas and decided to ask for a quote for car insurance.

T

OP English public school, Eton, is now orienteering.

Syd Boydell, who is spending a year there as an exchange teacher, is a keen street orienteer and leader of SCOT, Scotch College Orienteering Team in Melbourne. Twelve students took part in the first event, but Syd does not mention whether they included Prince William, elder son of Charles and Di.

Melinda Jackson, W10 daughter of Victoria's Carolyn and Peter, is to be the star of a new book, "My Thought Sport" by best-selling children's author Hazel Edwards. Hazel, an occasional orienteer, has had some120 books published, the best known being "There's a Hippopotamus on the Roof Eating Cake", which has been translated into many languages. She is now preparing a four part series of factual, first person stories: orienteering will be shown in a social environment, covering Melinda's total day out.

Cambridge University Press will be publishing the new book internationally early next year.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

T

HE Casio 30-memory watch is very popular among orienteers since it records controlby-control time splits. The watch costs about $110 in Australia but in UK it is advertised at £31.95, about $65, forty per cent cheaper.

Moral is to check overseas prices if travelling.

M

apper of two of the Easter areas at Broken Hill, Alex Tarr, recuperated by trekking in Nepal with wife Janet.

ACT JUNIOR PROGRAMME started in April. Events are in or close to Canberra; they are scheduled for Wednesday lunchtimes, allowing a quick sprint over a 5-6 km or 3 km course before the afternoon shift.

T

HEY make 'em tough in the border country. M65 Max Scherleitner (Albury Wodonga) took the train to Chiltern and then rode his bike 30 km to Kangaroo Crossing for the M/W21E Blodslitet extra distance event. Other runners included M55 Peter Harper and M50 Leigh Privett who had done their usual 50 km Saturday morning bike ride. Also there was Leigh's Siberian mate, Boris of Kamchatka, who had run 20 km earlier.

Hazel Edwards: her latest book, co-authored with Dr. Helen McGrath is "Friends, Love, Sex: a Practical Guide to Relationships".

Did you know?

E

SK VALLEY junior Georgina Statham has been presented the Tasmanian Junior Sportswoman of the Year Award.

It recognises the substantial number of schoolgirls who regularly and unselfishly give up their time to contribute to sport as a coach,

umpire or in an administrative position at school or club level.

In 1996 Georgina was involved in mapping, event organisation (course-setting, vetting), coaching, fund-raising and administration.

She also received a sports scholarship.

Guess who’s Great Legs?

Not exactly the latest in O-shoes, but the legs belong to M65 Wally Cavill – Melbourne’s King of Street Orienteering. If anyone is responsible for the development of Street-O in Melbourne, it’s Wally.

Our new regular feature, “Great Legs”, is on page 31.

Old orienteers never die.

They just lose control.

Everyone who returned the OFA market research questionnaire at Easter went into a draw, which was conducted under supervision. Winners of the three pairs of Jalas O-shoes all came from SA: event secretary Phil Hazell, Robert Kriesl and G.Ettridge. The shoes were supplied by Ros and Chris Schofield of Southern Orienteering Supplies. With the winners all being locals, there should be no fitting problems.

SA's Lincoln Orienteers are celebrating their 20th birthday. Three new maps are on the programme for the next 18 months.

THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND ORIENTEERING CLUB, better known as the Quokkas, has got off to a flying start in its second year.

The club was one of 41 affiliated sports clubs at the annual orientation day and the enthusiastic efforts of club members resulted in it being awarded a $250 prize for the best stall presentation. This is the second year running that the club has received first prize and establishes a high standard to maintain what is now becoming something of a tradition.

The secret of success may have been the colourful display of photos, maps and equipment or perhaps the jellies in club colours.

These are thought to have had a big influence on the judges.

Many students were encouraged to become club members, continuing the Quokkas' steady growth.

"Sport-ident" is a German rival to the Regnly electronic punching system. A tiny compass-mounted transponder is simply swiped through a base station, powered by a rechargeable battery, on the control stand: LED’s give confirmation of successful punching. At the finish the "control card" is automatically checked with splits and total time calculated.

Sport-ident in operation: a competitor swipes the compassmounted transponder through the control box to register a "punch".

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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1997 World Orienteering Championships Grimstad, Norway

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HE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS return to Norway this year, 19 years since the last WOC there. Kongsberg was the venue in 1978 and this year Grimstad in the far south will be the host. This year promises to be one of the hardest fought championships. Elite orienteering gets tougher every year as the gap continues to close between the traditional power houses of Scandinavia and the rest.

The Venue Grimstad is a coastal town 50km from the regional centre of Kristiansand. It owes its major development to the surrounding forests and the timber trade of the 18th and 19th century. It is an area of great natural beauty with many of the unique wooden houses of the region originating from this period plus a multitude of offshore islands known as The Skerries. Grimstad today is a thriving town and is a popular holiday destination for Norwegians. The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote his first play while living in Grimstad and the region provided much of the inspiration for his later works.

WOC Organisation There are three clubs from the region hosting the championships: Express, Imas and Lia, working with a budget of about $A1.6 million and mobilising 500 volunteers to ensure a successful championships. The organising committee has been out and about early making sure the orienteering world is well aware of the coming championships.

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The Terrain and Races Norway is renowned for throwing up some of the most demanding orienteering in the world and the WOC races will be no different. The forests will be a mixed woodland of conifer and deciduous in hilly country, combined with patches of open moorland. This will make the races tough.

As the terrain description says, “The terrain is technically demanding and requires good map reading ability and provides good route choice legs”.

As is now the practice there will be three races: the short, the classic and the relay.

The top 60 in both the short and classic qualifiers will face off for some great racing to reveal who will be the champions this year. The classic will be a true test for the finalists with the women’s course being 8.7km and the men’s 13.7km: relatively short by today’s standards and probably a good indication of what the runners will face. A feature this year will be the relay being held for the first time on a 1:10 000

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

scale map. The Regnly electronic punching system will be used, as was the case in 1995, and the system is now standard in Norway for any orienteering competition of any consequence.

Spectator Races and Events The organising committee have ensured spectators will get their chance to sample some of the terrain with a four race series known as the “Agder Forest Races”. There will be two classic distance races and two short distance races over the full age spectrum. All runners will be using the Regnly system. Trail O enthusiasts will also be catered for with two races.

The organising committee have also organised three festivals to entertain visitors and local culture will be highlighted.

The races will be televised on Norwegian television and one would imagine to other Scandinavian countries.

Sponsors for Australian Team Along with a number of other countries Silva International is sponsoring the Australian team with the provision at exceedingly generous discounts on a large range of Silva product for the team, which is always highly appreciated.

Chris Wilmott photogrammetry is also a major contributor, sponsoring the team’s stay at the Modum training camp. Chris’s generosity is highly valued and will do much to help defray the considerable cost of preparation.

Australian Hopes Our national team will be aiming to build on their successes in Germany in 1995.

Performances were most encouraging with a young team, especially among the women.

Hopes will be high for all athletes to qualify for the finals and for the relay teams to improve upon their 12th (women) and 13th (men). Given the closeness of competition at this level anything is possible with a bit of old fashioned luck.

Selecting the team will be an unenviable job as the standard among our elite is improving all the time. The benefits of exposing our juniors to international competition through JWOC sees a number of younger orienteers in with a genuine show of selection. Indeed the depth of elite orienteering is probably greater now than at any time in the history of the sport in Australia.

Australian National Orienteering Senior Squad – 1997

The runners will be supported by a management team of four - coach Mark Wilmott, manager Mike Dowling, assistant manager Karen Staudte and physiotherapist Martin Krause. The team will convene two and a half weeks prior to the WOC week to prepare, familiarising themselves in the Grimstad area and spending a week at the Modum training camp, a mecca for orienteering.

Only time will tell how Australia fares this year. What we do know though is that the team will be of the highest calibre and will do their country proud in what promises to be a very exciting and challenging World Championships.

Jo Allison ACT

Bruce Arthur SA

Tracey Bluett NSW

Grant Bluett Swe/ACT

Louise Fairfax Tas.

Stephen Craig Swe/NSW

Mary Fien NSW

Jock Davis NSW

Cathy Liggins NSW

Andy Hogg ACT

Nicola Plunkett-Cole NSW Warren Key Vic. Natasha Rowe Vic.

Jon McComb SA

Nicki Taws ACT

Eric Morris NSW

Emily Viner Vic.

Tom Quayle ACT

Alix Young Nor/WA

Jim Russell Vic.

Scott Simson Qld.

Blair Trewin Vic.

Rob Walter ACT

Eddie Wymer Vic.

Norway without Thoresen?

S

WEDEN’S Skogssport magazine reports on the nomination of the nordic national squads for WOC ‘97.

Significant for host country Norway is the probable absence of Petter Thoresen, Short-O World Champion in 1993. He was dropped from the squad because he had signed up a private sponsorship contract.

Also uncertain is the selection of Finland’s Annika Viilo and Eija Koskivaara, both of whom became mothers in the (northern) winter.

Above: Paul Liggins (Yarra Valley, Vic.) finishing strongly at the Australian 3-Days.

Paul is the new President of the National Elite Squad. “My chief duty is to chase Blair Trewin to get our newsletter out. I also co-ordinate squad meetings in conjunction with events so that we can develop elite policies for selection and the event calendar. We work by consultation and I am the interface between the squad and the OFA”.

Team Silva International 1997

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EAM Silva International consists of eleven of the best orienteers in the world - five men and six women. The purpose is to spread the sport of orienteering all over the world, strengthen Silva’s position in the sport of orienteering and help develop top class O-products.

Photo, standing from left: Jorgen Martensson (Sweden) WOC: 2 Gold, 5 Silver, 2 Bronze; Nordic Open: 5 Gold; Park World Tour: 1 Gold.

Anna Bogren (Sweden) WOC: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze.

Lucie Boehm (Austria).

Yuri Omeltchenko (Ukraine) WOC: 1 Gold.

In front: Janne Salmi (Finland) WOC: 2 Silver; World Cup: 1 Silver.

Petter Thoresen (Norway) WOC: 3 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze; World Cup: 1 Gold; NOC: 4 Gold.

Missing from this photo: Yvette Hague (Great Britain), Carsten Jorgensen (Denmark), Marlena Jansson (Sweden), Gunilla Svard (Sweden), and Katalin Olah (Hungary).

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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The 1997 Australian 3-Days

Photo: Liz Randall

Blair Trewin

Evergreen. Louise Fairfax (Wellington Ranges, Tasmania) at Easter in Broken Hill. Eligible to run W45, Louise was eighth in W21E.

S Good Friday approached, the orienteers of Australia converged on the unfamiliar centre of Broken Hill. Those coming from the south were starting to wonder if there was going to be anything left of Broken Hill when they got there, as dust-laden northerly squalls set about transporting the region’s topsoil towards Melbourne, but, to the relief of all concerned, such meteorological excitement vanished with the arrival of Good Friday.

The rumour beforehand was rocks, rocks and more rocks. I had been to Broken Hill before in the distant past and remembered low rocky hills with enough scrub to keep the visibility down a bit, which was more or less true except that the scrub wasn’t as 10

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

Natasha Rowe struck the first major blow of the weekend by winning W21E by the relatively decisive margin of one and a half minutes, from Tracy Bluett and Nicki Taws.

The top three in M21E were more closely bunched, separated by thirteen seconds, with Rob Walter getting his nose in front of Jock Davis and Warren Key. It is Walter’s first year as a real senior, although he has run enough senior races in the last two years

Photo: Greg Potter

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extensive as I had expected. A foray onto the Family Relays map made it clear that there was going to be a lot of small rock, and that it was a waste of time to try to read it unless you had a control in it. Contours, as always in Australia, were going to be the most important tool. It was also apparent that staying on the flats and off the rocky hills was important if you could.

Day One The sun was shining. It is a desert after all.

Those whose vehicles rarely leave relatively civilised country were shocked by the amount of red dust and resolved that the first place they would head for on Tuesday was a car wash. The assembly area nestled at the base of a low range, and the trip to the start took us along its base. Once into action - and it was rather short-lived action for the elites, for whom (along with the 20's) it was their short day - the terrain was a bit easier than the Family Relays might have suggested, with strong contour features and few mazes of small rocks, although there was still plenty of room for embarrassing parallel errors.

In relatively easy terrain results are usually close, particularly at the highest level, and it was widely predicted that the top ten in M21E would be covered by two minutes or even less. The results weren’t quite as congested as that, as it turned out, and

Natasha Rowe (Yarra Valley, Vic.) has had a great start to 1997 with top places at Easter and in the Australian Short-O Championships.

Still killing them in M21E, soon to turn 38, Warren Key was fourth in a quality field at Easter. Four weeks later he won the Australian Short-O Champs at Castlemaine.

See map insert, account and photo in this issue.

to make that less obvious than it might have been. The biggest surprise was the nineteenth place of pre-race favourite and current Australian champion Tom Quayle.

Five minutes down, there was still time to fight another day.

The major selection trials for the World Championships are in late May, and the stakes at Easter for the elites were correspondingly lower than they have been for some years (with the exception of 1994 when everyone of consequence was otherwise engaged at the World Cup). The same could not be said for the juniors. In 1989, the thought that there could be twenty-five competing for places in an Australian JWOC team going to Europe would have been laughable. In 1997 it was

a reality. The first day answered a few questions and posed a few more. The most notable result was that of Rebecca Minty, still in her first year of W18, who narrowly edged out Cassie Trewin for the lead in W20. In M20 eight were within two minutes of the lead, with Ben Rattray getting his nose in front in a successful comeback from recent knee trouble.

Elsewhere few classes had taken a clear shape in what was to be an Easter of close finishes.

It is very hard to win an Easter on Saturday, and very easy to lose it. A contest with enormous potential, in W16 between Amber Tomas and Georgie Statham, lived up to its prospects on the first day, with Tomas twelve seconds in front; ten seconds more than the margin by which David

Moran led Simon Goddard in M16. Other classes with margins of less than a minute were M35 (Mark Nemeth and Ian Prosser), M50 (John Brock and Bob Allison), and two classes not accustomed to either large fields or close finishes: M70, where Lance Fairclough led four within two minutes of the lead, and W65, where Sue Healy and Anne Stewart were separated by forty seconds. Others were able to take control of their classes, although you wouldn’t have stolen too much of a march on other tipsters by picking the likes of Geoff Peck in M45 or Libby Schofield in a depleted W18; Sue Johnston (W45), Dale Ann Gordon (W55) and Tim Dent (M55) also set up their eventual wins on the first morning.

One of the highlights of any Easter followed with the traditional evening of matters trivial, a particularly memorable one this year (and not just because it was the only thing your correspondent came anywhere near winning this Easter). Where does Steve Hicks get all the old Countdown clips and highlights of Steve Foley’s career as a diving commentator from?

Photo: Liz Randall

Photo: Liz Randall

A U S T R A L I A N 3 - D AY S , B R O K E N H I L L 1 9 9 7

Photo: Liz Randall

Barry Wheeler (Tintookies, SA) in M45A. Mark Nemeth (Toohey Forest, Queensland) ran a blitzer in M35A on Day One at Broken Hill.

Tracey Bluett told The Australian Orienteer his was the fastest kilometre rate outside M21E. He followed up with a second on Day Two but lost time on Day Three, finishing fifth overall. Mark is a professional photographer: see his front cover and other photos in this issue.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Nicki Taws (Red Roos, ACT) was leading after two days, but a slower time on day three let Natasha Rowe (Yarra Valley, Vic.) into top spot. Here Nicki runs past M45AS Ken Sinclair (Western Hills, NSW).

As might have been expected, the longer second-day courses started to sort the juniors out, and clear leading groups emerged in both M20 and W20. Troy de Haas took over the lead in M20 with David Shepherd and Ben Rattray in hot pursuit; behind them, six scrambled in pursuit of three JWOC places. Amongst the girls, Cassie Trewin took over the lead, with the Minty sisters and Kirsten Fairfax also consolidating their positions.

Elsewhere, those who led comfortably on the first day all consolidated their positions, and several others joined them in taking a

firm grip on their classes, most notably Robin Uppill in W40, Kathy Liley in W50, Tony Mount in M65 and Max Read in M60. Some of the close classes stayed as close after two days as they were after one.

John Brock managed to add another twenty-five seconds to the eleven he had over Bob Allison after the first day, Mark Nemeth and Paul Pacque continued to cling onto narrow leads, and M70 stayed as logjammed as it had been on the opening day.

Amber Tomas got on top in W16, and Simon Goddard cleared out by a couple of minutes in M16.

Photo: Liz Randall

Photo: Liz Randall

Day Two Some had looked towards the ridge to the south-east of the first day’s finish, covered with more vegetation than anything that had been seen on the first day, and wondered why it wasn’t mapped. The answer: it was on the map for the second day. After scouring the assembly area for bits of vegetation suitable for stretching a hamstring on, it was straight onto said ridge at the start, albeit briefly. The rest would have to wait for the end. After some stretches in the flatter country, the second half of the course featured the biggest hills of the weekend, with a couple of notable route choice legs and a few hairy downhills with plenty of small rocks.

Hairy downhills with small rocks have never been something to worry Rob Walter, and neither have long distances. After taking a narrow lead on the first day, Day 2 was the day when he took control of M21E, winning the day by the convincing margin of three and a half minutes. Behind that it was as congested as ever. Eric Morris had the second fastest time on the day, Jock Davis did enough to stay in second place overall, and the expected charge from Tom Quayle failed to materialise. W21E may have been the less close of the elite classes on the first day, but it saw a change in lead on the second as Nicki Taws won the day comfortably. Cathy Liggins, in the background for several years after a promising junior career, had already registered several good results in 1997, and proved that they were no fluke with a second place on the second day, which hoisted her to third overall.

Photo: Liz Randall

A U S T R A L I A N 3 - D AY S , B R O K E N H I L L 1 9 9 7

Susanne Casanova (Wallaringa, SA) in W21E. 12

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

A cosy chat after the race: W21E Cathy Liggins (Big Foot, NSW) and M21E Jon McComb (Onkaparinga Hills, SA). Both scored bronze.

David Colls (Yarra Valley, Vic.), 10th in M20A. at the Easter 3-Days.

run: not as fast as Tracy Bluett on the day, but fast enough to hold onto third by a single second.

Rob Walter stuttered in the opening kilometres and was briefly caught by Jon McComb, starting four minutes behind him. It was the start of the best day of McComb’s elite career, surging from seventh to third with a final-day win, but Walter was able to get clear again, and although Jock Davis cut his lead in half, it was not destined to be enough. For Walter it was his first major win in elite company after a second place this time last year. McComb headed ten bunched within six minutes as the rest of the field set about making life difficult for the selectors, should they need to look too seriously at Broken Hill. Broken Hill is interesting, but Norway it is not....

The group to make life seriously difficult for the selectors were the M20's. Troy de Haas and David Shepherd were comfortable enough in first and second, but behind them seven were covered by five minutes and the combination of day and overall placings was hopelessly tangled. How does one rank someone with a win, a third and a disaster against someone with an overall third who didn’t come top four on any day?

In the end Lorenzo Calabro’s overall third and Ben Schulz’s final-day third got them their JWOC berths, Ben Rattray survived a last day he would rather forget, and Rob Preston was the last picked in a desperately tight decision: William Hawkins, Tom Walter and Damian Dawson were those unlucky enough to be without a seat when the music stopped. All can count themselves seriously unfortunate.

Fortunately, W20 was more straightforward (otherwise the selectors would probably still be in Broken Hill), with Melissa Thomas and Emma Prime clearing out a ten-minute break over the other candidates to join the four leaders in the team; Kathryn Ewels, in fifth, was not available this year. Out in front, Cassie Trewin lost a little of her lead on a day when the top four were all within a minute of each other (and six ahead of anyone else), but none of the top placings changed, with Kirsten Fairfax leading Julia and Rebecca Minty.

W35 may not be the deepest class at Easter, but after three see-sawing days not a single second could be found to separate Carolyn Jackson and Christine Brown, the former coming from five minutes down to tie. The most notable beneficiary of a field crumbling around him was Matthew

Don Bajenoff (Range Runners, Qld.) keeps on threatening to retire but always comes out for “Just one more Easter”. This year he was sixth in M60A.

Eric Morris (Bennelong, NSW) was well up in M21E, finishing fifth overall.

Photo: Liz Randall

Photo: Mark Nemeth

Remarkably, few contenders had yet been claimed by the rocks; it seemed that everyone was so worried about doing an ankle that they erred on the safe side and most escaped the weekend intact. The many sharp rocks did ensure that any landing was a hard one.

Day Three Strange things happen on Easter Monday.

The day at Kooyoora in 1986 when Ant Burnett started the final day twenty-two minutes down and lost by one was enough to burn that indelibly in my memory, even with a second-day position which really was beyond salvation. A five-minute lead can turn to ashes in one moment of lapsed concentration, and for those having their first experience of leading into the final day, the unknown territory is full of potential pitfalls, particularly as the area had the most rock, and was the most technical, of the three days. Golf is famous for competitors who play three brilliant rounds and fall to pieces on the final day: multi-day orienteering events should be. With four kilometres to the start for most courses, there was plenty of time to think about it.

In 1996 Natasha Rowe led Nicki Taws into the final day by six minutes, and lost. In 1997 she was trailing by two minutes.

Would it be a mirror-image of 1996? It was. While neither had outstanding runs that was reserved for Mary Fien, who did her best to resurrect a lost cause with a lastday win which took her into fifth - Rowe was the steadier of the two, steady enough to reverse the two and a half minutes by which she trailed at the start of the day.

Cathy Liggins may have been in unknown territory, but still managed a respectable

Photo: Liz Randall

A U S T R A L I A N 3 - D AY S , B R O K E N H I L L 1 9 9 7

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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A U S T R A L I A N 3 - D AY S , B R O K E N H I L L 1 9 9 7 AUSTRALIAN THREE-DAYS RESULTS

Just out of the money, Fiona Calabro (Toohey Forest, Qld.) was fourth in W45A. 14

Winning all three days put John Brock (Esk Valley, Tas.) on top in M50A.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

Photo: Ian Baker

Photo: Liz Randall

O’Keefe’s Paddock (Day 1), The Hills Paddock (Day 2), The Living Desert (Day 3), 29-31 March 1997.

W21E: 1. Natasha Rowe (YV.V) 155:52; 2. Nicki Taws (RR.A) 158:33; 3. Catherine Liggins (BF.N) 160:00; 4. Tracy Bluett (BN.N) 160:01; 5. Mary Fien (BF.N) 161:00; 6. Jo Allison (RR.A) 162:22.

M21E: 1. Rob Walter (RR.A) 161:43; 2. Jock Davis (BF.N) 164:02; 3. Jon McComb (OH.S) 169:00; 4. Warren Key (BR.V) 170:08; 5. Eric Morris (BN.N) 170:39; 6. Eddie Wymer (BK.V) 171:32.

W-10A: 1. Clare Brownridge (BG.V) 56:12; 2. Melinda Jackson (NE.V) 56:51; 3. Hannah Skehan (TJ.S) 63:17.

W-12A: 1. Ainsley Cavanagh (NT.N) 84:22; 2. Clare Murphy (UR.N) 92:55; 3. Miriam Uppill (OH.S) 99:55.

W-12B: 1. Claire Dawson (SH.N) 58:48; 2. Alison Curby (KO.N) 70:08; 3. Kris Todkill (NC.N) 73:11.

W-14A: 1. Rachel Dickinson (WR.N) 113:24; 2. Zoe Radford (TT.S) 118:19; 3. Ilka Barr (BG.V) 122:23.

W-14B: 1. Nicole Curby (KO.N) 67:25; 2. Alice Prudhoe (CC.N) 88:04; 3. Michelle Haebich (EU.V) 119:18.

W-16A: 1. Amber Tomas (TT.S) 105:10; 2. Anna Sheldon (UG.Q) 109:47; 3. Phoebe Dent (CC.N) 114:16.

W-16B: 1. Emily Winters (LI.S) 149:57; 2. Jessica Ettridge (LI.S) 237:34.

W-20B: 1. Vicki Stitt (GO.N) 121:26; 2. Wilga Hawkins (BS.A) 128:21; 3. Kate Sheridan (LI.S) 156:54.

W-18A: 1. Libby Schofield (TT.S) 148:06; 2. Jenny Prime (TK.V) 158:02; 3. Michelle Hill (WH.N) 164:26.

W-20A: 1. Cassie Trewin (BS.A) 122:40; 2. Kirsten Fairfax (WR.T) 124:50; 3. Julia Minty (RR.A) 125:34.

W-20AS: 1. Jacki Stitt (GO.N) 205:20.

W21A: 1. Elsie Campbell (EU.V) 141:24; 2. Sheralee Bailey (BN.N) 149:56; 3. Susan Hancock (WR.T) 154:47.

W21AS: 1. Sandra Tarr (YV.V) 133:40; 2. Cheryl Bevelander (TJ.S) 143:10; 3. Amber Barr (GO.N) 144:14.

W21B: 1. Nicole Davis (LO.W) 163:07; 2. Anne Kullmann (YV.V) 180:06; 3. Sharon Way (NC.N) 186:17.

W35A: 1. Chris Brown (EV.T) 148:52; 2. Carolyn Jackson (NE.V) 148:52; 3. Carol Osborne (BF.N) 194:11.

W35AS: 1. Debbie Davey (WR.N) 110:06; 2. Sue Truby (BN.N) 131:36; 3. Hilary Dent (CC.N) 134:44.

W35B: 1. Bev Parton (NT.N) 164:26; 2. Janelle Stevenson (AO.A) 164:38; 3. Kate McLoughlin (RR.A) 167:30.

W40A: 1. Robin Uppill (OH.S) 146:00; 2. Liz Bourne (BB.Q) 160:13; 3. Sue Neve (BR.V) 166:29.

W45A: 1. Sue Johnston (PO.A) 125:39; 2. Alison Radford (TT.S) 131:32; 3. Lynn Dabbs (WH.N) 138:38.

W45AS: 1. Barbara Junghans (GO.N) 147:26; 2. Sue Davis (SH.N) 148:39; 3. Lynne Pepplinkhouse (EU.V) 162:52.

W45B: 1. Jennifer Hawkins (BS.A) 117:57; 2. Jackie Sheldon (YV.V) 118:13; 3. Sue Le Carpentier (BF.N) 121:42.

W50A: 1. Kathy Liley (YV.V) 130:07; 2. Heather Bice (EU.V) 138:11; 3. Debbie Gale (EV.T) 141:46.

W55A: 1. Dale Ann Gordon (EU.V) 143:11; 2. Janet Tarr (YV.V) 182:42; 3. Anne Sawkins (RR.A) 184:22.

W60A: 1. Dawn Beck (EN.Q) 125:10; 2. Jocelyn Solomon (UG.Q) 135:06; 3. Sue Mount (AL.T) 141:13.

W65A: 1. Joyce Rowlands (NE.V) 170:55; 2. Sue Healy (NE.V) 171:37; 3. Anne Stewart (GO.N) 173:14.

W70A: 1. Jo Hiller (LO.W) 242:35; 2. Elizabeth Baxter (UG.Q) 289:15.

W75A: 1. Joan Bourne (BB.Q) 282:22.

M-10A: 1. Timothy Denham (SH.N) 47:34; 2. Simon Uppill (OH.S) 48:10; 3. Tom Statham (EV.T) 51:51.

M-12A: 1. Julian Dent (CC.N) 47:54; 2. David Meyer (SH.N) 58:23; 3. Evan Barr (BG.V) 67:16.

M-14A: 1. Peter Preston (NC.N) 99:02; 2. Mitchell LeFevre (EV.T) 102:31; 3. Christopher Davill (TJ.S) 131:11; M-14B: 1. Nick Fisk (BS.A) 85:32; 2. Conan Prendergast (EU.V) 100:19; 3. Tom Bammann (TT.S) 115:34.

M-16A: 1. Matthew Seward (BO.W) 117:33; 2. Jamie Potter (TT.S) 127:27; 3. David Moran (TF.Q) 128:56.

M-16B: 1. Joshua McClenaghan (NT.N) 126:16; 2. Stephen Watt (NT.N) 147:48; 3. Jack O’Neill (WA.S) 170:33; M-20B: 1. Peter Le Carpentier (BF.N) 126:23; 2. Ross Morgans (YV.V) 146:28; 3. Daniel Stitt (GO.N) 309:16; M-18A: 1. Andrew Hill (WH.N) 143:14; 2. Stuart Colls (YV.V) 156:36; 3. Ian Warren (AL.T) 172:51.

M-20A: 1. Troy De Haas (CH.V) 132:34; 2. David Shepherd (KO.N) 135:48; 3. Lorenzo Calabro (TF.Q) 142:15.

M-20AS: 1. David Edgar (BK.V) 155:40; 2. Daniel Young (TT.S) 173:13.

M21A: 1. Graham Turner (BF.N) 176:56; 2. Konrad Wildi (BK.V) 191:51; 3. Alex Randall (YV.V) 199:08.

M21AS: 1. Paul Darvodelsky (BF.N) 80:05; 2. Mark Freeman (BF.N) 90:19; 3. John Morris (KO.N) 96:50.

M21B: 1. Dean Bevelander (TJ.S) 111:36; 2.Michael Aylen (YV.V) 128:08; 3. Geoff Todkill (NC.N) 154:36.

M35A: 1. Ian Prosser (AO.A) 164:53; 2. Andrew McComb (OH.S) 166:21; 3. Tim Hatley (BK.V) 173:07.

M35AS: 1. Mark Willmott (TK.V) 111:03; 2. Dave Truby (BN.N) 118:42; 3. David Knight (BK.V) 135:23.

M35B: 1. David Stitt (GO.N) 135:19; 2. Ian Christopher (WH.N) 187:37; 3. Larry Weiss (GO.N) 222:52.

M40A: 1. Darryl Smith (WR.T) 148:01; 2. Paul Pacque (EV.T) 149:30; 3. Roch Prendergast (EU.V) 153:00.

M45A: 1. Geoff Peck (HKG) 131:01; 2. Ian McKenzie (UR.N) 138:24; 3. Peter Shepherd (KO.N) 138:44.

M45AS: 1. Paul Davis (SH.N) 113:48; 2. Hank Pepplinkhouse (EU.V) 123:42; 3. Ron Pallas (UR.N) 124:53.

M45B: 1. Neil Lowndes (KO.N) 142:01; 2. Maarten Nieuwenhoven (TT.S) 174:31; 3. Andrew Vesey-Wells (WH.N) 214:12.

M50A: 1. John Brock (EV.T) 113:15; 2. Robert Allison (RR.A) 116:00; 3. Dave Lotty (UR.N) 121:42.

M55A: 1. Tim Dent (YV.V) 110:55; 2. Darryl Erbacher (PO.A) 117:25; 3. Dave Erbacher (UG.Q) 126:13.

M60A: 1. Max Read (UG.Q) 108:33; 2. John Lyon (TT.S) 118:28; 3. Ian Hassall (KO.N) 120:11.

M65A: 1. Tony Mount (AL.T) 101:52; 2. Brian Johnson (GO.N) 110:08; 3. Kevin Paine (BS.A) 118:40.

M70A: 1. John Bourne (BB.Q) 155:32; 2. Neil Schafer (GO.N) 159:02; 3. Roy Hiller (LO.W) 160:28.

M75A: 1. Gordon Clarke (YV.V) 170:24; 2. Bob Walker (PF.T) 184:16.

Photo: Liz Randall

Seward, a hitherto little-known Western Australian M16 who emerged from the pack to win by ten minutes. The other notable comebacks this year, apart from those of the elites, were those of Rachel Dickinson, who came from seven minutes down to win W14 by five, and Joyce Rowlands, who finished over the top of the W65 field.

What should have been a terrific final -day contest in M50 was rather spoilt by the start draw which had the two leaders two minutes apart; John Brock extended his lead further to win by three minutes in the end.

Darryl Smith came from behind to edge out fellow Tasmanian Paul Pacque in M40, and Mark Nemeth’s last-day stumble opened the way for Ian Prosser to score narrowly over Andrew McComb in M35. John Bourne finally broke clear in M70, as did Dawn Beck with a seven-minute win on the last day in W60, while those who were decisively in front after two days all stayed that way after three: the most emphatic of those winners was Dale Ann Gordon, who demolished a field of twenty by thirty-nine minutes. In a year of close finishes and terrain that lent itself to close finishes, it was the result that stood out from the crowd.

OASA scored a first with an unprecedented early presentation, then the hills of Broken Hill were again left to South Australians, an excellent outcome for a relatively remote venue. The terrain was probably unique in the kangaroos. There were nearly a thousand competitors at what was the largest event ever organised by the orienteering world, and the weather was perfect. Maldon 1998 has a lot to live up to.

Di Doherty (Bayside Kangaroos, Vic.) got a shock when she found the only petrol station on the 266 km Silver City Highway south of Broken Hill had burnt down the previous night.

Fortunately she’d left with a full tank.

A U S T R A L I A N 3 - D AY S , B R O K E N H I L L 1 9 9 7

Talking Heads Andrew Campbell, M50, was a formidable competitor while living in Ballarat, before moving north to the sunshire of Cairns.

AO: You must be a bit out of practice, living in the tropics.

Andrew: It's my first time out since last Easter. I picked up my map, set my compass and immediately did a one-eighty! But once I got into the map, it was OK. It's best to ignore the rock detail - definitely a contour area where you need to use your brains.

DAY ONE

Maureen Ogilvie, (Uringa, NSW) W60A AO: Yesterday as you handed over to Dick in the Family Relays, I heard you say, "Be careful, I've fallen over twice".

Maureen: That's right and I did, it's very craggy. As a runner, I'm just a shuffler and for me it would be dangerous to run in places so I'm aiming just to go steadily.

Karen Thomas: I ran it steadily and did not make too many mistakes, so that was good.

Rebecca Minty: I was really happy.

Rob Walter, (Red Roos, ACT) ran 23.42 for first place in M21E over 4.8km Rob: There's a lot of loose rock so it's treacherous as well as fast. I went round some of the hills but basically you've got to go straight. I was pretty happy with my run.

DAY TWO Geoff Peck, Hong Kong, won M45A. Geoff is a former RAF fighter test pilot and now Jumbo jet captain who seems to be able to manage his rosters to take in the world’s best events. His eleventh place in the 1972 World Championships in Czechoslovakia makes him still the best performed UK orienteer over the classic distance.

Tony Mount (Australopers, Tas) won M65A AO: Tony, you've just finished and here we are walking together across a field.

Tony: I find a brisk walk, plus stretching, is the best way to avoid future aches and pains.

And I always exercise my ankles before the start, 30 twirls each, that works too.

The rocky surface is quite like parts of Tasmania. I walked up the hills but ran most of the rest of the way. I rely a lot on pacing and had no serious errors.

Sometimes on leaving a control, things didn't make sense but then it gradually unfolded...

Dr. Lindsay Thomas (Tuckonie, Vic.) Senior Lecturer in Geophysics, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, M55A Hundreds of millions of years ago the rocks were taken deep down into the earth where they were squeezed and subjected to high temperatures. This changed them from the type of sedimentary rocks that we know in Victoria and in other places to crystalline metamorphic rocks.

The pressure caused the linear rock features along the spurs and ridges and also caused them to fracture and break up into blocky pieces.

The soil is very shallow and gets blown away causing bands of rock to be exposed and creating the pebble plains, where the larger fragments are left behind.

This surface is very fragile and even minor disturbances can take centuries to heal; foot tracks are potential sites for erosion since the surface is so unstable.

AO: In all your experience of running round the world, have you experienced terrain like this before?

Geoff: This is probably the rockiest, though there is a fair amount in HK. Generally I found I was able to handle it pretty well.

My contract with Cathay has a year still to run and then I want a complete change from flying aeroplanes. I'm going to Cairns to do some mapping and then maybe to Tasmania.

Keith Holmes (Bayside Kangaroos, Vic.) M65 I don't have ankle problems at any time. When I was a teenager we used to work horses on the farm and I did my apprenticeship in farming walking over rough ground, so I learned to ride with the bumps.

Soren Kindlund (Sweden) M21E I've been in Australia travelling for two months with my girlfriend. We started in Sydney, then north to Cairns and across to Alice Springs, so we're quite used to the warm weather. In Sweden we have a lot of rough going and I am used to it.

Otherwise the terrain is totally different.

DAY THREE

Ben Rattray (Onkaparinga Hills, SA) M20A Ben: It was a lot rockier today than yesterday. I didn't feel good today. My navigation was pretty ordinary and I just took it easy.

AO: What are you going to do, save it up for tomorrow?

Ben: Yeah, a few times I held it back a bit. So we'll see how we go.

Cassie Trewin (Bush Flyers, ACT) winner of W20A I was pretty successful today because I knew that if I didn't make a mistake, I should be pretty safe. It was hard so I was cautious and it worked!

Jason McCrae (Yarra Valley, Vic.) M21E It was more technical today and I blew two minutes out there. It was great fun.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Photo: Glenn Burgess

JUNIORS Section Editor Kay Haarsma

What If ’s?

D

URING the Easter 3 Days probably most people had a “What If?” situation occur to them. Two of the most bizarre examples had an impact on the highly competitive M16A class.

SA’s Jamie Potter, (keen to do well after sitting out last years Nationals with a stress fracture in a foot) had a late start on Day One. He helped out with the commentating early on and then went to the car to get ready. Unfortunately his O gear and the car keys were securely locked in the boot! With no nimble handed car thieves offering their services to break in Jamie hurriedly borrowed all the necessary items from M and W20’s who had early starts and short courses. Standing at the finish line inspecting the feet of incoming runners was rewarded when he scored a perfect fit with Damian Dawson’s shoes.

Jamie got to his start on time, but made a few mistakes on his course. The rumour was that he slept in his O gear prior to the next two days of competition. He improved each day to finish second in M16A. Victorian Simon Goddard had a less happy ending to his Easter. Leading M16 at the start of Day Three he plummeted to 6th.

Simon made the unfortunate mistake of picking up a wrong map from an adjacent start box. After a long first leg, and finding himself at a control that didn’t match his control card description sheet he realised his mistake. Imagine the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach!

After some minutes standing around another Victorian M16A runner appeared and Simon merely tagged along behind, punching the controls but not communicating at all, thereby finishing the course. Simon has many good results to his credit, so I’m sure that we will see him up on the placegetter’s dais again shortly.

Peter Preston (Newcastle OC, NSW) was overall winner of M14A at Easter.

Simon attributed his initial mistake of picking up the wrong map to a variety of factors. These were the lengthy walk to the start, the different timing and start procedures, an upset young competitor coming back to the start at that time and the fact that he was pretty nervous.

Immediately before the start he walked around behind the boxes and thus came back to the adjacent rather than correct map box. All quite understandable. The answer, given sufficient time, would be to check the control description sheet on the back of the map.

Event Pre-Planning It is often unexpected scenarios that can affect concentration and performance.

Sometimes people arrive at events without some vital equipment, like control card, compass or shoes. This can be largely prevented through having a gear checklist and using it before you leave home.

However there are numerous unexpected pre-event or on-course situations that are difficult to plan for and thus often cause the orienteer to get distracted. Several strategies can be used to minimise their effect. Firstly

the orienteer and coach can sit down and brainstorm a list of possible “What If?” situations. They can then plan ways of handling each problem, so they don’t unduly upset a competitor if they actually happen. Secondly, the orienteer may develop their own cues or strategies which they use for a whole range of distractions.

Examples: falling over, seeing other competitors, having a drink... This may mean using a key word, “careful...”, a relaxation cue or automatically rechecking your position on the map.

One of the most important skills of a good orienteer is flexible thinking that enables them to deal with the unexpected.

What would your coping strategy be for these situations?

Breaking a compass.

Getting slightly injured.

Finding the mapping bad.

Seeing an injured kangaroo.

Stepping on a snake.

The Orienteering Federation of Australia acknowledges the support of the

Australian Sports Commission 16

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

JUNIOR

ORIENTEER

Easter placegetters in W10 and M10 At the young end of our orienteering age classes, the M and W10s, there was quite a deal of depth and some blistering kilometre rates achieved in Broken Hill. I caught up with two of the placegetters to get their comments.

Clare Brownridge, 9 years old (Bendigo Vic.) Won the W10 averaging 9.8 mpk.

Simon Uppill, 9 years old (Onkaparinga Hills SA) Was second in M10 with a 8.4 mpk rate.

Congratulations on your good results.

How did you do so well?

Simon: The courses were fun and sometimes challenging. I liked Day Two best as I enjoyed following the creeks rather than tracks. I didn’t really make any mistakes and I ran pretty fast. I only missed out on first by a few seconds overall.

Clare: My navigation was accurate. I had a great result on Day Two to get the best time, but was only 2nd or 3rd fastest on the other days. I was pretty relaxed about the event, being determined just to finish rather than thinking about any possible place.

How many Easter 3-Days have you run?

Simon: Broken Hill was my 2nd - I got 4th or 5th in Queensland.

Clare: This was my first Easter 3 Days and the first time I had travelled interstate for orienteering.

What did you find different or difficult about the Broken Hill terrain?

Junior Gossip

O

Simon: It was really hot. The rocks were a bit similar to what we had in Townsville. (Ed: the Uppill family has just moved back to SA, where they began orienteering, from Queensland. They reckon that they have acclimatised to Adelaide’s cold, so found Broken Hill a bit warm!)

Clare: It was really rocky underfoot which made running difficult. It was also strange that the creeks were all dry and sandy and there were so few trees.

At what age did you start orienteering and when did you start doing courses by yourself?

Simon: I started when I was 6 and have been doing courses by myself since I was 8 years old.

Clare: I first orienteered when I was 6 and started doing courses by myself a year ago when I got serious about orienteering.

Do you prefer to orienteer by yourself or with someone else?

SOME GOOD NEWS FOR PARENTS

(the censored version)

H what it is to be 18 and fancy free!

A warning to parents of junior orienteers. If your teenager gets to travel overseas with a JWOC team they are likely to learn more than just orienteering. They will return with: • A never ending urge to travel to Scandinavia, Europe and other parts of the globe for extended periods of time; • The independence necessary to plan and carry out such a trip; • An appreciation of different nationalities, especially of the opposite sex;

Simon: It’s more fun alone as you have to work the map out by yourself. If you go with someone else they tend to talk too much.

Dad, “No I don’t, I’m just giving advice”!

Clare: I like to orienteer by myself as other people usually are slower and then I have to wait for them.

Who taught you to orienteer and do the rest of the family orienteer too?

Simon: Mum and Dad taught me. My 12 year old sister Miriam is pretty good too.

(Miriam was 2nd in W12A. Robin won W40A and Adrian was 9th in M45A).

Clare: Dad taught me. The family was introduced to orienteering by some of Mum’s relatives and all of us now orienteer. Dad (M45AS and my brother David (M14A) are very competitive and raced at Easter too.

Mum mostly likes to walk around her courses.

Why do you enjoy orienteering?

Simon: The challenge of being able to understand the map and to get around without a mistake.

Clare: I like the combination of being in the bush, running and the challenge of finding the controls.

What other sports do you do?

Simon: Cricket and soccer.

Clare: Tennis and swimming.

What funny or interesting things have happened to you while orienteering?

Simon: I like to see kangaroos in the bush.

Recently I got myself accidentally stuck in some thick green vegetation on the Hawthorndene (SA) map.

Clare: I was once doing a novice course with Mum trailing me. I thought I heard Mum jogging up the path behind me so I waved my arms around to stop her passing me. It wasn’t Mum but another competitor! Mum was further back laughing.

• A liking for Italian/Swedish/Norwegian... food and beverages (not Romanian though); • A bulging list of new friends and addresses, which tends to form the basis of the itinerary for the next overseas trip.

(Europe is an incredibly expensive place to survive otherwise) New skills such as opening bottles with spoon handles, reading train timetables in French, Polish..., How to say “Hello”, “Goodbye”, “Where is the start?” “Where is the toilet? And “I love you...” in numerous different languages.

T

he correlation between enthusiasm for orienteering and outstanding school results is high. This has always been the case, with the 1996 crop of year 12’s doing exceptionally well again. The four girls in the present JWOC team, Julia, Melissa, Emma and Kirsten, all got great marks (above 90%). Julia and Kirsten missed 5 weeks of school with JWOC last year too.

Kirsten in fact achieved 100% and won a scholarship to Melbourne Uni.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

17

ORIENTEER

Junior News Travellers On the overseas travel front, Julia Minty (ACT) has already departed and plans to spend 4-5 months away. Kirsten Fairfax (Tas.) is having a year off study and has left for seven months travelling and orienteering throughout Europe, culminating in learning to Ski-O in Sweden.

She has been working three jobs to raise money: in a hotel, with Pizza Hut, and as a German tutor! Knowing Kirsten’s thirst for daily news from home I’d hate to be paying the telephone bills this year in the Fairfax household! David Shepherd (NSW) is also away for 5 months and will join Kirsten and Julia orienteering through Belgium (JWOC), Sweden, Norway, Czech and Austria before jetting back for the Aus. Champs.

The Queensland JWOC contingent of Lorenzo Calabro, Ben Schulz and Melissa Thomas aim to spend 6 weeks away, taking in the Swedish O Ringen after Belgium. They have been rumoured to have been training on the sandy spit at Southport to simulate the dunes of Belgium. Nino Calabro, who has just recovered from glandular fever, also plans to get overseas to the major multi-day events. Ruth Schulz (Qld.) is

spending 1998 in Norway, I believe.

Queensland had hoped to regain the services of keen coach, Adrian Rowland, later this year.

He has been working in England, but news is that the RAAF is likely to post Adrian and his wife, Kim, to Adelaide.

The JWOC Team The selectors had a pretty tough task at Easter choosing the JWOC team. Some hilarity was provided at the beginning of the meeting as the three “wise” people perused the ultra-detailed form guide provided by Blair Trewin. “Well, we certainly can’t pick Kirsten Fairfax and David Shepherd on previous form,” said one. “Why ever not?” was the reply. “Kirsten came 13th in W10 at the 1986 Aus. Champs. while David was 12th in the same year” Some of these teenagers have been orienteering for a long time.

Kirsten has been to 13 Aus. Champs, David Shepherd and Anna Jenkins to 10, Cassie Trewin and Robbie Preston to 9, Shannon Jones, Kim Hill, Julia Minty and David Colls to eight.

In the JWOC Team the least experienced in this regard are Troy de Haas and Lorenzo Calabro with only four Aus. Champs. runs.

Congratulation to Western Australia’s Matthew Seward on his win in M16 at Easter. What you say to The Australian Orienteer must come true. After placing 10th in last year’s Aus. Champs., his profile in the November issue stated that his

Australian National Orienteering Junior Squad – 1997 Kathryn Ewels Kirsten Fairfax Julia Minty Rebecca Minty Emma Prime Melissa Thomas Amber Tomas Cassie Trewin 18

Vic. Tas. ACT ACT Vic. Qld. SA ACT

Lorenzo Calabro Troy de Haas William Hawkins Robert Preston Ben Rattray Ben Schulz David Shepherd Tom Walter

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

Qld. Vic. ACT NSW SA Qld. NSW ACT

Photo: Liz Randall

JUNIOR

Emma Prime (Tuckonie, Vic.) ran seventh in W20A at Easter. She has had problems with a stress fracture which we hope clears up before she is due to leave for JWOC in Belgium.

ambition was to place at the Aus. Champs. Well done. One to watch at the 1998 Aus. Champs. in WA for sure.

Libby Schofield’s good win in W18 at Easter was significant as she has decided to reduce her swimming commitments (former National Tip Top squad member) and spend more time in the bush. This will make it pretty competitive amongst the older SA girls - Claire Davill, Anna Jenkins, Julie Schofield and Amber Tomas - in badge events and the like.

Congratulation to Karl Hillyard and Amber Tomas who were named SA’s top school aged junior orienteers by the SA School Sports Association for 1996. Amber also has the distinction of being selected in the SA State Triathlon team this year. Glen Winning, Nino Calabro (Qld.) and Kirsten Fairfax (Tas.) are other top juniors selected in state tri teams in recent years.

Camp Beechworth With selection over, (and I might add a few juniors are obviously saving their luck for bigger and better things) most of the happenings of this year’s National Junior Squad Camp can now be revealed.

Coach Jimbo (Jim Russell), obviously yearning to retaste the delights of the famous bakery, told us all to meet in Beechworth. Shannon Jones, usually a MacDonald’s junkie, spent six hours sitting in the bakery, unsure of the exact assembly time. Perhaps Jim was aiming to improve her diet!

We were taken out on a training run on the first afternoon, despite the oppressive mid 30˚s heat which ended up lasting all week. As a consequence there was no sleeping in, as we had to train in the early mornings, and recover in the local lake in the afternoons. The obvious bulging pecs of our guys proved intimidating for the locals, who largely left us to rule the pontoon. Another trend initiated by the heat and Shep (David Shepherd), was sleeping outside. The nights remained pleasant and as many as eight

JUNIOR

ORIENTEER

juniors slept under the skies each night.

The camp continued, as camps do, with plenty of training , swims and bakery visits. One of the local bakery girls even took a shine to Rob Walter and questioned others on his “status”. Woolshed Falls, another swimming venue, was another platform for some to show their courage/stupidity by cliff jumping.

Camp Championships Jim was ably assisted by Rob W, Cassie and Blair Trewin, Emily Viner and Paul Pacque in setting out the training exercises. The traditional 5 star relay revealed Tom Walter and Ruth Schulz as the best “pair”. The Camp Champs. took place midweek on the Pine Gap map using the Hageby format. This saw many changes in the lead during the course, with some very gutsy efforts despite the heat. In the girls race Julia Minty led the pack through the first loop but then dropped down the list.

Julia recovered the lead on the fourth loop and held on to win by 39secs. from Kathy Ewels.

While the boy’s field was decimated due to injury (I couldn’t run), a number were

keen to impress early in the season. In a fast first loop Robbie Preston led from Ben Schulz and Nick Hain.

Unfortunately Nick saw a snake and lost some places. Over the next three loops TDH (Troy de Haas), Robbie and Tom Walter stayed at the front. The final 6km loop saw many people lose considerable time, perhaps due to the heat and the long course length. Robbie fared the best, finishing strongly, a long way in front of the second placed Shep and Tom Walter in third. TDH, second on the last change, plummeted to last, excluding those who DNF’d (sorry Troy).

The Camp Champs. was the orienteering highlight of Wednesday but there was much more entertainment to be had.

We made our way into nearby Shepparton and the local cinema to view “Romeo and Juliet”. If the number of times the soundtrack is played on a camp is any indication of the quality of the movie, then it comes highly recommended by the junior squad.

High O In a final attempt at relief from the heat, the camp moved up to Falls Creek for the High O. The

small cabin rooms were replaced by spacious resort rooms. Ours even overlooked a number of ski runs, lifts and an exquisite valley.

The only complaint was that we had limited time to enjoy the scenery, fresh air, tennis court, indoor pool, sauna and spa.

Nevertheless a relaxed finish to a solid week, except for the boys, who almost all came down sick (the cooking?) and failed to finish the High O.

Our last night together was a pleasant social evening. Those developing new close relationships said their final goodbyes and we all thanked Jim and his jolly helpers for their efforts.

Fat Rat (Ben Rattray) P.S. Ask to see Jim’s new bathers!

Photo: Liz Randall

Jumping out of junior ranks, Rob Walter (Red Roos, ACT) at the Australian Short-O Championships at Castlemaine.

The Whole Wide World of Orienteering Orienteering World Official magazine of the IOF Colour.

Six issues a year. Airmail $35, surface $30.

Scientific Journal of Orienteering.

Two issues a year. Airmail $19.

NZ Orienteering. New Zealand’s national magazine. $26.

CompassSport. Britain’s national magazine. International news, event guides, reports, mountain marathons, MB-O. Six large issues a year, colour. Airmail $50, surface $37.

Orienteering North America. 8 issues a year, colour maps in about half. Pay in US funds: airmail $US51, surface $US27.

Visa or Mastercard, $61, $31. J. Berman’s Orienteering Supply, PO Box 360, Sunderland, MA 01375. Phone/fax 413 665 7822.

For Orienteering World, Scientific Journal of Orienteering, NZ Orienteering, CompassSport: send cheque payable to The Australian Orienteer, PO Box 294, Black Rock 3193 From Mapa & Brújula (Map & Compass), Spain.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

19

Au s tra l ia n 1997 JWOC Team T

HE Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) are the pinnacle of junior (under 21) orienteering and often a final stepping stone before senior representation at World Cup and World Championship level. Many of our young orienteers aspire to represent Australia at a JWOC but only a maximum of 12 are selected each year.

Financial assistance from the OFA and the Australian Sports Commission helps them on their way but unfortunately only covers a fraction of the personal costs involved. The sacrifices these young men and women are prepared to make to represent their country are therefore testimony to their commitment to our sport. They are all worthy of your support.

The 1997 Junior World Orienteering Championships will be held in the north east of Belgium, near the town of Leopoldsburg.

KIRSTEN FAIRFAX (Wellington Ranges OC, Tas.) Born 11th December 1978.

Studying: Having a year off before going to Uni. next year.

Ambitions in life: A top 10 place in JWOC; becoming a part owner of a Chuppa-Chupp factory.

Favourite drink: green cordial.

Favourite orienteers: Louise Fairfax and Warren Key. Started orienteering in a papoose with Mum and Dad. Best memory in orienteering: JWOC ‘96 in Romania - the races, the fun we had together as a team, the excitement and often frustration of living in such a poor country; training in a fairy-tale forest of deciduous trees and springy ground.

Favourite orienteering terrain: Gold mining, spur gully.

THE PROGRAMME IS:

OBJECTIVES ARE:

Monday 7 July

Arrival of teams

Men:

Tuesday 8 July

odel event and M opening ceremony

• One in the top 30 in both the Classic and the Short Course events.

Wed 9 July

Short distance qualifications and finals

• A top 10 relay finish.

Thursday 10 July Rest Day Friday 11 July

Classic

Saturday 12 July R elay, banquet, closing ceremony and party Sunday 13 July

Departure of teams

Australia is sending a full team of 12 (six males and six females), half of whom have previous JWOC experience (three males and three females). Team coach is Jim Russell (Vic.) and Team Manager is Paul Pacqué (Tas.).

As in previous years the team will greatly appreciate messages of support from their Australian supporters. Fax and e-mail facilities will be available at the event centre but at this stage no details are known: they will be sent to State Associations when available.

Results of the events will be sent to the OFA in Australia for distribution to state contacts and the media.

Most embarrassing moment in orienteering: I’ve never done anything embarrassing.

Favourite orienteering terrain: Granite, anything tricky.

Favourite orienteer: Jorgen Martensson.

Coached by: Fiona Calabro.

Parents were orienteering before I was born, I just came along.

CASSIE TREWIN (Bennelong, NSW) Born 18th February 1977.

Most embarrassing moment in orienteering: tripping over the bunting lying on the ground at the start of an Easter 3 Day in front of everyone.

Studying: Exercise science at Wollongong University.

Favourite orienteering terrain: Fast spur gully, goldmining, sand dunes.

Coached by: Len Minty.

REBECCA MINTY (Red Roos, ACT) Born 18th December 1980.

Studying: Year 11 at Erindale College.

Favourite music style: Everclear, Live, Greenday.

Favourite food: Banana, yoghurt.

Favourite sporting hero: Gary Ablett (when he was a bit younger) and Cathy Freeman.

Favourite orienteering terrain: goldmining.

Favourite drinks: water, Powerade, Mountain Blast.

Coached by: Len Minty.

Favourite orienteer: Tom Quayle.

EMMA PRIME (Tuckonie, Vic.) Born 9th May 1978.

20

• A top 10 relay finish.

Favourite sporting hero: Cathy Freeman.

Best memory in orienteering: going to APOC in New Zealand; making friends with people from overseas.

Best memory in orienteering: Times when I’ve had as close a

because I thought the bigger side was for your butt!

JULIA MINTY (Red Roos, ACT) Born 12th January 1979.

Started orienteering with Mum and Dad. Has been orienteering 10 years on her own.

• One in the top 20 and two in the top 30 in the Short Course event.

TV show: Romeo and Juliet, The X-Files. Favourite drink: milk.

Started orienteering with parents.

Has been orienteering for 9 years.

Interests: playing the piano.

perfect run as possible; competing in big competitions when you get to see all your friends from other states and overseas.

Coached by: Bruce Fairfax.

Studying: Having a year off before going to Uni. next year.

Women: • Two in the top 30 in the Classic.

Studying: Engineering/Science at Melbourne University.

Professional ambition: to be a Chemical engineer. Favourite film,

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

Best memory in orienteering: Being selected in the 1997 JWOC team.

Favourite orienteering terrain: gold mining around Bendigo and Ballarat.

MELISSA THOMAS (Range Runners OC, Qld.) Born 26th July 1979.

Studying: Bachelor of Science (Chemistry/maths) at University of Southern Queensland. Ambitions in life: Learn to ski. Orienteer until I’m so old they’ll have to have another class for me.

Favourite orienteer: My Mum. Most embarrassing moment in orienteering: At the ‘92 Schools Champs I borrowed a guys tights (one leg maroon, the other orange) for the relay. When I stood next to others wearing the same tights, they wondered why the colours on mine were the wrong way around.

I was wearing them backwards

Previous JWOC experience: Poland ‘94, Denmark “95, Romania ‘96. Professional ambition in life: To be a sport scientist at the AIS. Favourite food: pasta, muffins.

Favourite sporting hero and orienteer: Jorgen Martensson.

Family started orienteering when I was a baby.

Best memory in orienteering: being in W10, running against Jo, Al, Cathy, Suzanne etc. and picking flowers and counting kangaroos out on the course and not caring where I came; coming 13th in the JWOC short-O in 1995.

Favourite orienteering terrain: moderate steep sand dunes and terrain which changes vegetation and contour detail all the time.

Least favourite orienteering terrain: Vague flat areas with no detail at all.

LORENZO CALABRO (Toohey Forest & Uni’ of Queensland OC) Born 29th June 1978 Studying: Physiotherapy at Uni. of Queensland.

Photo: Liz Randall

Australia’s Junior World Orienteering Championship team 1997: Standing (from left) – Jim Russell (Coach), Troy de Haas, Melissa Thomas, David Shepherd, Kirsten Fairfax, Lorenzo Calabro, Cassie Trewin, Ben Schultz, Rob Preston, Ben Rattray, Rebecca Minty, Emma Prime, Paul Pacqué (Manager).

In front – Julia Minty. Reserves are William Hawkins (ACT), Tom Walter (ACT) and Danielle Winslow (Tas.).

Favourite food: is Vegemite.

Favourite sporting hero: Brad Bevan.

Ambitions in life: to drive cars like Warren Key. Favourite orienteer: Reeta Mari-Kolkkala.

Best memory in orienteering: watching the ‘94 World Cup in Ballarat, post Xmas 5-Day parties, Tiger Search Carnival ‘96 in Tasmania.

Funniest moment in orienteering: Wondering how pathetic these people in the E class must be at my first interstate event at QBIII’93 . I wondered why there were no C and D classes.

Favourite orienteering terrain: granite (Amiens, Qld.)

memory in orienteering: running for the first time a JWOC in Romania. Thinking to myself as I started the short course event how much orienteering meant to me.

Favourite orienteering terrain: really extreme terrain e.g. steep rocky slopes. Anything where you can go flat out and leave the pussyfoots for dead.

Coached by: Lou de Haas.

ROB PRESTON (Newcastle OC) Born 23rd June 1978.

Studying: Biomedical science at Newcastle University.

Ambitions in life: to climb Everest, base jump Trango Towers, kayak the Amazon. Favourite food: Pizza, lasagne, Mars bars.

Coached by: Scott Simson.

Favourite orienteer: Jorgen Martensson.

TROY de HAAS (Central Highlands, Vic.) Born 15th June 1979.

Has been orienteering for 10 years.

Parents have been orienteering since the 70’s.

Studying: at Gisborne College.

Previous JWOC experience in Romania 1996.

Favourite food: Jarlsberg cheese.

Favourite orienteer: Peter Thoresen (Norway).

Father dragged me along when I was younger to a school champs.

So I began with a fairly big race and haven’t looked back since. Best

Most embarrassing moment in orienteering: Running past my coach during a race and commenting how slow he was running (he was lost), only to find myself lost two minutes later.

Best memory in orienteering: Winning various Australian school championships and all NSW Squad camps.

Coached by: Rob Vincent.

BEN RATTRAY (Onkaparinga OC, SA.) Born 9th September 1977

World University Championships in Hungary ‘96.

Studying: BASc Exercise and Sport Science at University of South Australia. Favourite food: mangoes. Favourite orienteer: Kerryn Searle (Bendigo)

Best memory in orienteering: Australian School Champs. 1994.

Started orienteering in primary school with David Tilbrook. Then Kay Haarsma dragged me out a few years later to an event as a runner. Most embarrassing moment in orienteering: Being set up by Tom Quayle to run off in the wrong direction during the first leg of the 1994 ASSOC relay.

Studying: at the University of NSW.

Coached by: Jim Russell and Bob Smith.

BEN SCHULZ (Toohey Forest, Qld. And University of Queensland OC) Born 14th July 1977 Studying: Chemical Engineering at University of Queensland.

Favourite food: chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches.

Favourite orienteer: Gunilla Svard.

Has been orienteering for six years.

Introduced to orienteering by high school cross-country coach.

DAVID SHEPHERD (Kareelah, NSW) Born 15th December 1977.

Professional ambition: environmental engineer.

Favourite drink: Blue Powerade.

Favourite sporting Hero: Moses Kiptanui.

Favourite orienteer: Grant Bluett.

Has been orienteering for 10 years.

Most embarrassing moment in orienteering: catching two other juniors in the shower together on a NSW junior squad training camp.

Funniest moment in orienteering: Andy Hill slipped off a big rock in front of the whole NSW junior squad on a training camp at the Pagodas.

Favourite orienteering terrain: Goldmining (Nerrina, White Swan, Vic.).

Coached by: Jock Davis.

Most embarrassing moment in orienteering: All the people taking photos at the change-over of the “underpants relay” at the THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

21

Ski-O Start of the long distance race in Sweden.

World Cup

L

IKE forest orienteering, skiers have a World Cup series. This year races were in Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic and Russia (Siberia). 25 countries were represented with 80 men and 50 women competing.

An informal group of Australians took part in the first three rounds - Alan Davis (YV.V), Ian Franzke (BK.V) and Hughes Little (BK.V) as leader. Ian Franzke was the big improver: Ian celebrated his 21st birthday in the Czech Republic. His reversal of form in the final race can perhaps be attributed to a bottle of duty-free presented to him by the editor, which Ian generously shared with some members of the Finnish women's team.

After the World Cup Races, the group took part in the Czech National Championships with over 400 competitors. Hughes had a good result, finishing second in his age class.

Ski-O fixtures, Winter 1997

Ski Orienteering at the Winter Olympics

Five events are scheduled at Perisher in NSW. In Victoria, Sunday 31 August, the weekend of the big Kangaroo Hoppet at Falls Creek, should attract a big turnout.

There is one event at Lake Mountain.

However at press date it was likely that more events will be scheduled.

N

Coming Events Brochure/ Newsletter

A

newsletter with complete details of 1997 Ski-O events should be ready by the start of June. If you took part in an event last season, you will automatically receive a copy, provided you filled in your current address on your entry form.

Otherwise send $2 and a stamped selfaddressed business size envelope to Ski-O, PO Box 294, Black Rock, Vic. 3193 or to Ski-O, PO Box 402, Jamison Centre, ACT 2614.

EXT northern winter Windischgarsten in Austria is to be the centre for a training camp and then the World Championships. The top fifteen men and fifteen women are to be sponsored to attend the Olympic Ski-O demonstration event in Japan.

The Orienteering Federation of Australia (OFA) has costed a three week package for Europe and Japan at about $5500 per person. At the time of writing, it is not known what funding support may be available. The OFA will be calling for expressions of interest from good skiers with orienteering/ski-O experience.

Norway won the Women's Ski-O Relay in February in the Czech Republic: Hanne Sletner, Valborg Madslien and Hilde Pedersen.

Photo from Orientering Norway

EVENT WINNER

WINNER'S FRANZKE FRANZKE % TIME TIME PLACE BEHIND

Oz Champs. '96 WORLD CUP '97 Sweden, long Sweden, short Austria, short Czech, long Czech, short

Koenig (Swiss)

43.19

56.10

5

30

Pesu (Fin.) Varis (Fin) Junikkala (Fin.) Corradini (Italy) Varis (Fin.)

85.09 30.19 22.16 84.22 30.37

172.36 49.44 36.11 126.35 58.58

64 65 ?

63 75

102 63 63 42 93

22

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

Note the way ski orienteers carry the map: it is on lightweight "plate" with a centre pivot, so it is easy to keep oriented. The plate folds up in case of a fall. Control card is usually pinned to the sleeve.

Photo from OL, Switzerland

SKI-O AT ROYAL GORGE, U.S.A. February 1997 Michelle Privett (Albury-Wodonga OC)

R

OYAL GORGE is a cross country ski resort located in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California. It is North America’s largest resort with over 300 kilometres of groomed trails, and is also the venue of the ‘Gold Rush’, the 50 kilometre national race. While planning the Ski School events schedule for the 1996/97 season, Tony Keeble and I decided Royal Gorge was due for its first Ski-O event, organised in conjunction with the Bay Area Orienteering Club (BAOC) who kindly supplied the necessary equipment and people power.

The controls were set out the night before the event via skidoos. Due to the deep snow off the trails, all controls were set beside the trails within a six kilometre radius of the Summit Lodge (the start / finish area).

Control descriptions varied from track junctions to gullies, clearings, trail bends and view points.

The day of the event saw perfect skiing conditions. Clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine meant excellent visibility with wonderful views of Devils and Palisade Peaks. The snow was fast before noon, then rapidly turned into the infamous ‘Sierra Cement”, very similar to Australian spring slush.

Three courses were offered: a 5 kilometre point-to-point with eight checkpoints, as well as 60 and 100 minute Score-O’s. An enlarged and laminated version of the trail map was used. Unfortunately, the map is not to scale and lacks contour lines, but the competitors still had to make challenging route choice decisions based on the difficulty of trails (indicated by green, blue and black trails) and the many red arrows showing the hill sections.

With over 70 competitors, the event was a great success. Many keen orienteers made the 4 hour trip from San Francisco. Four competitors managed to visit all the 22 controls within the 100 minutes. The event was followed by presentations and spot prizes provided by Royal Gorge and their sponsors. With a new 1:10,000 contour map of the trail system currently being produced by BAOC, Royal Gorge will certainly be a popular venue for future Ski-O events in the United States.

Hilde Petersen (Norway), women's World Cup champion 1997, after sealing her victory in Russia. Vesa Makipaa (Finland) led the men.

Photo from Orientering Norway

Endurance The Comfort of Cotton …

The Performance of Capilene

GO-T

Come and visit us in Sydney at 497 Kent Street, and in Melbourne at 370 Little Bourke Street, or ring us for our 80 page catalogue: 1-800 066 625 Photo: Cliff Leight Patagonia Inc. 1993

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Mountain Bike Orienteering (MBO)

Blake Gordon, MBO Convenor for OFA, 835 York Street, Ballarat 3350 03 5331 7937 e-mail address b.gordon@aquinas.acu.edu.au

Blake Gordon

M

BO is up and pedalling! The first official OFA meeting of the MBO group was held at Easter at Broken Hill with enthusiastic representation from all states. The contact people are : Kay Haarsma (SA), Jo Mitchell (TAS), Tony Whittaker (WA), Dick Ogilvie (NSW), Lorenzo Calabro (QLD), Peter PlunkettCole (ACT), and Blake Gordon (VIC).

The group exchanged home and e-mail addresses (printed at the end of this article).

We would welcome comments from those who have organised MBO events or who would like to try one.

Given that MBO has been operating in several states (SA and ACT) over the last few years, the discussion at the meeting centred on what was happening and what different formats had been tried. Score and cross-country events seem to be the two most popular, but even a few relays have been tried. Most observers commented that maps that have been discarded because they have too many tracks or that the bush is too thick seem to suit our MBO navigation standard at this point in time. With the insurance discussion behind us, the costs seem to vary from $8 to $15 per event, with $10 (for association members) the average fee for a one to two-hour event.

Discussion on the suitability of normal orienteering controls focused the attention of the group on making control locations visible. In Victoria pink streamers hanging from a horizontal string with an ice-cream lid (with orange triangle) and normal punch attached (on a long string) made for controls which competitors could ride up to, punch and not have to leave the saddle.

As MBO develops, less pink tape will be used on the long courses, while streamers on the novice will continue to be standard.

Putting out controls is made easy with a sling bag containing the lids, punches, streamers and strings – no more lugging t-bar stands and heavy water containers

(riders carry their own water bottles or camel-style bags) to remote sites!

The number of courses seem to favour three – a novice of 5 to 7 km., an intermediate of 12 to 15 km., and an advanced course of 20 to 25 km. These distances are measured on the best track route (not as classic point to point or direct line) because we want competitors to stay on the tracks and roads – not set out cross-country. With the technology of bike computers, competitors can tell you at the end of the event just how far they have gone. It is certainly within the unofficial rules to carry one’s bike up/down steep tracks, but route choices should not favour running from attack point to control.

How to carry the map and control card have occupied the brains of several of the new converts – with no clear method yet.

At the Mt Doran (Victoria) event in April, those who did not use map bags really shredded their maps on their handle grips.

IOF President Sue Harvey was placed 2nd in the women’s class in the mountain bike orienteering event at last year’s IOF Congress in Israel. She is pictured here at the start (left) and at speed in the forest. Photos: Birthe Helms in O-World.

Australia Insurance Limited 24

Various methods were tried – most mounted their maps on the straight handle bars, but then experienced difficulty in orienting their maps as they changed direction. The rotating plate mount that Kath Liley showed off at Nerrina (Victoria) seems to have much going for it – as long as you can see over it to check where your front wheel is going!

Another idea that has met with instant approval – a sausage sizzle and general discussion of route choice after the event. It took us back to the days when orienteers used to sit around and talk about the day’s course. With events attracting 25 to 50 competitors this has proved very successful in establishing a dialogue in this new wrinkle on our sport. Any more ideas or innovations will be aired in this column over the next year as we experiment with regional, state, and national MBO events. I wonder which states will run championships in 1997?

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

Insurance Renewal? Ask for a Quote FREECALL 1800 240 599

Section Editor, Hugh Cameron, Vice President, IOF (Albury Wodonga O.C.)

1997 has brought some significant changes to IOF. A new structure has come into effect, a new Secretariat has been established in Helsinki and a new IOF logo has been launched.

Logo The logo symbolises belief in the future and indicates development and positive progress.

The control marker (represented in the ‘I’) is common to all disciplines and colours red and green represent the control marker and the forest. The new logo is seen as the symbol of a modern, dynamic federation.

Structure The IOF’s new committee structure recognises four distinct disciplines - ‘Foot O’, ‘Ski - O’, ‘Mountain Bike - O’ and ‘Trail - O’. Complementing these Discipline Committees are the Map Committee, the Events Standards Committee and the Technology Development Committee. Barry McCrae (Aus) is Chair of the Events Standards Committee.

DEVELOPMENT OFFICER with an orienteering background. The job will focus on increasing IOF membership through geographic spread of the sport, strengthening orienteering in existing member countries and development of the orienteering product.

The position is full-time, based at the IOF Headquarters in Helsinki, Finland.

Applications preferably by 30th May 1997.

Starting date September 1997.

To apply, please write, giving career details, salary expectations and an indication of your approach to this challenging position to: The Secretary General, International Orienteering Federation, Radiokatu 20, FI-00930, FINLAND, tel. +358 9 3481 3112, fax +358 9 3481 3113, e-mail: iof@ orienteering.org

The Olympic Issue

JWOC 2001

The Olympic issue has been on the agenda at the last two Council meetings. It will be discussed at the 1997 Presidents’ Conference which is to be held in conjunction with the World Championships in Norway. In relation to the goal of Olympic participation, Council has agreed that to achieve this goal there is a need to focus on the preconditions. Council sees two main issues that need to be addressed the need for geographic spread, especially in relation to securing new member countries, but also in relation to strengthening present membership, and the need for product development.

In order to make some progress on development, the Council has decided to appoint a development officer. The development officer will also be a resource, in the context of development, for IOF committees and project teams.

At the same meeting, Council appointed Hungary as the organiser of the Junior World Championships in 2001. The decision regarding the appointment of the organiser for the 2001 World Masters Orienteering Championships will be taken at Council’s August meeting.

New IOF member India was accepted as a new associate member of the IOF when the Council met at Chaimontel, France, recently.

Centenary Celebrations The IOF Council has approved a plan to celebrate the centenary of orienteering.

Celebrations will begin at WOC 97 in Norway and end at the 1998 World Cup final in Finland.

The centenary will be highlighted at all major IOF events during the above mentioned period - WOC 97 in Norway, the 1997 Veteran World Cup in USA, SkiWOC 98 in Austria, the 1998 Ski-JWOC in Russia, the World Masters Championships in the Czech Republic and at all the 1998 World Cup events.

All national orienteering federations are encouraged to celebrate the centenary at a national level.

Membership of the IOF is now 49 nations.

Maldon Gold Easter 1998 Maldon was declared “Australia’s First Notable Town” by the National Trust in 1996 in recognition of its historic streetscapes and the authentic and intact nature of its architectural heritage.

The forests surrounding it will further charm you with complex old gold mining on open, gently undulating spur/gully terrain with some steep slopes dotted with scattered granite.

April 10th to 13th 1998 — a feast of orienteering Avoid disappointment, book your accommodation now through Mount Alexander Booking Service PO Box 405 Castlemaine, Vic, 3450.

Phone (03) 5470 5866 — fax (03) 5470 5521 Event enquiries to Peter Creely, 51 Lowndes Street, Bendigo, 3550, Vic. Phone (03) 5443 1975

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Coaching Connection

R

OB WALTER, like his close friend, training partner and rival Tom Quayle, has had a dramatic arrival into the open ranks, winning M21E at the Australian 3-Days Event in Broken Hill at Easter in his first year out of the junior ranks. Rob and Tom have competed against each other, swapped notes and trained with each other since Rob began orienteering as an M10 in 1986.

Getting serious Rob began training seriously after Tom returned from Europe and his first trip to JWOC in 1993. Despite not having had great success at JWOC that year, Tom was so enthusiastic about international orienteering at the top level that Rob was quickly infected with the enthusiasm. They spoke often about it and Rob was determined to try it for himself.

Always technically sound, Rob worked hard on his fitness and speed. Training with Tom, Grant Bluett and Andy Hogg, and receiving coaching ideas from Grant, made a huge difference to his speed. Indeed, Rob feels that he was navigating better in 1993 than he is now, because he is running faster now and his navigation hasn’t quite caught up yet.

Scott Simson (Toohey Forest, Qld.) copares notes with (centre) Kerryn Thomas (Range Runners, Qld.) and Anna Sheldon

Emphasis on compass Rob was encouraged by Warren Key to use the compass more, and become more accurate with it. He incorporated compass training into his technique sessions immediately before Easter, and in the 3-Day event used the compass more than ever before, carefully picking out a distant object on his bearing to ensure he didn’t increase the distance he was running by deviating from the straight line.

Into the elite ranks This year, despite being very fit, Rob was disappointed with his performance at the Eureka Challenge in Victoria, three scant weeks before the Easter 3-Days. Navigation and concentration seemed to be the problem, so Rob placed greater emphasis on technique training for the remaining time before Easter. He trained three times a week in the forest with a map and forced himself to concentrate on where he was, what he was doing and what he was going to do. On his other training days on tracks he always carried a map and again forced himself to think himself through a course on each run.

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THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

Mental preparation For a long time Rob has been aware that relaxation before a big event is vital. He has a well established routine which he uses before every event because he knows it works and he can feel secure that nothing about this event is going to be more difficult than previous events. Included in the routine is some imagery where he pictures himself picking up his map, orienting and folding it, picking an attack point on the first leg, then his route, then the techniques he will use on the leg, and then noting the features he will pass on the map and confirming he is on track by seeing them on the ground.

Shared secrets Rob is generous in his praise of all the other orienteers who have shared their experience with him. He says that his success, and that of his friends, is a tribute to the environment of co-operation which has been developed by and among the elites in recent years. As long as this continues, the future of our elite orienteers is assured.

Elite Women’s mass start at the O-League event in March at Ballarat.

Photo: Greg Potter

Photo: Liz Randall

Recipe for Success

Peter Plunkett-Cole

Photo: Greg Potter

Coaching Connection Take Advantage of Fast Open Forests Having noticed that many Queensland orienteers had not taken advantage of fast open forests to stretch their legs when presented with such opportunities, Scott Simson wrote the following article for a recent QOA newsletter. Scott has kindly agreed for it to be published here with minor modifications to suit a wider audience.

Keep it moving!

OU must go straight. Fold the map over beside the red line and slap the compass on top. If you even consider not straight lining it give yourself a big kick in the pants. Visibility is great. Have a little confidence, go straight for the control, and expect to see the control feature and flag.

My other tip is don’t stop. It’s just too easy to keep running in the open forest.

Personally I do not even intend stopping for controls but just flow straight through. So here are a few tips for doing things as you run and not stopping.

Reading on the run Navigation skills are very demanding in orienteering. To be a good orienteer it is important that you do all your navigation work without stopping. At first this will mean reducing the number of times you stop, and doing things at walking pace.

Ultimately it means doing map reading and making navigation decisions whilst running.

Skills to practise Map reading skills are very important in all this. Techniques like thumbing the map help significantly in reducing the length of time needed to look at the map. Map memory and simplification skills are more important and closely associated. These skills reduce not only the time spent looking at the map but also how often you need to look at the map - three or four times a leg is all you should really require if you have good map memory. Many of these skills can easily be practised at home in the armchair.

When to read the map If you are reading your map on the run or walk, there are good and bad times to do it.

It is easier to read your map while you are going slower and the going is smooth and without obstacles. At such times you are bouncing less and are less likely to hit or trip over something. Thus if you are going uphill on a track you should take the opportunity to read your map on the run.

Y

Finally, if you are running in rough, uneven footing then it is best to follow the tip of the Scandinavians. They advise that when reading the map on the run you take lots of little quick glances so you can keep running as you build up a picture of the map in your mind. You will need good thumbing and map memory skills and a fair bit of practice but this method does work.

Jim Russell (Bendigo, Vic.) still tops in Elite although eligible to run M35.

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They're developed in close co-operation with Team Silva International a group of the World's top elite orienteers and World Champions - to provide you with features like a soft, strong upper part in PU Cordura, an anatomic last and strong support for arch and heel, lining and binding sole of material that does not absorb water, a twin component middle sole to counter balance pronation and low weight.

Most importantly the sole has tiny metal cleats in the rubber studs to give you a super grip on slippery surfaces, like wet logs and rocks.

There are several Silva models priced from $120 to $250 and available from your local O-Gear shop at events or the Orienteering Service of Australia at 44 Alexandra Pde., Clifton Hill, Vic. 3068. Tel (03)9489 9766 Credit card and mail orders welcome. Ask for illustrated brochure, price list and sizing sheet.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

27

Running the Business Bob Mouatt OFA National Development Officer “I would, however, like to take this opportunity to sound a warning: if the promotion of Orienteering is to be successful, not only must new customers be attracted to the sport , they must experience efficiently organised and run events and be willing to come back for more. If they go away disgruntled because we cannot handle the extra numbers or provide the information needed for beginners, our image will be worse than if we had not sought to attract them in the first place.”

Keith Curry, ACT Publicity Officer, in his report to the ACTOA AGM May 1978.

I

STARTED orienteering in 1977, so that AGM was my first. Those views made a lasting impression on me and they are still very relevant today. I developed the concept that sport, be it amateur or professional, is no different to a business and therefore, for it to be successful it must be run along business lines. This led me to writing a series of articles for the ACTOA News under the heading “Running the Business”.

I have chosen to use that heading for both the ACTOA News and The Australian Orienteer.

In conducting a business, there are three key factors: Who are the customers? (In sport, who are the participants?); organisation and administration; publicity.

Who are the participants?

Organisation and Administration

Orienteers can be put into three categories: 1. Nationally Competitive (NC). NC orienteers are those who are prepared to travel interstate to national fixture list events. They are usually prepared to train and practise their skills to achieve a high standard of orienteering competitiveness.

NC can be split into two further classes: • Elite. Elite orienteers in this context are those who make up the top 25 percent nationally in each age class. They are always potential winners of any event in which they compete.

• Hacks. Hack orienteers (and I include myself in this category) are those who display potential but manage to ‘snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’ through turning simple mistakes into major errors. Nonetheless, they enjoy competition at the highest level.

2. Good Average Regionals (GAR) GAR orienteers are those who treat orienteering as a sport but are not prepared to travel beyond their own region to seek success. Also, they are generally not prepared to train hard or practise their skills to achieve a higher status.

3. Recreational Orienteers.

ROs see orienteering more as a recreation than a sport, but many will travel great distances to an event, in another state or country.

In developing an organisation and administration, one must never lose sight of the desires and needs of the participants.

Some desires and needs are shared by all of the various categories of orienteers, some are mutually exclusive.

The areas where they are similar include reasonable road to the competition area, reasonable parking area, ease of registration, accuracy of maps, controls placed accurately, reasonable toilet facilities and water on the course and at the finish. The list is not exhaustive by any means - just a guide to some common needs.

Some examples of areas where the desires and needs would be different are: distance to an event, physical difficulty of courses e.g. length, climb, climate - terrain, vegetation, fences, ravines, guidance and assistance at all stages of registration and start procedures, height of controls and accessibility of punches, control description - e.g. symbols or narrative - course logic and navigational difficulty.

Conducting events which suit all categories of orienteers is difficult, probably impossible on some occasions. Therefore, events may have to be organised and administered to suit particular categories of orienteers at different times throughout the year. If different levels of orienteering events are scheduled properly, most orienteers will be satisfied.

The South Australians did a very good job at Broken Hill during Easter.

Next edition I propose to comment on Publicity, Public Image and Sponsors. Your views are always very welcome. The best number on which to contact me is my mobile, 041 231 2376.

“How am I going?”, first year M21E Darren Meeking checks his time at Easter 3-Days, Broken Hill.

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THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

It's a Thought, Sport

S

OME orienteers regard electric fences as a significant bar to progress. Not necessarily so, they can be used to advantage.

Try to ensure your O pants are thoroughly wet from the hips down; you can do this by running through wet vegetation or splashing through a creek early on the course. You are now ready to approach your fence. Place your leading leg over the fence, being particularly careful not to touch it.

Once safely astride the fence you are then well positioned to allow the wire to make a good contact with the upper part of the inside of your trailing leg.

The next thing you will be aware of is being some three metres or so along your course, having being propelled there in a single bound! A bonus is finding yourself charged with excitement and more than ready to capitalise on the charge of energy to your progress towards the finish.

Editor’s note: This happened to me once at the High-O at Falls Creek just after wading through the aqueduct.

Only difference was I wound up lying on my face, swearing.

Item from CompassSport UK, contributed by Brian Parker.

OFA BADGE SCHEME Badges awarded March 1997 NSW Merran Warlters Lyn Malmgron Neville Fathers Mark Hurry Keith Caldwell Peter Newton Ainsley Cavanagh Dane Cavanagh Colin Parton Terry Cavanagh

SR SR SR SR SR NC NT NT NT NT

W50 W35, W45 M55 M35 M35 M35 W10 M12 M14 M45

Western Australia Leith Young BO W55 Don Young BO M60 Tasmania Tom Statham EV M10 Helen Statham EV W45 Paul Statham EV M12 Georgie Statham EV W16

2 Silver, Bronze 2 Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Silver Gold Gold Silver Bronze

3 Gold 3 Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold

For further information contact John Oliver 68 Amaroo St, Wagga Wagga 2650.

Ph 069 226 208 (AH)

✄ OFA BADGE SCHEME APPLICATION Name _________________________________________ Street _________________________________________ Suburb ________________________________________ State __________________ Postcode _______________ Club __________________________________________

❏ ❏ ❏

Badge(s) requested GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE Credits earned at Event name Date 1. .................................. .......................

2. .................................. .......................

3. .................................. .......................

Administrative Use Only

❏ ❏ ❏ Age Group .................... .................... ....................

$4 per badge = $.......................... enclosed (Cheques payable to OFA) Forward to John Oliver, 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650

❏ ❏ ❏ No. ..................................

Date .................................

Chq .................................

BSB .................................

The Winter Classic T W O D AY E V E N T

Jim Crow and Charlesford Diggings, near Daylesford, Victoria.

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July 1997 Bayside Kangaroos present the 19th Annual Winter Classic

Saturday - Mass start Hageby format in goldfields terrain. Sunday - Chasing start in classic spur/gully terrain Trophies for M/W21A, badges for all winners and A Course placegetters.

Valuable spot prizes drawn on Sunday, including a fabulous SILVA 5 JET compass for A course entrants.

Pre-entries close Friday 4th July. Entry forms, phone 03 9568 3602 or 9844 4878 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Orienteering Federation of Australia ORIENTEERING FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA President: Sue Johnston, Secretary: Dave Lotty, PO Box 740, Glebe, NSW 2037.

Ph. (02) 9660 2067 (w), 9569 2380 (h).

Treasurer: Kathy Liley, National Development Officer: Bob Mouatt, PO Box W49, Wanniassa ACT 2903. Phone (06) 231 2463.

National Marketing Officer: Ian Baker, PO Box 294, Black Rock Vic 3193. Phone (03) 9551 1758.

OFA Badge applications: John Oliver, 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650.

STATE ASSOCIATIONS Queensland OA. PO Box 114, Spring Hill 4004.

Secretary: Robin Spriggs (07) 3369 0880 (h).

Orienteering Association of NSW. PO Box 740, Glebe, 2037.

Secretary: Dave Lotty (02) 9660 2067 (w), 9569 2380 (h).

ACT OA. PO Box 402, Jamison Centre 2614.

Secretary: Ann Baylis (06) 249 7139(h).

Victorian OA. 332 Banyule Road, Viewbank 3084.

Secretary: Barry Hart (03) 9510 4227 (h), (03) 9268 6124 (w).

OA Tasmania, PO Box 206, Gravelly Beach 7276.

Secretary: Susan King (03) 6394 4668 (h).

OA South Australia, Administrative Centre, 1 Sturt Street, Adelaide 5000. Secretary: Margaret Northcote (08) 8379 7032 (h).

OA Western Australia, PO Box 234, Subiaco 6008. Secretary: Janet Jenkins (09) 389 1316 (h).

Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory), PO Box 39152, Winnellie 0821. Secretary: Pat Eastwood (08) 8981 2085.

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AGM in Broken Hill Officers of the OFA for 1997-8 are (elected and appointed): Patron, His Excellency the Ambassador for Sweden, Goran Hasselmark President, Sue Johnston (ACT) Vice Pres. Development, John Brammall (Tas.) Vice President Technical, Barry McCrae (Vic.) Secretary, Dave Lotty (NSW) Treasurer, Kathy Liley (Vic.) Committee Chairpersons: Coaching, Neville Bleakley (ACT) Development and Promotion, Deb Hopper (WA) High Tech., Ian Holmes (Qld.) Mapping, Alex Tarr (Vic.) Technical, Howard Smith (Tas.) Mountain Bike O, Blake Gordon (Vic.) Ski-O, Ian Baker (Vic.) Badge Scheme Secretary, John Oliver (NSW) Fixtures Coordinator, Dave Lotty (NSW) Schools Liaison, Rob Simson (Qld.) Statistician, Darryl Erbacher (ACT) Auditor, Col Morgans (Vic.) Don Young, Silva Orienteer of the Year At the OFA AGM in March in Broken Hill retiring President Don Young was awarded the 1997 Silva Award for Services to Orienteering.

Don was one of the early orienteers in WA after the sport launched there in 1974, and served continuously in various positions on the WA Council from 1975 until 1993, including President from 1979-84. In 1981 he joined the OFA Council, later becoming Vice President and then in 1994 President. All Don's work for orienteering has been in a voluntary capacity.

As a competitor he has represented Australia in the first six APOC's and also against NZ. Now retired from a demanding professional occupation, Don has taken on company director roles. Daughter Alix is a current member of the Australian National Squad.

Coaching Award Bob Smith (SA) receives the Silva Award for orienteering coaching.

Bob's achievements include being the driving force behind specialist coaching for three specialist squads in SA, for sub-juniors, juniors and seniors. Besides being the Senior Squad coach he trained four young people for JWOC

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

selection in 1996 and all were successful in being picked for the team, one third of the total number.

Bob aims to help each of his athletes take control of his or her own development; this is necessary in view of the individualist nature of many orienteers. He helps to organise weekly training runs for technical, terrain and physical development round the year. The "Bob Squad" is now common parlance in SA: a record number of seniors applied to participate in 1997.

Bob is a qualified Level 2 coach and has run courses to maintain SA's number of Level 1 coaches.

O League 1998 Programme will be: 1. 28 March Orange, NSW (Kahli’s Rocks) Australian Short Championships 2. 29 March Blayney, NSW – (Giant) Classic 3-5. 11-13 April Maldon Vic. (Aus. 3 Days) Short, Classic, Medium 6. 9 May ACT, Match O, Short 7. 10 May Braidwood ACT, Badge event, Classic 8. 26-27 Sept. WA Championships 2-Day Classic event 9. 3 Oct. WA, Australian Championships, Classic 10. 4 Oct. WA, Australian Relay Championships Development Plan The plan for 1997-2000 was adopted. States have copies.

Australia - New Zealand Challenge NZ is to decide whether or not the next challenge will be in 1998 in WA. In all events, a challenge will be conducted in association with APOC 2000 in Queensland.

OFA Home Page on the Internet http://www.orienteering.usyd.edu.au/~markz/oz-o This address is likely to change later in 1997.

Bob Smith (SA) receives the Silva Award for orienteering coaching.

NATIONAL SQUAD and TEAM APPOINTMENTS

A

PPLICATIONS are hereby invited for the following National Squad management positions from the completion of WOC1997 to the completion of WOC1999, for the WOC 1999 Team and for the JWOC 1998 Team.

Applications setting out experience and qualifications for the positions are required to be in the hands of the OFA Secretary by 30 August 1997.

Team Manager WOC 1999 Responsible for coordinating all aspects of Team administration prior to, during and subsequent to WOC1999 (Inverness GBR in August) and Team administration relating to World Cup 1998.

Senior Squad Coordinator Responsible for coordinating all aspects of administration of the National Senior Squad.

Team Manager JWOC 1998 Responsible for coordinating all aspects of Team administration prior to, during and subsequent to JWOC1998 (Riems FRA in July).

National Coach Responsible for coordinating all coaching programmes organised for the National Senior Squad and contributing to the execution of these programmes.

National Junior Coach Responsible for coordinating all aspects of administration and coaching of the National Junior Squad.

The National Junior Coach shall be the Team Coach for the JWOC teams in 1998 and 1999, if available.

Team Coach WOC 1999 Responsible for coordinating all coaching programmes aimed at preparing the team for participation in WOC1999.

Team Coach JWOC 1998 Responsible for coordinating all coaching programmes aimed at preparing the team for participation in JWOC1998.

It is expected that these appointments will be made as soon as possible after applications have closed but will in any case be finalised at the OFA Annual Conference in early December 1997.

Further information on any of the positions including financial arrangements is available from the OFA Secretary.

ORIENTEERING PUBLICATIONS The following items are available from the OFA. Prices include postage within Australia for single copies. Prices for bulk orders available on request.

IOF Publications International Specifications for Orienteering Maps.$10.00 Competition rules for IOF events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00 Control Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00 Simple Maps for Orienteering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00 Guidelines to Course Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.00 Trail Orienteering (BOF book). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $27.00 Trail Orienteering (booklet). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.50 Trail O (leaflet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.65 OFA Publications Technical Regulations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15.00 Elementary Orienteering Instructors Manual. . . . . . $12.00 Dry Transfer Map Symbols (per sheet). . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00 Level 1 Coaching Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 Level 1 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.50 Level 2 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.00 Level 3 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.00 IOF Map Symbols (colour sheet). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.50 Among the Best Orienteers (video)OFA Members -.$33.95 Orders should be addressed to the Orienteering Federation of Australia, PO Box 740, Glebe, NSW 2037, with cheques made payable to OFA.

Come to Canberra for AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

ORIENTEERING CARNIVAL

Presented by the ACT Orienteering Association

‘OZ97’

Take this opportunity to run in events on great gold-mining country, among spectacular granite boulders and over splendid spur-gully terrain.

Then, after you run, you can enjoy the delights of the Spring Floriade Festival.

ACT Individual Championships

ACT Short Course Championships (with Australian Schools Individual Championships)

National Score Event (with Australian Schools Relay)

Model Event

Australian Individual Championships

Australian Relay Championships

Sunday 28 September Tuesday 30 September Wednesday 1 October Friday 3 October Saturday 4 October Sunday 5 October

Enquiries: Event Secretary Marjorie Gilby ph./fax 06 273 1863 (most times) or the Carnival Organiser Wayne Gregson ph. 06 288 4398 (h) 7-9 pm THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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GREAT LEGS Edited by Eddie Wymer

W

ELCOME to ‘Great Legs’. I hope this feature proves to be informative, entertaining and a learning experience for one and all. I look forward to contributions from a cross-section of the orienteering community, covering the various forms and disciplines of orienteering, albeit with an emphasis on forest O. Without such input from others ‘Great Legs’ will be biased toward the mindset of a male elite orienteer, using M2IE type legs. And we don’t want that, do we? So, if over the years you’ve been confronted with a ‘Great Leg’, please drop us a line at The Australian Orienteer , P.O.Box 294, Black Rock, 3193.

T

HIS first ‘Great Leg’ comes from Flat Top II near Crows Nest, Queensland, and was first used as Day Three of the 1995 Aust. Three-Day Champs. The challenging granite terrain will again be used in 1997 for the fifth and final selection trial race (25th May) for the 1997 World Championship Team to Norway and later in the year for the Two day Queensland Champs. (23rd and 24th August.)

Technical Details Map: Flat Top II, Scale: 1:15000 (section above is enlarged for clarity).

Contour Interval: 5m., Leg length: 1.5 km.

Anyone using the old technique of heading off in the general direction of the control would in a matter of seconds be committed to going left. Although, as I see it going left is one of the two major options anyway. Simply head down hill, south 32

along large flat valley to small watercourse and gully, check compass going up and over small ridgeline, flatchat down shallow gully onto and along minor track, across first creek, along edge of second creek, check compass again whilst crossing creek at junction, then keeping major gully on left and some fine navigation with map and compass, travel up, up, up, and into control.

Going right may involve some minor variations. From the start travel northwest either along hilltops or slightly lower along platform above steep rocky escarpment and below rockface. Being careful not to lose too much height, skirt around top of valley near end of two watercourses. Crosschecking direction and contour shape, turn south-westerly crossing flat ridgeline, rough orienteering past any obvious features such as patches of green in gully and rock knoll (A), through saddle with

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

knoll on left (B), cross fences and small saddle (C), continue on across creek, through saddle, over track, down into gully above green (D), and finally using combination of compass, contouring, and attack point of bare rock/sharp spur you’re at the control in a flash.

Summing up, the sole disadvantage of going left is the uphill approach to the control, whilst going right offers some difficult running early before fast relatively flat running to the control. Technical demands are greater going right. Finally, to anyone wishing to red line it, I say good luck, good skill, and welcome to the meataxe club!

A S urvey

of

P rofile

and

Photo: Glenn Burgess

WHO ORIENTEERS?

A ttitudes

Jan A. Strangel, Norwegian Orienteering Federation

A

SURVEY of the characteristics and attitudes of Norwegian orienteers was undertaken by way of group discussion and questionnaires sent to more than 2000 members (7%) of the Norwegian Orienteering Federation. Approximately 50% returned the questionnaires. The results indicate that the characteristics of Norwegian orienteers tend to be similar to those in Sweden and Australia. As far as attitudes among members are concerned there is a clear indication that “timeconsumption” and “lack of visibility” are the basic problems related to recruitment, media and sponsors - and of course in retaining current members.

To increase membership and financial support from sponsors the basic suggestions are: • Make the sport more available and visible to members and the public.

• Make the sport more customer-oriented .

• Make the sport more available to the media.

• Develop better cooperation and a better recruitment programme for schools.

Mike Billinghurst (NSW) finishing Day Two at Broken Hill.

Background During 1995 the Norwegian Orienteering Federation (NOF) undertook a survey of the characteristics and attitudes of Norwegian orienteers. The first part of the survey was to quantify a range of social and lifestyle characteristics of members throughout Norway. The second part of the survey was related to attitudes, and aimed at clarifying the different opinions and thoughts within the orienteering family and also amongst the general public, the latter with or without established links to the sport.

The main aims of the study were to assist NOF and the local clubs in their future work with media, sponsors, marketing and recruitment of new members. As such, the study helped to clarify positive and negative aspects of orienteering as a sport and make it more “customer-oriented”. We regard members and potential members, as well as sponsors, media and members of the public interested in sport as “customers”.

The conclusions of the first part of the survey, concerning social and lifestyle characteristics, tend to be fairly similar to those reached in recent studies of Swedish (Ottosson, 1993,1995) and Australian (Hogg, 1993) orienteers. The profiles given in those surveys are basically the same as the profile we found of the typical Norwegian orienteer.

Therefore we have chosen to present only the conclusions of the second part of the survey, which measured and clarified attitudes - basically amongst the members, but also among people with a special and desired link to orienteering (teachers, parents with children age around 10 years, present sponsors, potential sponsors and media).

The Objectives of the Survey Social and lifestyle characteristics 1. To make the marketing of the sport more target-oriented through more knowledge of the target groups in order to increase

the satisfaction of present members and attraction to new members.

2. To provide present and potential sponsors with more information about the members which might help to make the sport more attractive and effective to sponsors.

Attitudes found mostly in the orienteering family 1. To make the sport or product more ‘customer oriented’: more attractive to present and potential members, media, sponsors and people interested in sport.

2. To make work on marketing and recruiting more cost-effective.

Method For financial reasons, the study did take some short-cuts and therefore most probably could be criticised on some aspects. However NOF needed to clarify certain aspects of the sport; the survey gives us clear indications and in many instances confirms or invalidates statements often

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

33

WHO ORIENTEERS? – A SURVEY used in discussions. Also, it has enabled NOF to extend and increase its communication with its customers, basically the members.

The first step was a number of group meetings consisting of either members, parents or teachers, when different aspects of orienteering were discussed. A questionnaire or survey form with 60 questions was initially developed based on these discussions. In addition to multiple choice questions, the questionnaire invited, and left enough space for, comments to the different answers. The intention was that these comments would clarify the short answers, give a better understanding of the attitudes, and finally, extend communication with the members.

As a preliminary test, 120 of these questionnaires, slightly different for each category, were distributed to groups of elite orienteers and ordinary members. At the same time information about the survey was given to the members.

Approximately 50% of the test questionnaires were returned and the survey form was slightly amended. Approximately 2000 questionnaires, adjusted for the elite orienteers and the ordinary members, were then distributed to the 19 regional offices for further distribution to the members.

(2000 is approximately 7% of the total NOF membership.) Approximately 50% were returned anonymously directly by mail from members to the NOF office. No reminders were given.

Results - Members’ Opinions and Thoughts We did not find a striking difference between the answers from the elite orienteers and the ordinary members. Since the questionnaires invited comments and many of the conclusions are partly based on these comments, an exact quantification has in general been avoided. In addition, the selected number of members taking part in the survey is fairly small compared with the total membership. However, for our purpose we needed an indication only.

Orienteering as a sport A clear majority of the members was initially attracted to the challenge of the sport, combined with the fact it takes place in forests and fields. Later, as a part of the orienteering family, the good atmosphere within this family is highly appreciated.

34

James Barker, M12 from ACT, at the Australian 3-Days.

The fact that there are no age restrictions is also a positive aspect of orienteering.

A clear majority mentioned all the time spent in connection with orienteering events - or rather “all the time wasted” as the most negative aspect of orienteering. This includes both transport to and from and the competition itself. For families with only one or a few members participating in the sport, this is often a large problem.

A smaller, but most probably growing, problem or irritation seems to be a kind of “old men syndrome” - a fairly verbal group of dominating older men trying hard to prevent new ideas from making the sport more attractive and visible.

From our survey we were able to divide the respondents into five groups as follows: Group A. A large group which has a rather relaxed relationship to the sport. For them, orienteering is much more fun, relaxation, exercise and a purpose to be out in the forests and fields with its fresh air, rather than a tough sport filled with competitions.

Group B. Closely related to Group A is a group of older people, who see the sport as the best exercise for their age. Often they try to involve their partner in this activity or exercise.

Group C. A much smaller group of basically younger people, who see orienteering as more or less the only meaning of life. They are the fundamentalists who strongly oppose everything which is not in accordance with the traditional sport. For them orienteering

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

is a very tough sport and definitely not a family sport.

Group D. Another fairly small. but quite vocal group, made up of older members who see orienteering as a pure ego trip.

They could not care less about recruitment, beginners, media, sponsors or spectators as long as they are able to do their sport, preferably in solitude in the middle of the forest.

Group E. Finally, we have the elite orienteers, who seem basically to be concerned about competitions, media, financial support and sponsors. However, most of them are eager to make the sport more popular to media and general public which again will make it more attractive to the sponsors.

Views about the sport - as members see it and as they think others see them A large proportion of the members believe that most people know basically nothing about orienteering - perhaps because the sport has no clear profile - not even among its own members. Is it a kind of exercise or a typical family sport? Or is it a tough and demanding sport for competitive orienteers?

In order to make the sport more popular, attractive and known, members suggest: • Make the sport more available and visible to the members and the public - i.e. more local competitions and events at places closer to the public.

WHO ORIENTEERS? – A SURVEY • Make the sport more customer-oriented to the public as well as the media.

“Don’t just disappear into the forest”, “Create entertainment - sport is entertainment.”

• Make it more available to the media.

Make it possible for the media (and public) to follow the competitors, create excitement etc.

• Better cooperation and a better recruitment programme for the schools.

Introduction to the sport Parents and especially friends are the most common means by which members were introduced to orienteering. A similar situation was found in Australia and Sweden (Hogg, 1993; Ottosson, 1995). However “more co-operation with schools” is what most members suggest in order to make the work with recruitment more efficient. We believe the schools could be an important recruitment tool. However, a much better orienteering programme for schools, including assistance from local clubs, must be developed.

Level of activity Approximately 50% of the members participate in some kind of event at least once a week.

Product development A large majority would like to increase activities within traditional orienteering, with 94% open to new variations within traditional orienteering. In particular, there is a strong desire to introduce variations which could make orienteering more visible and attractive to the public and the media.

However, many members point out a definite lack of will to change. Basically they blame the elected trustees for this attitude and there is talk about the “old men syndrome”.

Only 6% of members were not positive to new variations within the sport. More than 50% of the respondents could be interested in mountain bike orienteering, while there are mixed feelings about the level of activities within ski orienteering.

Men versus women Basically, women seem to be treated equal to men within the sport. Also, the possibilities and opportunities seem to be equal. As far as we can understand, most problems arise from the roles that women have traditionally had in western society.

The main reasons given for fewer women than men in management of the sport are

reflected in these statements; “Women tend to give much more priority to the family”; “If husband and wife are both working, the wife is still responsible for the household”; “Women are generally more lacking in selfconfidence than men”; and “A woman needs to feel 200 per cent sure she is capable of doing the job prior to her acceptance”.

Technical questions • Approximately 57% are satisfied with the level of detail on 1 :15,000 competition maps, while approximately 90% are satisfied with the 1:10,000 maps.

• Approximately 52% judge the readability of 1:15,000 maps as acceptable.

• Approximately 70% prefer maps at 1:10,000, while approximately 16% prefer 1:15,000 maps.

Variety of age classes A large majority indicates that there are too many age classes. In different ways they point out that the number of classes should be much more dependent upon the number of participants. Many members state that the variety of age classes reduces their motivation for participation in competitions and is also the major reason for making competition so time-consuming.

Conclusion The first part of the survey that looked into the main characteristics of Norwegian

orienteers indicated a basic similarity between them and the orienteers in both Sweden and Australia.

The main conclusions from the attitude survey are as follows: • A challenging sport: forests and fields together with the orienteering society itself are the positive aspects of the sport.

• Time consumption is definitely the most negative aspect of the sport, while lack of new thinking seems to be a growing problem.

• In order to become a more attractive sport, members made the following suggestions: – Make the sport more available and visible to the members and the public: more local competitions and events in places closer to the public.

– Make the sport more customer-oriented - to the public as well as the media.

– Make it more available to the media.

– Develop better cooperation and a better recruitment programme for schools.

This article originally appeared in The Scientific Journal of Orienteering, Autumn 1996. Some minor sections have been omitted and the wording, but not the sense, has been edited in places. The article appears with permission.

The Australian Orienteer welcomes readers’ views in short, to-the-point letters.

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Mail or fax your order to The Australian Orienteer , PO Box 294, Black Rock, Vic. 3193. Fax (03) 9551 1758 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

35

COMING EVENTS AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Ann Baylis (06) 249 7139 MBO = Mountain Bike O, OY = Orienteer of the Year June 1 Narrabundah Hill Coaching

7 Mount Wanniassa Junior

8 Molonglo Gorge MBO

14 The Pinnacle Junior

15 Green Hills West Score

21 Campbell Park Junior

22 Eds Hollow/Wild Cattle Creek OY

28 Green Hills West Junior

29 Sugarloaf/Tanners Flat Long-O July 5 Mount Ainslie North Junior

6 Tanners Flat MBO

12 Arachnicopia Junior

13 Picaree Hill OY

19 Bruce Ridge Junior

20 Cotter MBO

26 Narrabundah Hill Junior

27 Cohen Short-O August 2 Mount Majura West Junior

3 Mount Stromlo Badge

9 Black Mountain Junior

10 Arachnicopia Club relays

16 Bluetts Pines Junior

17 Weber Valley MBO

23 ACT SCHOOLS CARNIVAL

24 Birkenburn

31 Campbell Park Coaching September 7 Scabbing Flat

14 Tharwa Tor

21 Rattall Creek/Mulloon Creek

28 ACT CHAMPIONSHIPS

30 AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS/

ACT SHORT-O CHAMPIONSHIPS Community Program events are planned around midday on most Wednesdays from 3 April to 12 November.

Several Ski-O events in the Perisher area are planned during winter, including the Kosciusko Ski Orienteering Championships.

NEW SOUTH WALES

Dave Lotty (02) 9660 2067 OY = Orienteer of the Year, ML = Metro League June 1 Kariong

7-9 QUEENS BIRTHDAY 3-DAYS, Orange

ML OY

July

15 Picnic Point 22 NSW LONG CHAMPIONSHIPS, Oallen 29 Terrey Hills ML 6 Belanglo Badge/OY 12 South Turramurra 13 GREAT NOSH FOOTRACE, Lindfield-Seaforth 13 Seaforth 20 NSW SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Grays Point 27 HUNTER CHAMPIONSHIPS, Newcastle OY

August

September

3 West Chatswood 10 Carss Park 16 URINGA PAIRS, Wingello 17 WANGANDERRY BADGE EVENT, Mittagong Badge/OY 24 Glenbrook 31 NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS, Cullen Bullen Badge/OY 7 Pennant Hills ML 14 BLUE MOUNTAINS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Lithgow OY

21 Hornsby Heights ML 28 Macquarie University CENTRAL COAST REGION Peter Orr (049) 42 1727 Event scheduled for 13 July.

ILLAWARRA REGION Mark Ziebell (042) 67 3742 Events scheduled for 14 June, 10 August, 20 September.

NEWCASTLE REGION Geoff Peel (049) 68 0977 Events scheduled for 15 June, 29 June, 10 August, 24 August, 7 September, 21 September.

NORTHERN TABLELANDS REGION Don Barker (067) 75 5560 Events scheduled for 22 June, 13 July, 26 July, 10 August, 19 September.

ORANGE REGION Boyd Wymer (063) 61 3816 Events scheduled for 29 June, 24 August, 21 September.

SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS REGION Sandra Stewart (046) 81 9046 Events scheduled for 15 June, 13 July, 28 September.

WAGGA WAGGA REGION Darryl Dickinson (069) 22 4767 Events scheduled for 1 June, 15 June, 29 June, 13 July, 20 July, 10 August, 24 August, 7 September, 21 September.

36

QUEENSLAND

Scott Simson (07) 3345 4527 QOL = Queensland Orienteering League, OY = Orienteer of the Year June 1 Whites Hill QOL

15 Quinzeh Rock OY

22 Clear Mountain

27-29 Leslie Dam QSOS camp

30 Leslie Dam QJOS camp July 1-4 Leslie Dam QJOS camp

6 Blue Stone Creek OY

13 Buhot Creek QOL

18-19 SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Bells Creek Road

20 Bells Creek Road OY

26-27 Iron Bark Womens camp

27 NORTHERN CLASSIC, Townsville Badge August 3 Bigges Hill

10 Beerburrum QOL

17 Quinzeh Rock

23-24 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS, Crows Nest OY

31 Opossum Creek September 7 Holts Hill QOL

14 Amiens OY

21 Toohey Forest

28 Anzac Park

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Sue Millard (08) 8431 6421 N = Novelty event, OY = Orienteer of the Year June 1 Devil’s Gully + Bike-O

4 Field River

8 SA Championships OY Moralana

9 SA RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Wilpena Pound

10-13 Schools camp

15 Belair

21 Christie’s Creek

22 Para Wirra N

29 Gumeracha Goldfields OY July 2 Mack Creek

5 Athelstone

6 Gravel Pit

13 Kuitpo + Bike-O

19 Flinders University

26 Hawthorndene

27 Mount Crawford + Bike-O

30 Para Wirra Schools relay August 3 Mount Gawler Badge/OY

4 SA SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Shepherd’s Hill

9 Heathfield

10 Keynes Gap/Marnes Rocks Blodslitet(N)

13 Craigburn

17 Christmas Hills + Bike-O

23 Cantara

24 Cantara OY

30 Craigburn

31 Mount Pleasant 5-person relay(N) September 6 Arbury Park

7 Mount Magnificent

10 Gumeracha Goldfields

13 Little Shepherd

NIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS, Moonrocks

14 Moonrocks OY

21 Rock Oyster

27 Carisbrooke SOUTH EAST ORIENTEERING CLUB Steve Hicks (087) 62 2539, Linley Bowyer (087) 25 4511 Events scheduled for 1 June, 15 June, 29 June, 27 July, 10 August, 7 September.

SALTBUSH ORIENTEERING CLUB Ken Thompson (086) 45 0747, Leanne Hemer (086) 45 1259 Events scheduled for 15 June, 6 July, 27 July, 17 August, 24 August, 21 September.

LINCOLN ORIENTEERING CLUB Jenny Lawson (086) 82 6723 Events scheduled for 1 June, 29 June, 6 July, 20 July, 3 August, 16-17 August, 14 September.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

TASMANIA

Rod Bilson (03) 6272 7411 TOS = Tasmanian Orienteering Series, TOL = Tasmanian Orienteering League.

S = Southern Tasmania, N = Northern Tasmania, NW = Northwestern Tasmania.

June 1 Waverly Park (S)

Barnards Creed (N)

8 Littlechild Creek Badge/TOL

9 Argonaut Long-O/TOS

15 Johnny Mac (S)

Cuckoo Hill (N)

22 Tiagarra (NW)

29 Sandstone Valley TOS July 6 Punchbowl (N)

13 Lieemunetta 5-person relays Lieemunetta

19 SCORE CHAMPIONSHIPS, Coles Bay

20 Coles Bay TOS

27 St Helens Womens weekend August 3 Sandridge Pines (S)

Cormiston (N)

10 Menuggana Badge/TOL

17 Four peaks

Risdon Brook (S)

Burnie (NW)

24 Lefroy (N)

31 Calverts Beach 1-person relay/TOS September 7 Ridgeway (S)

Trevallyn (N)

14 Stephensdale TOS

21 OT 21ST BIRTHDAY PARTY, The Lea

28 Buttons Beach (NW)

VICTORIA

(03) 9459 0853 OY = Orienteer of the Year, ML = Metro League, SS = Saturday Series June 1 Tooroorrung ML

7 Forest Hill SS

8 Kooyoora State Park OY

9 Kooyoora Spur OY

15 Watson’s Glen ML

22 Belltopper Hill OY

29 Cardinia Reservoir ML July 5 Boronia SS

6 Crocodile Reservoir

12 Yarra Bend SS

13 Wewak Badge/OY

20 Wurdi Youang ML

26 WINTER CLASSIC DAY 1, Charlesford Diggings

27 WINTER CLASSIC DAY 2, Jim Crow August 2 Tally Ho SS

3 Lysterfield ML

10 Croydon Hills ML

10 Creswick Diggings OY

16 Ringwood Wilds SS

17 TBA Maxi 3 hour score

23 Eltham SS

24 Boundary Creek South OY

31 Braeside Park ML September 6 St Helena SS

7 Little Hard Hills OY

13 Park Orchards SS

13 Wangaratta Training

14 Kangaroo Crossing OY

20 Warralong Heights SS

21 INTERCLUB CHALLENGE, Graytown

28 Strath Creek ML ALBURY-WODONGA ORIENTEERING CLUB Leigh Privett (060) 25 4959 Events scheduled for 15 June, 6 July, 3 August, 17 August, 13-14 September.

BENDIGO ORIENTEERS Colin Walker (03) 5439 6427 Events scheduled for 7-8, 14, 21, 28 June, 5, 12, 19, 26 July, 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 August, 6, 13, 20-21, 27 September.

COMING EVENTS

Western Australian Championships

cont.

Hovea – 20-21 September 1997

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

OAWA returns to its roots for the 1997 WA ‘Be Active State Championships’.

The John Forrest National Park was the site for one of the first orienteering maps in Western Australia and a reproduction of the original map was used to celebrate orienteering’s 25th anniversary in Australia.

The Park was mapped again in 1979 and has been a popular venue because of its proximity to Perth.

A new map is being developed for this year’s championships, taking in the whole of the recently enlarged park. It includes typical challenging Jarrah forest, with steep gullies and complex granite, on the western side of the Park giving way to more open Jarrah / Marri with less intense detail on the eastern side.

The map will take in the new areas of the park to the north and east of the previous maps. These new areas include some

Deb Hopper (08) 9397 5104 Details published in the Healthway Sporting Service column in Saturday’s West Australian. OY = Orienteer of the Year event.

June 1 Mount Yetar E

8 Quarry Road

15 Jorgensen Park Club Relays

22 Gooseberry Hill Short

29 Wadjug Range July 6 Chalk Brook Badge/OY

13 Drummond Creek

19 Keaney College Training

20 Keaney College

27 Gleneagle Club teams August 3 Boyagarring

10 Ngangaguringguring Badge/OY

17 Settlers Common Short

24 Mount Observation NE Short-O

31 Pinjarra Hills September 3 BE ACTIVE SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

7 Mount Billy

14 Julimar

21-22 WA CHAMPIONSHIPS, Hovea (JFNP) OY SOUTH WEST ORIENTEERING TREKKERS Don Mason (097) 95 7706 Events scheduled for 8 June, 29 June, 27 July, 31 August, 7 September.

NORTHERN TERRITORY Peter Slade (08) 8927 2701 SO = Street-O June 1 Tiger Brennan

22 TBA July 13 TBA August 10 Palmerston Bypass

31 TBA September 14 Lee Point

SO

Relay Team Structures

SO

N

ORWAY'S national magazine Orientering, January, contained details of a relay team structure which seems to have potential to help overcome the problems many clubs encounter in making up teams when there are lots of classes. For orienteers 35 and older, the grades and courses are:

SKI ORIENTEERING ACT/NSW July

August September October

Events start in Perisher 1.30-2.30pm.

12 Classic Event 19 Score Event 26 Off-trail Event (harder navigation) 9 Classic Event 13 Australian Championships, pre-entry (ACTOA, 06 251 3885, or Terry O'Halloran, 06 254 9139).

11 Snogaine (Brian Evans 064 562 242).

M135 5.2km Cumulative age 135 and more, for M35 and over

Victoria Aug 16 Snogaine, Mt. St. Gwinear. (Grant Jeffrey 03 9306 9583 )

31 Falls Creek, Hoppet weekend event Sept 13 Lake Mountain There will probably be more events than listed above in Victoria.

M165 4.5km Cumulative age 165 and more, for M35 and over W120 3.6km Cumulative age 120 and more, for W35 and over

IOF CALENDAR on the Internet

Perth

BE

1998 Be Active Australian Championships (50km from Perth)

WA State Championships (160km from Perth)

AUSTRALIAN

Narrogin Bunbury

WA Orienteering Championships

26th & 27th September 1998, Dryandra State Forest

ASSA Championships

ASSA Championships (175km from Perth)

29th & 30th September 1998, Evendon Ridge, Bunbury

Australian Individual & Relay Championships

Margaret River Mount Barker

Fly Qantas to WA – proud to support Australian Orienteering

26th September - 4th October 1998

A carnival of Orienteering

THE CARNIVAL HIGHLIGHTS –

ACTIVE

CHAMPIONSHIPS

There are also Kombi 4 person teams which must include at least one male and one female.

OFA Technical Committee has full details of the structure which may have application in Australia. One further development could be mixed teams: women could be given a "favourable handicap" of, say, seven years.

The Poms too are looking at fewer classes in relays, maybe four only: open, up to 45, over 45 and under 19 with varied leg lengths.

W165 4.5km Cumulative age 165 and more, for W35 and over

This lists events around the world: http://www.orienteering.org/calendar.htm

1998

interesting granite and more varied vegetation, including one area of open Wandoo reminiscent of maps much further east of Perth.

The new map will be known as Hovea after the old railway siding which forms one of the main assembly areas on the new map.

One unplanned feature will be a short-term reduction in the density of the vegetation on the western half. A firebug set half of the park ablaze earlier in the year, and while we expect some regrowth by September, the Park managers have asked us to keep to the east as much as possible. Pity really as it would have been the first time that the area was runnable for many years!

More details can be obtained from Steve Halligan on 08 9294 2541 or Jack Dowling on 08 9397 6024 (email: soonjak@acslink.net.au).

Albany

3rd & 4th October 1998, 50km East of Perth For further information contact:

Event Secretary, Penny Dufty Ph: (09) 459 1173 Event Coordinator, lan Jennings Ph: (09) 385 9447

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

37

Classifieds PUBLISHED 4 TIMES A YEAR: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

Personal and private announcements are published free of charge subject to space being available.

Trade and commercial advertisements, including events and sales by individuals: $4 up to 20 words, then 10c per word. Cash with order please.

Australian Orienteer, PO Box 294, Black Rock, Vic. 3193. Fax 03 9551 1758.

Editor

Ian Baker

Badge Awards

John Oliver

STUDENT EXCHANGE

Coaching, Training

Peter Plunkett-Cole

Elite

Blair Trewin

Events, Results

Sue Dowling

Great Legs

Eddie Wymer

VERY KEEN ITALIAN orienteer, Francesco BerlandaScorza, age 17, seeks host family for a year from midJuly. Interest include running, sailing, windsurfing, skiing and swimming. Contact Majis Anderson-Puig of ASSE International Student Exchange on 02 9818 4777.

IOF

Hugh Cameron

Juniors

Kay Haarsma

SERVICES

Looking Back

David Hogg

MTB-O

Blake Gordon

OFA

Dave Lotty

Photos

Liz Randall

EVENT ADVERTISING in this magazine reaches orienteers throughout Australia. Event ads. are at a special reduced rate. See your state editorial contact or phone 03 9551 1758.

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Running the Business Bob Mouatt Ski-O

Ian Baker

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38

Rob Plowright

cart P.O. Box 3114 Ripponlea Victoria 3183

N W

graphics

E S

mobile: 041 733 4702

orienteering maps: fieldwork and drawing (OCAD or traditional)

MAP MAKING: fieldwork and drawing to international specifications. Victoria and interstate.

Free advice on all mapping concerns.

Alex Tarr, 03 9435 8035.

PLANNING AHEAD for your major event? I am looking to fill in my mapping schedule in summer/autumn 1999 and from winter 2000 onwards.

Quality maps at reasonable rates. "Batmaps", Eric Andrews, PO Box 863, Stanthorpe, Qld. 4380.

Phone 076 83 6374.

FIELDWORK - experienced mapper and OCAD cartographer Graham Fowler is seeking mapping jobs.

Phone 043 88 1637.

P eter C usworth • G r a p h i c A r t i s t 8 View Street, Avonsleigh Victoria 3782

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THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

EASTER/WORLD CUP 2000 and AUS. CHAMPS 2001. Expressions of interest sought from experienced mappers and cartographers (OCAD preferred) to produce a series of maps. Details of experience, availability, charges to Phil Creaser, 3 Paroo Place, Kaleen, ACT 2617. For further info. ring Phil on 06 279 1063 (w) or 241 4604 (h).

CONTROL DESCRIPTIONS: for a "Windows" computer program to prepare symbolic control descriptions for your event, contact Matt Sherlock on 02 9489 2013.

BROCHURES, NEWSLETTERS and promotional material. Project management, writing, photography, printing. Ian Baker, PO Box 294, Black Rock Vic. 3193. Phone/fax 03 9551 1758.

YOUR PHOTO in this issue? I can supply printsof my pictures. Phone/fax Liz Randall, Melbourne 03 9723 4832

ACCOMMODATION MALDON for Easter 1998. Clare House c1875.

English style B&B in comfortable ensuite rooms with TV, tea/coffee facilities, air cond, central heating. $75 per couple. 03 5475 2152.

HEPBURN SPRINGS/DAYLESFORD. Poolway Cottages. Spas, woodfire, QS beds. Lux SC accom. Walk to Spa Complex. Outside BBQ. 03 5348 1049.

MITTAGONG. Coming to an event in the Southern Highlands? Camping is available at the OANSW House at Belanglo. The House is also available for training (or even a holiday). Ring Dave Lotty on 02 9660 2067 for information.

ACTIVITIES ADVENTURE SKI HOLIDAYS in the Snowy Mountains. Intro. full day lesson and tour $54 adult, $35 up to 15. Lodge based and camping holidays.

Expert leaders. For brochure phone Paddy Pallin, Jindabyne, 064 56 2922.

XC SKIING - medium difficulty day, Thursday 17 July, Mt. St. Gwinear. Vic. National Parks Assoc, Graham Leary, 03 9872 3731.

FOR SALE MAPS, for catalogue contact Bayside Kangaroos (Victoria). Phone 03 9568 3602.

COMPASSES for N. and S. hemisphere, O-suits in various colours and sizes (some worn by World Champions!), maps from all over the world. Eddie Wymer, 03 9698 0898 a.h.

Spot the Difference

T

HERE are 16 differences between these two sections of map of Yarrowee Pines, Ballarat.

Neatly circle all the differences you can find (photocopy is OK).

Once you have found not less than lucky 13, write your name and address on the map section and put in an envelope addressed to: Spot the Difference, Australian Orienteer, PO Box 294, Black Rock, Vic. 3193, to arrive by Friday 18 July. One envelope will be drawn and checked that at least 13 correct points of difference have been identified.

The winner will receive a new SILVA Champion compass from Silva Australia.

Puzzle set by Rob Plowright.

NSW EVENTS Coming to Sydney in the next few months?

All orienteers are most welcome to compete in NSW Major Events - the equivalent of badge and orienteer of the year events in other states. All of these require pre-entry (usually 3-5 weeks ahead) and use pre-marked maps for the usual range of age classes. There are some courses available for entry on the day.

Contact Dave Lotty on 02 9660 2067 for further information and entry forms.

6 July

NSW Badge Event

Silva Sweden have released the new Champion Model 6 thumb compass with a rotatable, easy to grip compass housing. Features include quick, stable, easy to read needle; specially designed magnet and internal dampening disk in antistatic fluid which has a "secret formula"; silicon feet for gripping the map; engraved baseplate and capsule bottom for distinct alignment of the arrow. Silva say the compass has been tested and developed in conjunction with the world's leading orienteers.

It is available from O-Gear shops at events at $99.

"Belanglo State Forest" map near Berrima in the Southern Highlands area, 150km SW of Sydney.

27 July Hunter Valley Championships New map near Toronto, 130km N of Sydney.

17 August NSW Badge Event "Wanganderry" map (used for 1996 NSW Championships) near Mittagong in the Southern Highlands area, 130km SW of Sydney.

31 August NSW Championships New map near Cullen Bullen just N of Lithgow, 180km W of Sydney.

14 September Blue Mountains Championships "The Place" map near Lithgow, 160km W of Sydney.

THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER – WINTER 1997

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Proud to be a supporter of the Orienteering Federation of Australia