The Australian Orienteer – September 2023

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• Forest WOC 2023 • JWOC 2023 Preview of Australian Schools Orienteering Championships • World Orienteering Day 2023

RRP $8.50 inc GST The Australian Orienteer acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we conduct our sporting activities. We extend this acknowledgement to all the Traditional Custodians of the lands and First Nations Peoples throughout Australia, and would like to pay our respects to all Elders past, present and emerging.

WINNING PARTNERSHIP

Sport Australia proudly supports Orienteering Australia Sport Australia is the Australian Government agency that develops, supports and invests in sport at all levels in Australia.

Orienteering Australia has worked closely with Sport Australia to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.

Orienteering Australia is one of many national sporting organisations that has formed a winning partnership with Sport Australia to develop its sport in Australia.

www.sportaus.gov.au Cover: WMMTBOC 2023 Slovenia; Zefa Fa'avae (NZ) & Jamie Woolford (AUS) in NZ - photo Maryann Kuhl; Vanessa Round WOC 2023 - photo Rémy Steinegger; Mikaela Gray JWOC 2023 Romania - photo JWOC 2023 website; Erika Enderby and Cooper Horley at EYOC 2023 Bulgaria - photo Jenny Enderby; Australian orienteers at Primiero 3 Days Italian Dolomites.

2 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

THE CHAIR’S COLUMN

Championships put on by the Swiss organisers. Our team performed with great credit, and I know each and everyone of them gave it their very best. The traditional long distance courses were a sight to behold starting high on a mountain.

The Chair's Column MIKE DOWLING – CHAIR OA BOARD

s I am sitting down to write this column for The Australian Orienteer I am thinking where the sport of orienteering has come since my first event way back in August 1976. At that first event, about 20 km northeast of Hobart, the map was in three colours and there were four courses offered on the day.

There was a single format of orienteering, and the sport was just four years old in Tasmania. Pin punches onto a card were used to prove you had visited all the controls in order. The World Championships of our sport had two formats, an individual and a relay, and were held every two years. I won my course that day and a few of the locals were wondering ‘who is that freckled kid?’ Well, I was hooked, and orienteering has become a major part of my life experience, and I guess you could say I am an O tragic. I know it is the same for many people who take up our sport. It is endlessly challenging, sometimes frustrating, always adventurous, never dull and a great way to see parts of both Australia and, if you travel, parts of other countries often not seen on the usual tourist routes. It teaches you to be resilient, to understand that the idea of ‘perfection’ is a nonsense, to be adaptive, to be reflective and sometimes takes you out of your comfort zone.

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If I jump ahead to today and think of last week’s World Championships in Switzerland and that of last year in Denmark, our sport has come a very long way in the last 45 odd years.

Orienteering by foot, as it is now, has six different formats, you can also go orienteering by ski or mountain bike or go trail orienteering. Electronic punching systems are the norm and maps are detailed, accurate and precise. In Australia, there are so many different ways to go orienteering within our highly urbanised environment and to go ‘bush' in the vastness and diversity of our countryside.

The week prior, we also had our team at the Junior World Championships in Romania. With the inclusion of a sprint relay into the program instead of the middle distance qualification it remains a full-on week of racing that is very physically and mentally demanding. All our team, like at WOC, performed with great credit. The sprint relay result of eighth was a fantastic result-focused outcome for the team as were the results of Nea (19th) and Milla (24th) in the sprint distance. These results and those of the sprint format WOC in Denmark last year again show that we are more internationally ‘competitive' in these formats.

On the Board front, the Board is having a continuing dialogue with our member states/territories as to the future financial relationship between them and OA for funding of operational matters and our performance program. The website redevelopment work is progressing with content being populated into the new online space. The ongoing review of all of OA’s operational procedures is progressing. Our Sport Australia funded projects are now largely proceeding as planned. The Board was also very pleased to welcome Paul Liggins (TAS) to take on the role of Director, Finance.

Looking ahead, our national championships week will soon be upon us hosted by Orienteering Western Australia. I extend a sincere thank you and gratitude to the orienteers in WA who are spending many hours of volunteer work to bring the championships to fruition. If you are taking part, please say ‘thank you’. The same goes for any event you take part in to enjoy our sport, saying ‘thank you’ to the people putting on the event is just a small but important way of showing your appreciation for their efforts to allow you to enjoy our sport.

Our World Championships has an increasingly sophisticated live TV coverage, GPS tracking and live results that you can watch in the comfort of your own house, which is what I did to follow our team giving it their all in a brilliant World

2024 Round 1

17-18 February

HOBART, TAS 2 x sprint, middle distance or forest relay

Round 2

29 March - 1 April

EASTER THREE DAYS, SA sprint, middle, long and relay distance

Round 3

25-28 April

BRISBANE, QLD sprint

Round 4

18-19 May

ACT NOL finals, forest races

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SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3

INCLUSIVITY IN ORIENTEERING

Editor’s contemplations Photo: Quentin Lang

Hania Lada

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rienteering Australia’s ‘Activity Plan for 2023’ (in press) includes goals to ‘promote inclusive participation practices in orienteering’. In particular, ‘ensure we offer programs which are open and inclusive to all members of the community’ and eventually ‘increase the social and cultural diversity of people participating in orienteering’. Welcoming Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) people, low-income families or people with disabilities is both ethical and in orienteering’s interest by increasing participation. What are individual clubs’ experiences?

This editorial is followed by one club’s example of inclusivity.

To evaluate if a strategy increases diversity of participants we would ideally collect data from before and after the strategy’s implementation. This isn’t simple but worth trying. An anonymous questionnaire could be added to event entries (online and at registration). ‘How inclusive is orienteering? We are aiming to find out: 1. Do you identify as a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse person? 2. Do you have any difficulties moving across terrain? 3. Is this your first event? How did you find out about it?’ I wouldn’t ask ‘Where do you come from?’ Some people have experienced trauma, worry about safety of loved ones, or dislike a perceived judgement of their appearance or language.

Speakers of non-English languages. Liaise with Saturday language schools about post-lesson orienteering events in nearby locations.

Enable families to try orienteering at pick-up time, combining activities for local communities and seasoned orienteers. Advertise in different languages, perhaps develop bilingual templates into which organisers insert relevant information. The 2021 Census (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022) revealed that the top five most common non-English languages in Australia were Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Punjabi. They varied per local area, for example 13.5% of people spoke Mandarin at home, 10.5% Arabic, 6.9% Korean, 6.6% Cantonese, and 5.7% Nepali in Auburn (NSW) but 11.9% Vietnamese and 6.1% Khmer in Dandenong (VIC). Would street O events benefit from translations into pertinent languages?

CALD communities. Organise come-and-try events in culturally diverse areas. Coincide maze orienteering with large family gatherings at major celebrations of Diwali, Eid and Lunar New Year. Obtain Memorandum of Understanding with the Traditional Custodians of the lands covered by orienteering maps. Invite the local Indigenous communities to perform ‘Welcome to Country’ at orienteering events on their Country.

Low-income individuals and families – offer discounts to events for health-care-card holders. LGBTQIA+ communities – include rainbow flags on websites; many sporting clubs already do this.

People with mobility issues and other disabilities – set up trail orienteering courses with some events, use Auslan in publicity videos, entice and support carers.

Everyone. Advertise in local communities, target schools, kindergartens, scouts, tourism offices and sport clubs. Attempt post-school training where orienteering programs are conducted.

Prepare information with evidence about orienteering’s cognitive and health benefits.

4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Are any of these strategies efficacious or even feasible? In May, I was interviewed by the Polish section of the SBS radio. The SBS website now features our conversation and links to orienteering sites. I wonder, has anyone turned up to an orienteering event as a result of the interview?

Some team sports are so popular that clubs limit their membership.

Could we reach those on waiting lists? In Poland at our orienteering club’s weekday training sessions we ran with maps, and played basketball, soccer or handball. Could we emulate this, especially for juniors?

We are a relatively healthy and friendly sport. Too many people in Australia, who would have enjoyed orienteering, miss out on experiencing it.

References Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022). 2021 Census. All persons.

QuickStats. https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/ quickstats/2021/AUS Accessed 25 May 2023.

Newbury Navigators DEBBIE DODD (Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club)

he ‘Newbury Navigators’ are a group of several men with varying intellectual disabilities, who live together in a share house, which is administered by Yooralla. Their Debbie Dodd on the left, Newbury main carer at the time they Navigator and carer on the right started coming to street orienteering, Sally Brownridge, is related to Charles Brownridge, so she was familiar with orienteering, and thought it would be a good activity for the group to get them outdoors on a regular basis. Sally is incredibly proactive and has been responsible for the Newburys taking part in all sorts of activities, which often meant jumping through hoops to get permission. This included things like camping trips, bike rides, hikes, and the Relay for Life, which the boys have completed many times, raising thousands of dollars for the Cancer Council.

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I remember Sally telling me that of everything they’d tried, street O is the one that has ‘stuck’ – they really enjoy it, and so do the carers who accompany them. They also love being part of their club, Dandenong Ranges. They regularly set courses, have been on the club committee, and always enter a team in the Club Relays, winning their division on more than one occasion! They really like the fact that they can just come along and join in on the same basis as everyone else. Everyone has been very welcoming and accepting, there is no fuss or special rules, and they just fit in. The only allowance we’ve made is for membership of The Millennium Club (normally groups are not eligible) and they have completed over 1000 events, achieving Legend status.

The carers do an amazing job, but as organisers we are mindful of being ready with extra support if needed. If one of the guys happens to wander off, we have to think a bit differently to understand where they might have headed. For instance, one of the group loves water; when he disappeared at one event, we were looking for him near the river, while all the time he was in the nearby tennis club building, happily taking a shower!

DROC did not have any special programs in place to prompt the Newburys to join; it just seemed a natural fit. We've seen many carers come and go over the years, and we all agree that every single one of them is absolutely incredible - so patient, cheerful, and inspirational. We absolutely love having Newburys in the club, and DROC would not be the same without them.

www.orienteering.asn.au PO Box 3379, North Strathfield, NSW 2137

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA BOARD Chair & Director – International (IOF) Director – Finance Director – Technical Director Director Coaching & High Performance Director Media & Communications Director – Ex Officio Director Secretary

Mike Dowling Paul Liggins Anna Sheldon Brett Weihart Clare Hawthorne Troy de Haas Blair Trewin Andrea Harris Robert Spry

Aislinn

Fredrik

Blair

Árpád

Ceri

Anna

Clare

Mark*

Natasha*

Brodie*

Daniel^

Paul L

Paul P

Stephen^

Susanne

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA STAFF AND OFFICERS General Manager Árpád Kocsik Head Coach Natasha Key Manager of High Performance Administration Fredrik Johansson Manager of Coaching Development Brodie Nankervis Participation Manager Brodie Nankervis Manager of Coaching & Officiating Administration Jim Mackay National Sporting Schools Coordinator Jim Mackay Chief Medical Officer Mark Freeman Editor OA Enews Linda Burridge Badge Scheme Secretary John Oliver Website Shane Jenkins Eventor Project Manager Paul Prudhoe E-learning and Learn-to-Orienteer Project Manager Daniel Stott

Photos by quentinjlang.com except *by Tony Hill and ^by anon.

STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland: PO Box 275, Ferny Hills DC, QLD 4055. Secretary: Sue Campbell secretary@oq.asn.au Orienteering NSW: PO Box 3379 North Strathfield NSW 2137. Secretary: Gayle Quantock admin@onsw.asn.au Orienteering ACT: PO Box 402 Jamison Centre ACT 2614. Secretary: Stephen Goggs office@act.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Victoria: PO Box 1010 Templestowe VIC 3106. Secretary: Aislinn Prendergast secretary@vicorienteering.asn.au Orienteering SA: 1 Windsor Rd, Glenside SA 5065. Secretary: Fi Pahor secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6904. Secretary: Ceri Pass oawa.secretary@gmail.com Orienteering Tasmania: Secretary: Klaas Hartmann secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Susanne Casanova topendorienteersNT@gmail.com

CONTENTS THE CHAIR’S COLUMN ...............................3

NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE October 12. Time-sensitive: October 20 ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 3/23 (no. 210) SEPTEMBER 2023 The national magazine of Orienteering Australia Inc. ABN 77 406 995 497 Published four times a year: 1 March, June, September, December.

Copies are dispatched in bulk to state associations in the week prior to that date. Print Post Approved PP 236080/00011, (100023602 for NSW).

Editor: Hania Lada, P.O. Box 165, Warrandyte, Victoria 3113 magazine@orienteering.asn.au Phone 0493 615 203 Magazine Design & Assembly: Peter Cusworth, Phone 0409 797 023 pcusworth53@gmail.com Printer: Razer Graphix, Factory 6/15 Stud Road, Bayswater.

Contributions welcome! Prior consultation is suggested before preparing major contributions. Guidelines available from the editor and the website https://orienteering.asn.au/index.php/magazine/ Regular Contributors: Competition – Blair Trewin; History & Awards – David Hogg; Spot the Difference – Michael Hubbert Subscriptions: State Association members via State Associations. Contact relevant Association Secretary for details. Other subscribers: For information about payment refer to the Orienteering Australia website https://orienteering.asn.au/index.php/magazine/ or contact the editor.

Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.

INCLUSIVITY IN ORIENTEERING ....................4 FOREST WOC 2023....................................6 WORLD CUP 2023 .....................................9 JWOC 2023 ........................................... 10 WORLD MASTERS MTBO CHAMPIONSHIPS..... 14 WORLD ORIENTEERING DAY....................... 16 THE ORIENTEERING CLUBS OF WA .............. 19 ASOC & SOUTHERN CROSS CHALLENGE ........ 20 COURSE SETTER’S NOTES ......................... 27 AUSTRALIANS’ JUNE VISIT TO NZ .............. 28 JUNE 10-12 EVENT PARTICIPATION............. 30 I CAN DO THIS! ..................................... 31 XMAS 5 DAYS – A SHORT HISTORY ............. 32 OA NEWS – NOL REPORT .......................... 37 OA AWARDS .......................................... 38 COACHING ............................................ 40 LETTERS ............................................... 44 SPOT THE DIFFERENCE............................. 45 TOP EVENTS .......................................... 47

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

FOREST WOC 2023

THE TREWIN REPORT Vanessa Round. WOC 2023. Photo by Rémy Steinegger.

he traditional orienteering countries dominated the 2023 World Orienteering Championships in Switzerland, a resumption of the forest version of the World Championships after 2021 also included sprint events. 17 of the 18 medals on offer went to Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Finland, with a lone Austrian bronze being the only interruption.

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For Australia, it was an event with a series of solid performances, without quite the breakthrough results which might have been hoped for in a few events. The withdrawal of Aston Key, troubled by injury for most of the year, was a significant loss to the team.

New Zealand, without any individual top-20 results, had a week they would have been well pleased with and outperformed Australia in both relays.

The middle distance events were held in highly technical terrain, the remnants of a prehistoric landslide with highly irregular and complex contour features and rocks which did not always follow the internal logic that outwardly similar terrain in, say, the Nordic countries does, making simplification hard. In contrast, much of the long was held on the mountain slope (starting near 2000 m and descending to 1050), with many tricky downhill legs into areas without many prominent features. The higher slopes were relatively straight and there were fewer major route choice legs than is sometimes the case in an international long distance, but those that there were, particularly late in the course, were decisive.

This later section, with some areas of detail, was also used by the relay. The same finish arena was used for all three events.

Aislinn Prendergast in WOC 2023 relay.

Photo by Joolz Moore / Moore2it.

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

MIDDLE DISTANCE, 12 AND 15 JULY The first step of the middle distance journey is qualifying, with the first 15 from each of three heats to go through, plus the best performer from each country not otherwise represented. For the best this is about avoiding disaster – for the men, even in terrain as technical as this, the cut is rarely much more than 5 min behind the winner, so a significant mistake can put even the stars on the edge. For midfield teams, a major objective is to qualify as many people as you can.

Disaster was successfully avoided for the big guns with no serious top-ten candidates missing out, and only a couple being seriously threatened. Australia’s best performances of the day came from Vanessa Round and Henry McNulty, both of whom qualified relatively easily. It was also apparent fairly early in the race that Ewan Shingler and Caitlin Young, both making their forest WOC debuts after running in the sprints last year, were not going to get through, and that Grace Crane was also off the pace she needed to be. That left Patrick Jaffe, who posted a time which looked like it was going to be marginal, and was. In the end it came down to whether the Canadian-Norwegian Vegard Jarvis Westergard could get ahead of him, which he did by 17 s, leaving Jaffe to miss out by 2 s. (Somewhat ironically, Westergard didn’t need to beat Jaffe to qualify himself as he still would have made it as lead Canadian; he went on to run an excellent 20th in the final, the best nonEuropean performance of the week and the best by a Canadian man since Ted de St. Croix at Kooyoora in 1985).

Ewan Shingler. Photo by Natasha Key.

Brodie Nankervis in WOC relay. Photo by Jenny Enderby.

Part of men’s longdistance course.

Henry McNulty at WOC 2023 middle distance. Photo by Rémy Steinegger.

On finals day, the widespread consensus was that those who had not run the long, with its muscle-draining downhills, would be at a significant advantage (with Gustav Bergman widely considered a favourite for that reason, among others), but that was not the way it turned out, with both races being won by significant margins by silver medallists from two days earlier.

The most technical part of the course was early, and many small mistakes (and a few larger ones) were made on the first few controls. Tove Alexandersson lost some time on the first two, but got that time back by taking more than 30 s out of the field on the longer #4 and was in front by #6. By then she had caught Natalia Gemperle who had missed most of last year but was now eligible to represent Switzerland, and the two were together for most of the rest of the way. As the course went on, the Swede’s lead became bigger and bigger, and as the rest of the field dropped away it became apparent that 2 min down (or even 2:18, which is where it ended up after Alexandersson broke away right at the end) would be enough to give Gemperle a silver medal, ahead of the young Swede Hanna Lundberg. Simona Aebersold lost time early, got herself back into a position where she might have been able to challenge for a medal, and then made one of the day’s biggest mistakes, dropping 6 min at the fourth-last. Vanessa Round made a couple of small mistakes but was otherwise consistent, improving slightly on her long result with a 41st.

The front end of the men’s race was relatively straightforward – Matthias Kyburz was in front by #4 and stayed there. It was clear by halfway that only significant mistakes could stop him from winning comfortably, and none came. Although he never looked like winning, for much of the race Gustav Bergman looked the most likely challenger for silver, but a small time loss at the trickier-than-it-looked second-last put paid to his medal chances (as it did for Albin Ridefelt, who had been with Kyburz for much of the way). A strong finish by Joey Hadorn made it a Swiss quinella, and an equally strong finish by Jannis Bonek gave Austria its first men’s medal. Henry McNulty started very well in the technical areas and was as high as 23rd at #7, but small time losses in the second half of the course saw him drop to eventually match his long result of 35th.

Vanessa Round and Evely Kaasiku (Estonia) sprinting to the finish of WOC 2023 middle distance qualifications. Photo by Rémy Steinegger.

LONG DISTANCE, 13 JULY The WOC long distance is always something of an epic. This year it took place on the coolest day of the week; there was some concern that low cloud might affect runners on the higher part of the course, but that was largely unrealised. It is always a day which unfolds gradually; with the lowest-ranked competitors starting early, there is scope for less familiar names to get their time in the sun before the favourites start to appear later in the day. Vanessa Round, who has competed little in recent years and therefore had an early start, looked the best on paper of the first hour’s worth of starters which was a good incentive for the numerous Australian supporters to get out there early.

At the front end, the women’s event looked to be a two-way race between the dominant performer of the last few years, Tove Alexandersson, and the rising Swiss star Simona Aebersold, chasing her first gold. That is exactly how it turned out – they were in first and second by #8 (after the Swede lost some time on #4) and went further and further away from the field, ending up more SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

FOREST WOC 2023

Grace Crane finishing at WOC 2023.

Photo by Rémy Steinegger.

Caitlin Young in WOC 2023 relay.

Photo by Joolz Moore / Moore2it.

than six minutes clear of the rest of the field. Aebersold had her nose in front almost all of the way and looked to have the race won when she had extended her lead to 1:43 at the last TV control. It wasn’t quite all over as Alexandersson ran the last long leg exceptionally well – her time for it would have placed well inside the top ten for the men, who had the same leg – but that late surge still left her 31 s short. Andrine Benjaminsen of Norway was the best of the rest. Round was indeed the best of the early competitors and took a substantial lead when she came in (although she had to be satisfied with a virtual leader’s couch because the real thing wasn’t ready yet), but 5 min lost on a poor route choice execution later in the course, at #17, was costly in the final results and dropped her to 47th. Grace Crane was ten places behind that, finishing solidly after a patchy start, while Lizzie Ingham had New Zealand’s best individual result of the week, with 25th.

The men’s race, not quite as predictably as the women, also developed into a two-way duel. Emil Svensk was on the pace early, but a mistake at #12 dropped him out of the lead group. By then Matthias Kyburz had joined Kasper Fosser as the leading pair, and they stayed in that position for the rest of the way. It was a close duel all the way, and it looked like it might be a double for the hosts when Kyburz had got 21 s in front at the last TV control. The final route choice decided it; Fosser had taken the straight route, which turned out to be fastest but had a significant initial climb, and Kyburz, starting to cramp, chose a longer option around and lost close to a minute which settled the issue. (Daniel Hubmann missed bronze on the same leg). The rest of the field was 4 min back. It looked like Svensk and the Czech Tomas Krivda might share the bronze, but a fast finish from Olli Ojanaho meant they shared fourth instead (and gave Finland its only individual medal).

The two Australians finished 19 s apart after contrasting races.

Henry McNulty was in the 20th-25th range for most of the first half before falling away, gradually at first and then more significantly at the end, while Brodie Nankervis recovered from a 3-min mistake at #8 to finish off strongly. They were 35th and 34th respectively.

RELAY, 16 JULY With no option of starting above the finish, the relay was tough and physical (with some very steep sections – it is not every year you see TV footage of the lead pack on the first leg of the men’s relay, all walking). For those for whom it was the fourth race in five days it was particularly so. Vanessa Round withdrew from the relay with a combination of knee soreness and what proved to be developing illness, leaving Aislinn Prendergast to come in for her first run of the week.

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Patrick Jaffe in WOC relay.

Photo by Jenny Enderby.

What turned out to be the decisive moment in the women’s relay came early. A wider route choice from first runner Hanna Lundberg on a long leg halfway through the course gave Sweden a minute’s break on the field, and they then remained clear for the rest of the day, extending their lead at each change to finish up 4 min ahead.

The Swiss remained vaguely within striking distance for two and a half legs, but even the second-fastest time of the day on the last leg was not enough to stop Simona Aebersold from losing another 2 min to Tove Alexandersson. In a relatively spread-out top five, Norway were a little off the pack early on but had come through Finland by the end of the second leg; Estonia were fourth after two legs but were unable to sustain that and dropped to tenth.

Australia were never in the hunt for the top placings, and at one stage looked like they might have been at risk of dropping a division for 2025 (and losing a second long place) had Japan and the Netherlands – who got a flying start through 2022 knockout sprint bronze medallist Eef van Dongen – stayed ahead of them, but three steady runs and some gained ground by Prendergast on the last leg were enough to see off that threat, with an eventual position of 19th.

It took a bit longer for the men to sort themselves out. The first leg had the usual substantial bunch, with no particularly unexpected absentees but an unexpected first leg leader (Latvia’s Rudolfs Zernis). It was the second leg where the big moves happened.

Joey Hadorn, not originally selected for the relay, more than justified his late inclusion as he broke clear, while behind him Finland, Sweden and Norway got away from the rest of the field.

The Norwegians dropped away on the last leg but there was a late twist, on the short final loop with only one remotely challenging control – Matthias Kyburz had a 2-min lead at the arena passage, but made a mistake on that control. He picked himself up in time to avoid being sucked back into the bunch, while Miika Kurmula edged away from Emil Svensk later on to give Finland a somewhat unexpected silver. Given Henry McNulty’s first-leg performances at club level Australia might have hoped to stay with the lead for one leg at least, but Jukola and Tiomila do not come three days after a WOC long distance, and this time he was unable to back up after his efforts earlier in the week. McNulty, Patrick Jaffe and Brodie Nankervis all had times very close to each other, and the team was hovering close to 20th most of the way before an eventual finish in 21st; they would have hoped for more.

Next year the World Championships returns to the urban format, in Edinburgh. The forest events return to Nordic terrain next time, with Finland due to host in 2025.

WORLD CUP 2023

World Cup 2023 Round 1 Norway Courtesy of World of O fter nearly 90 min of orienteering in tough terrain only seconds separated the top runners in both the men’s and women’s class in the long distance opening this year’s World Cup. Last year’s winners of the overall World Cup, Tove Alexandersson (SWE) and Kasper Fosser (NOR), had the margins on their side, and started the World Cup season with victories. For Fosser the margin was as small as 3 s down to Emil Svensk (SWE) and another 6 s down to Martin Regborn (SWE).

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Hagström (SWE) took her first World Cup victory, while Kasper Fosser (NOR) took his second victory in two races.

Only two Australians competed in round 1. In the long distance Henry McNulty was 51st, and Michele Dawson mispunched. In the middle distance McNulty placed 71st, Michele Dawson was 97th.

In the women’s class Alexandersson finally got a real battle for the victory in a long distance where she had a good technical race. Sara Hagström (SWE) was only 55 s behind after 82 min of running, being even closer for most of the race.

In a very tight middle distance, with less than 20 s separating the best runners both in the men’s and women’s classes, Sara

Michele Dawson.

Photo by IOF / Terje W. Pettersen.

Henry McNulty.

Photo by IOF / Terje W. Pettersen.

Alastair George.

Photo by Petr Háp.

World Cup 2023 Round 2 Czechia

Photos of Emily, Justine, Nea and Angus by Tomáš Bubela.

Angus in the mixed sprint relay.

World Cup 2023 Round 2, men’s sprint distance, leg 14. There were at least 35s time losses for those who misunderstood the multilevel structure and ran left.

Eleven Australians competed in this round: Alastair George, Angus Haines, Anna Sheldon, Duncan Currie, Emily Sorensen, Justine Hobson, Nea Shingler, Sam Woolford, Serena Doyle, Toby Lang and Toby Cazzolato.

Orienteering Australia facebook page print race in Česká Lípa, Czechia, as part of the World Cup round was a full throttle affair. Our best results in the starting fields of 124 were by Nea in 76th place and Angus in 55th place [1:29 behind the winner]. We congratulate Ralph Street from the UK, and a former coach-in-residence in Victoria, on his victory, and NZ's Laura and Tim Robertson on their 17th place and sixth place respectively. [In the men’s race, Gustav Bergman (SWE) was second, Yannick Michiels of Belgium came third; Tove Alexandersson (SWE) won the women’s, ahead of Natalia Gemperle (SUI) and Sara Hagström (SWE).]

Anna Sheldon.

Photo by Jíří Cěch.

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[In the mixed sprint relay, Switzerland won ahead of Czechia and Sweden. The Australian team of Nea, Angus, Alastair and Emily were the 21st nation, 43rd out of 59 teams].

Congratulations to our Oceania friends New Zealand on their seventh place [as a nation].

Men’s long distance map.

In the forest races among Czech sandstone formations, three Australians gained below-100 placings, Justine was 97th in the middle distance, and Angus 77th and Nea 94th in the long distance.

Tove Alexandersson won both forest races ahead of Simona Aebersold. Jannis Bonek of Austria won middle-distance, Kasper Fosser (NOR) won the long distance.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

JWOC 2023

Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) 2023

Callum White.

Cooper Horley.

JWOC 2023 sprint podium. Silver, Pia Young Vik (NOR). Gold, Rita Máramarosi (HUN).

Bronze, Eeva Liina Ojanaho (FIN). Pia is a daughter of Australian WOC representative (’95, ’97, ’99) Alix Young, and a granddaughter of Australian Hall of Fame inductee Don Young.

COURTESY OF RAUL FERRA ORIENTEERING COACH RF-COACH.COM

he JWOC 2023 in Romania kicked off with the sprint race, which took place in a residential complex that offered constant technical demands on a slightly long route for the modality (over 15 min winning times). In the women’s class, the talented Hungarian runner Rita Máramarosi was the favourite to win and she did not disappoint with a clean run from less to more. In second place the Norwegian Pia Young Vik, followed by the Finnish Eeva Liina Ojanaho completed the podium. In the men’s class, the German runner Anselm Reichenbach surprised by beating the French Guilhem Verove by just 8 s, with the Estonian Jurgen Joonas closing the podium only 1 s behind.

T

Analysing both courses, we can see that there were hardly any really decisive major route choices, but that the correct implementation and the speed of the race were the most decisive aspects. However, we do find a somewhat more decisive leg in the men’s course. Leg 13–14 was a very long leg with many artificial barriers on the shortest way, which made a real length longer than 600 m. We can see many different options to choose from, and how the winner managed to implement the best one (with the best balance length/turns) at a very high speed.

Penelope Salmon (NZ).

Sixth in sprint.

Milla Key.

Leith Soden.

On the second day of the JWOC 2023, we enjoyed the sprint-relay race, which was part of the JWOC program for the second year, after its ‘emergency’ inclusion in Portugal. Fortunately, it seems that this modality has come to stay in the standard program of JWOC. The first leg runner of one of the theoretically strongest teams, the Swiss, missed quite a bit of time from the start, while defending champions Norway fell a bit further behind than expected. Controls 13 and 14 in the ‘labyrinth’ gave more than a headache to many of the girls, the first-leg runners.

When the boys’ turn came, on the second and third legs, the French team managed to turn the race around with two very powerful performances that left them almost in the lead, just a few seconds behind the Finnish team. Norway, the Czech Republic, and Sweden were also very close in the fight. Hungary, with Máramarosi on the last leg, 40 s behind…. And this is when, once again, Rita Máramarosi (born in 2005, which means she will still have two more seasons as junior) put on a real show hunting down the leading group, taking her own route choices and breaking away solo to give Hungary a big win. Awesome! Reigning champions Norway finished second with a very good performance from Pia Young Vik, with Finland‘s Eeva Liina Ojanaho (also born in 2005!) taking the bronze medal.

M20 sprint map.

Leg 13–14.

Nea Shingler.

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Toby Cazzolato.

Mikaela Gray.

in Baia Mare

Photos from https://www.jwoc2023.ro/ unless indicated otherwise

W20 middle distance, leg 11–12.

W20 middle distance, leg 4–5.

After the exciting sprint block, the third day of the JWOC 2023 moved to Valea Alba to contest the middle distance race, this year with a direct final. The course setters did a great job, designing challenging courses, where the runners had to be very precise and efficiently use their orienteering techniques to progress at high speed through the magnificent Romanian forest.

In the women’s class, the victory went to the Swiss runner Henriette Radzikowski, who managed to run a consistent and clean race, beating the Czech Lucie Dittrichova by just 4 s. The Norwegian Pia Young Vik closed the podium with her third medal in this JWOC. Two-time champion Rita Máramarosi led the race in the first half, but two mistakes at controls 7 and 13 left her out of the fight for the positions of honour, finishing in the 12th position.

Special mention of Inés Berger who finished in a worthy fourth place, just 5 s off bronze.

The leg 4–5 was one of the most challenging on the course, and where we could see big mistakes. It is a diagonal downhill in a dense area to end on a ‘small’ cliff in the slope. Going straight is very risky, and only Pia Young Vik took the fastest left option among the favourites.

The last part of the course, which seemed quite easy and fast, was, however, really decisive. In this fragment, we can see the mistake of the Norwegian Pia Young Vik in the 12th control, who commits a steering inaccuracy losing about 30 s. Let’s remember that she was only 14 s away from gold at the end!

In the men’s class, Swedish runner Hannes Mogensen won the gold with a margin of just under 1 min, running at an absolutely impressive pace: 5:01 min/km! The podium was completed with the Czech Jakub Chaloupsky in second place, and the Danish runner Oscar David Brom Jensen in bronze position.

The leg 9–10 was the same as the leg 5–6 for the girls, and it brought a lot of headaches for the runners. However, according to the GPS data, the boys took better advantage of the option on the right (using the path) to get the best split.

[Czechia won both gold medals in the long distance, with Jakub Chaloupsky ahead of Noel Braun (SWE) and Pascal Schaerer (SUI), and Lucie Dittrichova 1 s faster than Henriette Radzikowski (SUI), followed by Pia Young Vik (NOR).

In forest relay, it was gold to Czechia, silver to Switzerland, bronze to Finland in men’s race, and gold by 1 s to Hungary, silver to Czechia, and bronze to Norway in women’s race.]

M20 middle distance, leg 9–10.

Natalie Miller.

David Stocks.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

JWOC 2023

Justine Hobson.

Erika Enderby.

Sam Woolford and Toby Cazzolato at relay changeover.

Nea Shingler and Erika Enderby at relay changeover.

Australian JWOC 2023 mixed sprint relay team who placed eighth, Milla, Callum, Cooper and Nea. Photo by Natasha Key.

Orienteering Australia posts The Australian JWOC team got off to a great start in the sprint distance in the city of Baia Mare, Romania, with two top 30 results. Congratulations Nea and Milla and to all the team for their effort. JWOC continued on Tuesday night in Baia Mare with the sprint relay, and what a result it was for Australia!

The number one team finished in 12th place overall to be the eighth nation across the line. We believe this is the best ever JWOC relay result for Australia.

Congratulations Milla, Cooper, Callum and Nea. Our second team of Mikaela, Leith, Toby and Justine finished in 28th place in a field of 54 teams.

Our JWOC team continued to perform with great credit when the week's racing entered the forest formats. In the middle distance, Nea had a great race to finish in 20th place, just 2:07 down on the winning time for the challenging course.

Meanwhile in the men's race, David was the top performer with an impressive 41st place, 5:55 behind the best time. [In] a tough long distance race (…) Leith [was] our best performer, result wise, finishing in an impressive 48th place in the men's race. We want to give a special shout out to Zefa from Orienteering NZ for his outstanding podium fifth place.

Milla Key.

Zefa Fa'avae (NZ).

Fifth in long distance.

JWOC 2023 concluded with the holding of the relay. It was tough racing with a tense finish in the women's race after Sweden crossed the line first in a four-way sprint only to be disqualified, leaving Hungary to take the gold. Our women's team [Nea, Erika and Justine] were the 16th nation, and our men's team [Toby, Sam and David] were the 19th nation in the official results.

Orienteering Australia thanks all the team members for their efforts in representing their country in a demanding week of racing. We also extend special thanks and gratitude to our coaching and management team of Tash, Serena, Warren and Brett for looking after the team.

WOMEN (153 starters) - sprint 19 Nea Shingler 16:43 24 Milla Key 16:59 56 Erika Enderby 18:11 83 Justine Hobson 19:06 92 Natalie Miller 19:37 Mikaela Gray mp

+1:30 +1:46 +2:58 +3:53 +4:24

WOMEN (152 starters) - middle 20 Nea Shingler 27:49 53 Justine Hobson 32:13 67 Mikaela Gray 33:37 76 Milla Key 35:18 80 Erika Enderby 35:43 84 Natalie Miller 36:04

+2:07 +6:31 +7:55 +9:36 +10:01 +10:22

WOMEN (146 starters) - long 67 Justine Hobson 1:17:15 68 Nea Shingler 1:17:46 71 Erika Enderby 1:19:13 87 Milla Key 1:24:13 100 Natalie Miller 1:31:54 118 Mikaela Gray 1:44:58

+19:47 +20:18 +21:45 +26:45 +34:26 +47:30

MEN (173 starters) - sprint 74 Cooper Horley 117 Leith Soden 128 Sam Woolford 133 David Stocks 147 Toby Cazzolato Callum White

+2:16 +3:14 +3:31 +3:45 +4:27

MEN (171 starters) - middle 41 David Stocks 30:34 57 Leith Soden 31:33 60 Toby Cazzolato 31:40 83 Sam Woolford 33:21 87 Cooper Horley 33:31 159 Callum White 46:18

+5:55 +6:54 +7:01 +8:42 +8:52 +21:39

MEN (169 starters) - long 48 Leith Soden 1:29:58 100 Cooper Horley 1:39:47 101 Sam Woolford 1:39:54 103 Toby Cazzolato 1:40:51 104 David Stocks 1:41:02 120 Callum White 1:48:37

+18:38 +28:27 +28:34 +29:31 +29:42 +37:17

18:03 19:01 19:18 19:32 20:14 mp

12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Australians competing at the European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC) ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA NEWS BY MIKE DOWLING

The European Youth Orienteering Championships commenced in Velingrad, Bulgaria with the sprint distance. Australia was represented by Erika Enderby, Nea Shingler and Milla Key in the W18 class, and by Cooper Horley and Owen Radajewski in the M18 class.

Nea had a great race to finish in seventh position with Erika 29th and Milla 66th in a field of 97 starters. Cooper just missed out on a top ten, finishing in 11th place, with Owen 75th in a field of 107 starters.

Australia, Finland and Norway were the only countries, out of 32, with entrants in MW18 but not in MW16. Overall, medals were shared by 12 European countries, with Switzerland gaining the top team score, followed by Finland and Czechia, Australia placed 24th, NZ 25th.

There was also a large contingent of Australians competing as part of the EYOC Tour. They included the Australian JWOC 2023 athletes in the MW20 category, keen to experience the terrain similar to that awaiting them in the neighbouring JWOC-hosting Romania. Officials and parents of our juniors also got to sample orienteering in the Rhodope Mountains.

In the sprint, M20 was dominated by Australians, with Callum White first, followed by David Stocks, Leith Soden, Toby Lang and Toby Cazzolato. Justine Hobson won W20, ahead of Natalie Miller. Heather O’Donnell was second in W45, and Jenny Enderby won W55. In the middle distance, David won M20, followed by Leith, Callum, Toby Cazzolato and Toby Lang. Natalie was second and Justine third in W20, Heather seventh in W45, and Jennifer won W55 again.

In the mass start (middle) David, Leith, Callum, Janson Key and Toby Lang were the top five and only finishers in M20.

Justine and Natalie raced just each other in W20. Serena Doyle came fourth in W21E, and Jenny Enderby third in W55.

Next year’s EYOC will be in Szczecin, north-western Poland, where the tallest hills are less than 150 m high.

Australian team at EYOC. From the left Nea Shingler, Erika Enderby, Owen Radajewski, Milla Key and Cooper Horley. Photo by Jenny Enderby.

EYOC 2023 long distance, W18 course.

HANIA LADA

n the long distance Cooper placed 73rd in 1:22:37, and Owen 79th in 1:25:27. Nea was 43rd in 1:12:45, just 1 s ahead of Katherine Babington from NZ. Milla placed 52nd in 1:15:51, and Erika 57th in 1:17:02. The medallists in M16, W16, M18 and W18 were from Finland (two wins), Czechia (one win), France (one win), Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and Hungary, so a substantial mix of countries.

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In the W18 relay Milla, Erika and Nea were 15th out of 27 teams, and New Zealand placed 13th. Finland won, followed by Czechia and Hungary who had been 17th after the first leg. In M18 the first, second and third teams were Norway, Switzerland and Sweden respectively, in W16 – Finland, Switzerland and Poland, and in M16 – Czechia, Switzerland and Poland.

Nea Shingler in sprint. Photo by Jenny Enderby.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

WMMTBOC 2023

World Masters MTBO Championships Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia – 17-21 May 2023

BY PETER CUSWORTH

Steven Law (right) during the long distance race in Slovenia.

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our Australians made it to Slovenia for this year’s World Masters MTBO Championships: Ben Coetzer (WA) and Steven Law (VIC) both in M60, Carolyn Cusworth (VIC) in W65, and Peter Cusworth (VIC) in M70. They joined around 320 other masters competitors, and with the open classes almost 400 riders took part.

and took off in 10-min intervals. There was a mad sprint down the runway and off into grassy tracks and then into the forest. It was muddy, and there were many tracks with lots of them appearing rather indistinct. Some large areas of water and mud brought back memories of the Australian MTBO Champs last year near Cessnock, but with many more roots thrown in.

The Slovenian organisers had originally planned these events for 2021, but as we know, other things happened that year. They had obviously put in years of work and were keen to see their carnival finally taking place.

Mass start events are always a bit chaotic, but there were certainly some navigation challenges for us all and it was pleasing to get to finish with an ‘OK’ on your printout. Unfortunately, Ben suffered damage to his bike, which meant he was a DNF and a long walk back in. Steve managed a creditable 24th in a big field in M60 – his first international MTBO event. Carolyn battled hard to finish sixth in W65, and Peter managed fifth in M70.

This part of Europe was experiencing a wet few weeks with temperatures lower than average as well, and so we all headed out on the model event in drizzling rain to get our first experience of Slovenian forest. It was wet and muddy with lots of slippery tree roots, which did not fill us Aussies with much confidence. And when I say ‘tree roots’, I mean masses of roots weaving their way across double and single tracks. Admittedly, this model map was the worst of the week, with things getting marginally better with each race.

The mass start, on Thursday, was the first race of the championships with the assembly, start and finish happening at the Slovenj Gradec Airport. Fortunately the airport was closed to air traffic on the day. Start groups lined up on the concrete runaway

Ben Coetzer avoiding steps during the sprint race.

14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Next was the middle-distance race, which was held at Komenda, around 90 km away. This town is apparently where road cycling champion Tadej Pocačar hails from, not that it made any difference to us as we raced around our courses. There was no rain during the event and the sun was out. The forest here was a little bit drier and slightly less rooty, but our bikes still needed much washing after the event with the bike-wash queue being very long! Steve finished in 30th, and Ben 38th, Peter managed another fifth place, Carolyn had a mispunch after struggling to complete her course.

Aussies at WMMTBOC Slovenia: Steven Law, Ben Coetzer, Peter Cusworth, Carolyn Cusworth.

Photo: Steph Law

The long-distance event was back in Slovenj Gradec and judging by the old map posted in the bulletin, it was going to be a very steep area. The 2 km ride to the start even had 150 m of climbing! The event itself was quite amazing with some hard muddy climbs mixed in with some very fast sealed roads through villages and settlements. Other legs took us down narrow trails between steep fields, with some stunning views, if you wanted to take time to look. It seemed many routes involved going through private land with one track even going through the middle of a barn! Peter had quite a good ride finishing fourth. Ben and Steve had a very tough course with a lot of climbing and finished down the list in M60. Carolyn had given herself a rest day with a DNS. The final event was the sprint held in and around Slovenj Grade itself.

Courses took riders through urban streets and paths, into small forest areas and parkland, through a tunnel under the main road, then

Busy mass start race.

W60

Wet, muddy conditions for the mass start race.

M70 LONG DISTANCE

into a sporting fields area with fences and steps, and finishing with controls in a skate park before a final straight in front of the local swimming pool. Some very fast times were posted. Peter again finished fourth, Ben had a good ride in 27th place, Steve was 31st, and Carolyn sixth.

And then it was all over.

Congratulations go to the organising team, made mostly from the local clubs, for putting on some terrific and challenging events and courses. Everything seemed to run smoothly during the week, even with the less than perfect weather. The four races covered a good mix of conditions giving everyone a great range of experiences.

Well done Slovenia.

More MTBO results from Europe Ricky Thackray won Italian Cup MTBO long distance in M40.

Peter Cusworth came first in M70 in Czech 5 Days, in French MTBO Championships and in Austrian MTBO Championships.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

WORLD ORIENTEERING DAY

World Orienteering Day 2023 events around Australia VICTORIA, WESTERFOLDS PARK, MELBOURNE, May 19

SOUTH AUSTRALIA, ADELAIDE SUBURBS, May 17–23

NSW, McMAHONS POINT, SYDNEY, May 17

David Jaffe (President of OV)

Erica Diment orld Orienteering Day fell at an excellent time for SA. We were in a lead up to our individual school championships on 29 May, and were offering four-week afterschool orienteering programs in a number of different areas of Adelaide. In total, 99 kids attended after-school programs across six different sites doing orienteering activities in school grounds or local parks.

In addition, Sporting Schools Programs were run in two schools, with 318 kids attending orienteering sessions as part of WOD. We also had one weekend event on 21 May, held in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide, attended by 64 people in rainy weather. Alongside the Beaumont event was KID-O. KID-O is a program for young kids, which gets them involved in practising early orienteering skills, spatial thinking and being in the outdoors. Eight kids attended KID-O with ten parents on the day – enjoying a string course and doing block puzzles and colouring on the colourful KID-O blanket. In total we had 499 WOD participants.

Warwick Selby (Garingal Orienteers)

ver 300 students took part in Victorian Secondary Schools Championships, [WOD 2023 event], in Westerfolds Park. It was the first time we’d used Westerfolds in recent memory but it worked well as experienced orienteers came out on top, but the many novices still got a taste of orienteering and got around. The weather gave us all four Melbourne seasons in a morning with a couple of showers sending everyone scurrying for shelter but we saw some blue sky so we can’t complain.

O

There were easy ‘non-competition’ courses and moderate ‘competitive’ courses for each year level. We estimate that about 50–60% of attendees were orienteering for the first time but we still got everyone back. To add interest for all competitors, we offered a last control sprint prize for all and there was a maze for those who hadn’t done enough running.

It was fantastic to have some of our current and former JWOC and WOC team members helping at the event as it shows the students what they might achieve. It was people like Asha Steer, Aislinn Prendergast, Callum White and Brodie Nankervis who helped sign up students keen to stay involved with the sport. All the competitors also got details of upcoming events on the back of their maps. It was clear that the teachers and students really appreciated the efforts that went into this event.

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he opening of the Moonlight Madness mid-week event series for 2023 was timed to coincide with World Orienteering Day. Moonlight Madness events have 45-min-score courses and are held approximately monthly over winter, designed to coincide with the full moon where possible. Starts are from 17:30 to 19:00 so that runners get to experience street orienteering in the dark using head-torches.

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This first event in the 2023 series was held at McMahons Point on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. Fabulous views across the harbour were on offer from many of the control locations, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House and Luna Park. It also included the historic BP oil storage terminal that has been rejuvenated into a waterside park with tracks, stairs, cliffs and views. The course covered some famous Sydney gardens, including that of Wendy Whiteley. Eighty-nine entrants had a great time running around the course and celebrating orienteering in Sydney.

WOD 2023 KID-O in SA. Photo by Bridget Uppill.

Vic Secondary Schools Champs at Westerfolds.

Photo by Margi Freemantle.

16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Kids orienteering during WOD in SA. Photo by Aylwin Lim.

Part of the Moonlight Madness score course on McMahons Point map in Sydney.

ACT, PATRICK WHITE LAWNS, CANBERRA, May 21

QUEENSLAND, May 17–23 Felicity Facrosato ueensland celebrated WOD at five different venues across our vast state. While the capital hosted an Orienteer of the Year event with 122 participants, there were also opportunities 1350 km to the north, and 400 km to the west. Up north, Townsville hosted an event with 39 people, 32 of whom were newcomers. Townsville has a thriving adventure racing community and with thanks to the volunteer efforts from Linda and her team, over very many years, they are being shown the joys of orienteering. The Gold Coast hosted a MapRun event for 20 participants, of whom six were new, while up the mountain in Toowoomba, five new families joined a small group of regulars for a sprint around Queens Park. Out to the west, near a tiny town called Drillham, eight new families were among the 23 people who enjoyed the runnability of the Sandalwood Park map.

They were so enthusiastic many of them went out on two and even three different courses. They also discovered the other compulsory side of bush orienteering – the building of the teepee. This one even had a window!

Q Toni Brown n 2016 OACT held the world’s first ever World Orienteering Day event, which began in the dark at 6:20 am in Canberra’s Remembrance Park. IOF’s World Maze Race first started in 2021. This year OACT had a bit of fun with a free, fun and fast (if you feel like it), come-and-try event. After a four-year break OACT jumped on board with the IOF-sponsored WOD activities.

Held on the delightful Patrick White Lawns in the nation’s Parliamentary Triangle the maze proved to be both challenging (especially the set up in what felt like galeforce winds) and loads of fun.

I

The parliamentary lawns were chosen as a high-profile location that would catch the eye of outdoor Sunday morning strollers, runners, dog handlers and the like. Well, it did just that! An organised Fun Run passing our ‘front door’ meant that our sport was seen by thousands, plus the regulars who love their Lake Burley Griffin circuit, and tourists passing by.

The morning started early with people turning up from 9 am. But the biggest crowds came around 10–11 am, and many stayed on for a good hour running all the courses and more. There were a number of families who discovered the duel course and there was absolutely no stopping them! More than 70 people stopped and participated in the maze event for fun!

For a short period from around 11 am we cleared the maze and invited all present to take part in the ‘formal’ part of the race.

Full SI, blind start, all welcome. World Maze Race competitors included regular orienteers as well as some people who had never orienteered before. The end result was 2021 Champion Kas Gregory now holds the ACT World Maze Race title for 2023.

WOD 2023 in ACT. Kas Gregory.

Photo by David Poland.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA, SPICE BROOK, BINDOON, May 21 Carol Brownlie and Janet Fletcher he event at Spice Brook, registered as a WOD event, was the first in our ‘winter bush’ season and attracted just over 70 regular orienteers. The location was over 1-h drive from metropolitan Perth, so it may have contributed to the relatively low number of newcomers.

One dad and his young son camped nearby and were there to greet us as we arrived with the registration caravan. This six year old and his mum were our only entrants on the very easy course. They did have fun. Among the newcomers to the Spice Brook event there was a journalist and her friend who thoroughly enjoyed their first foray into orienteering.

Conor has since written an article for Landscope, a magazine published by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, on her experience. She hopes it will be published in their winter edition. If so, it will be a very nice promotion of the sport.

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WOD 2023 in WA. Spice Brook, at the start.

Photo by Ken Post.

TASMANIA, WINDSOR PARK, LAUNCESTON, May 20 Francesca Taufer (Coach in Residence) Teepee at Queensland's WOD event.

Photo by Madonna Moore.

Maze orienteering on WOD in Tasmania.

Photo by Francesca Taufer.

e organised a ‘come and try orienteering’ event at Windsor Park on Saturday. The event was free and open for everyone, with the goal to have more people joining orienteering in Launceston. It had two easy courses that you could try, one 1.5 km and the other one 3 km. Since the date coincided with the World Orienteering Day we had decided to also add a small maze activity. We built a maze close to the finish where the participants had to find their way through it on three different courses, all with different controls and sicard units. We had 22 participants with a total of 46 runs on different maze courses, ranging in age from 3 years old to 80. The challenge among family or club members was on and we're sure people had a lot of fun.

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SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

WA CLUBS

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first article in the series introducing orienteering clubs from jurisdictions charged with organising major orienteering events in a given year.

The orienteering clubs of WA JANET FLETCHER (VICE-PRESIDENT OWA)

There are six orienteering clubs in WA, four in the greater metropolitan area of Perth, and two in major regional areas. The Perth clubs were established in 1978, four years after the Orienteering Association of WA (OWA) was formed. These clubs started with some wonderful acronyms: KO, WOW, BO and LOST. Three of the clubs had names to justify the acronyms.

Kulgun 225 Orienteers (KO) draws its members primarily from those living in the southern suburbs of Perth. ‘Kulgun’, in Turrbal (a Queensland Aboriginal language) means ‘good path’. The number 225 is the compass bearing for south-west and reflects the club’s geographic base.

The compass with bearing is integral to the club’s logo.

The members of Wullundigong Orienteers of the West (WOW) live principally in the northern suburbs of Perth. Wullundigong also has an Indigenous origin and is said to mean ‘little men of the forest’ although members maintain that neither height nor gender should deter people from joining their club. WOW’s logo needs no explanation.

Bibbulmun Orienteers (BO) are based mainly in the eastern hills area of Perth. The club is named after the Bibbulmun language group of the Noongar People whose country extends from what is now Jurien Bay to Esperance.

The club’s logo, using boomerangs and spear, represents the Indigenous name.

LOST membership is drawn from suburbs in the centre of Perth to the sea. It is the only metropolitan club that has not found a reason for its wonderful acronym, with members disagreeing about what it should stand for. This situation has extended for so long that members, when asked ‘why LOST?’, now typically reply, ‘if we knew, we wouldn’t be’. Members are proud of their logo, designed by their first club convenor, which so clearly represents their name.

The two regional clubs are SWOT and ADHOC, and both have catchy acronyms.

SWOT was formed in 1984. It is based in Bunbury, almost 200 km south of Perth.

After considering possible names and discarding BOG (Bunbury Orienteering Group), South West Orienteering Trekkers (SWOT, sounding like swat) was favoured.

As crabbing in the Leschenault Estuary is almost synonymous with Bunbury, it is appropriate that the club logo displays a crab with a compass in one claw and a control in the other.

Albany and Denmark Hinterland Orienteering Club (ADHOC), which as the name suggests is centred around Albany, a city at the southern tip of WA, roughly 400 km from Perth, joined the WA orienteering community in 2014 – the latest but, we hope, not the last. The ‘hinterland’ part of the name has been variously interpreted. One orienteer who had moved from Perth to Geraldton (~500 km north of Perth) decided he could be considered part of Albany’s hinterland just as easily as part of Perth, so joined the club to run with a friend and be part of a relay team. The club’s logo depicts physical components of this beautiful part of WA. The metro clubs exist as separate entities only for logistical and social reasons. While events to be held in and around Perth are distributed to separate clubs to organise, all coaching, mapping, communications, financial matters etc are organised centrally through the relevant person on the OWA Council. Each club organises its own social events. Club convenors attend Council meetings where possible but do not have voting rights.

Due to their distance from Perth, SWOT and ADHOC have their own committees and organise their own events. Once a year they join together to provide a 2-day event in a location south of Perth, which is attended by members of the metro clubs in addition to their own members. They also run events in gaps of the event calendar for the metro clubs, members of which travel south to join with them if possible. SWOT and ADHOC members also travel north, mainly for major events such as the state championships.

So, overall, we try to overcome the huge geographical distances among our clubs and as much as possible are simply WA orienteers. This is probably most obvious to eastern state orienteers when they see us grouped together under our state flag at national championships.

WA orienteers at Australian 3 Days 2023.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

ASOC & SOUTHERN CROSS CHALLENGE

2023 Australian Schools Orienteering Championships and Southern Cross Challenge PREVIEW This year’s Australian Schools Orienteering Championships (ASOC) and Southern Cross Challenge will be part of the Kambarang Carnival in Western Australia near Perth. As in 2022, school teams from Australia and New Zealand will stay together at an adventure camp. If there is interest, Independent Athletes Group will also be formed.

The competition will start with Schools Sprint Championships on Tuesday 3 October in Perth, followed by long distance on Wednesday and relay on Thursday near Beverley. Students may also compete at the Australian Championships events, and will take part in various social activities that contribute to making ASOC such an enjoyable experience.

Here we show the past winners, and preview this year’s teams from around Australia and New Zealand for you to follow during the events.

Winners

Event

Team

2016

2017

2018

2019

2022

ACT

ACT

ACT

NSW

NSW

Senior girls

sprint long relay

Tara Melhuish (ACT) Caroline Pigerre (QLD) Queensland

Tara Melhuish (ACT) Tara Melhuish (ACT) ACT

Joanna George (SA) Joanna George (SA) SA

Zoe Melhuish (ACT) Ella Cuthbert (ACT) ACT

Nea Shingler (NSW) Nea Shingler (NSW) NSW

Senior boys

sprint long relay

Angus Haines (SA) Patrick Jaffe (VIC) Victoria

Aston Key (VIC) Aston Key (VIC) ACT

Aston Key (VIC) Aston Key (VIC) ACT

Grant Reinbott (QLD) Dante Afnan (SA) ACT

Alvin Craig (NSW) Alvin Craig (NSW) NSW

Junior girls

sprint long relay

Joanna George (SA) Zoe Melhuish (ACT) ACT

Zoe Melhuish (ACT) Joanna George (SA) ACT

Niamh Cassar (NSW) Iida Lehtonen (NSW) ACT

Nea Shingler (NSW) Iida Lehtonen (NSW) NSW

Liana Stubbs (TAS) Liana Stubbs (TAS) ACT

Junior boys

sprint long relay

Dante Afnan (SA) Tristan Miller (ACT) NSW

Alvin Craig (NSW) Alvin Craig (NSW) Queensland

David Stocks (ACT) Samuel Garbellini (QLD) ACT

Alvin Craig (NSW) Alvin Craig (NSW) NSW

Euan Best (TAS) Euan Best (TAS) South Australia

At the OWA Junior Camp the juniors selected for the 2023 Schools Team were announced.

Congratulations! We look forward to following your achievements in the upcoming Kambarang Carnival, in particular in the Schools' Sprint, Long Distance and Relay Championships.

WA Schools Team Senior Girls Ruby Phillips Kate Braid Senior Boys Liam Dufty Joseph Coleman Eckart Bosman Seth Thomas Isaac Madden Arvin Nair

Ruby Phillips

Kate Braid

Liam Dufty

Joseph Coleman

Eckart Bosman

Seth Thomas

Isaac Madden

Arvin Nair

Amy Dufty

Neve Lommers

Ruben Claessens

Lachlan Braid

Rohan Braid

Troy Kingma

Christopher Drury

Archie Brownlie

Edmund Toomey

Junior Girls Amy Dufty Neve Lommers Junior Boys Ruben Claessens Lachlan Braid Rohan Braid Troy Kingma Christopher Drury Archie Brownlie Edmund Toomey Team officials are Rachel West (coach), Sarah Richards (manager) and Sten Claessens (assistant coach / manager).

20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Orienteering ACT is pleased to announce the ACT Schools Team to compete at the 2023 Australian Schools Orienteering Championships. Congratulations to the following students on their selection.

ACT Schools Team

Ella Hogg

Mia Kluth

Katherine Maundrell

Joshua Mansell

Owen Radajewski

Max Walter

Naomi Penton

Alice Radajewski

Mira Walter

Aoife Rothery

Oliver Bishop

Senior Girls: Ella Hogg, Mia Kluth, Katherine Maundrell, Aoife Rothery Senior Boys: Joshua Mansell, Owen Radajewski, Max Walter, Max Johnson, James Tailby Junior Girls: Sanda Halpin, Katy Hogg, Ariadna Iskhakova, Naomi Penton, Alice Radajewski, Mira Walter Junior Boys: Oliver Bishop, Hayden Dent, Ben Mansell, Matty Maundrell, Mica Walter Team officials: Sarah Bruce and Tom de Jongh (managers), Paul de Jongh (coach).

Hayden Dent

Sanda Halpin

Katy Hogg

Ariadna Iskhakova

Ben Mansell

Matty Maundrell

Mica Walter

The NSW Schools Board of Selectors enjoyed the task of selecting this year’s NSW Schools Orienteering Team (…). The ONSW Board congratulates those selected and wishes them well in their orienteering endeavours.

NSW Schools Team

Senior Girls: Rebecca Craig, Erika Enderby, Eszter Kocsik, Maggie Mackay, Abigail McGhee Senior Boys: Cooper Horley, Jonathan Nolan, Nick Stanley, Alex Woolford, Jamie Woolford, Callum Waland Junior Girls: Jessica Dun, Matilda Saunders, Savanna Sweeney Junior Boys: Lachlan Coady, Alton Freeman, Luyi He, Rory Shedden, Matthew Slater, Shay Sweeney Erika Enderby

Eszter Kocsik

Maggie Mackay

Team officials are Lee Coady (coach), Martina Craig (assistant coach), Saffron Sweeney (manager) and Andrew Dun (assistant manager).

Abigail McGhee

Cooper Horley

Jonathan Nolan

Nick Stanley

Alex Woolford

Jamie Woolford

Callum Waland

Jessica Dun

Matilda Saunders

Savanna Sweeney

Lachlan Coady

Alton Freeman

Luyi He

Rory Shedden

Matthew Slater

Shay Sweeney

photos by Saffron Sweeney

Rebecca Craig

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21

AUS SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2023 Queensland Team is counting down the days until the ASOC Carnival. This year’s team is a mix of old hands and newbies, all with a competitive spirit, ready to run hard, navigate harder and cheer each other on. The competitiveness and skill made selection tight and well done to everyone involved. Watch out WA, Queensland’s coming to Perth!!!!

QLD Schools Team

Senior Girls: Skye Hassall, Cassy Reinbott, Ingrid Young Senior Boys: William Barnes, Dylan Bryant, Ewan Keith, Eric Lovell, Henry Smyth, Hugo Taunton-Burnet Junior Girls: Abigail Barnes, Kari Brennan, Alexandra Edwards, Grace Jardine, Sara Loader, Xanthe Schubert Junior Boys: Miles Bryant, Ethan Crowe, Adrian Garbellini, Eric Taunton-Burnet, Alex Vanzella Team officials are Felicity Crosato and Marion Burrill (managers), and Ryan Gray and Su Yan Tay (coaches).

Skye Hassall

Cassy Reinbott

Ingrid Young

William Barnes

Dylan Bryant

Ewan Keith

Eric Lovell

Henry Smyth

Hugo Taunton-Burnet

Abigail Barnes

Kari Brennan

Alexandra Edwards

Grace Jardine

Sara Loader

Xanthe Schubert

Miles Bryant

Ethan Crowe

Adrian Garbellini

Eric Taunton-Burnet

Alex Vanzella

Congratulations to the junior orienteers selected in the 2023 SA Schools Orienteering Team. The team members will compete in the Australian Schools Championships in WA in October, as well as other Australian Championship events as part of the Kambarang Carnival.

SA Schools Team Senior Girls Gemma Burley Abbie Faulkner Jessica Jarvis Jemima Lloyd Sienna White Senior Boys Finn Johnston Daniel Morcom Mitchell Morcom

Photos by Neil Gannon

Junior Boys Achilles Barnett Marcus Cazzolato Austin Clem Angus Fairgrieve Ben Marschall Duncan Still Gemma Burley

Abbie Faulkner

Jessica Jarvis

Jemima Lloyd

Sienna White

Finn Johnston

Daniel Morcom

Mitchell Morcom

Lucinda Fogarty

Annabel Lloyd

Adeline Richmond

Achilles Barnett

Marcus Cazzolato

Austin Clem

Angus Fairgrieve

Ben Marschall

Duncan Still

Junior Girls Lucinda Fogarty Annabel Lloyd Adeline Richmond

Team officials are Jack Marschall (coach) Angus Haines (coach) Patsy Burley (manager) Patrick Burley (manager)

22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Orienteering Tasmania is pleased to announce the 2023 Tasmanian Schools Orienteering Team to compete at the Australian Championships carnival in Western Australia this October. Congratulations to the following students upon their selection.

TAS Schools Team Senior Girls Sophie Best Tara Powell Liana Stubbs Senior Boys Euan Best Hugh Giblin Riley Kerr Jett McComb Eddie Stoner

Sophie Best

Tara Powell

Liana Stubbs

Euan Best

Hugh Giblin

Riley Kerr

Jett McComb

Eddie Stoner

Ella Clauson

Katie Clauson

Sophie Hartman

Margot Marcant

Isaac Butler

Callum Deganaar

Charlie Groves

Junior Girls Ella Clauson Katie Clauson Sophie Hartman Margot Marcant Junior Boys Isaac Butler Callum Deganaar Charlie Groves Team officials are Jon McComb (coach), Sussan Best (manager) and Francesca Taufer (assistant coach and assistant manager).

Congratulations to our Victorian Schools Team members who have been selected to compete in the 2023 Australian Schools Championships in WA in September. Each will compete in the sprint, long distance, and relay events, representing their state. The team is looking forward to the upcoming months of training and fundraising!

VIC Schools Team Senior Girls Sophie Arthur Maya Bennette Milla Key Senior Boys Lucas Kent Nicholas Mousley Ash White Junior Boys Xander Greenhalgh Matthew Layton Jayden Styk

Sophie Arthur

Maya Bennette

Milla Key

Nicholas Mousley

Ash White

Xander Greenhalgh

Matthew Layton

Izzy Greenhalgh

Angelina Kozma

Ella Maja Lang

Keely Williams

Junior Girls Izzy Greenhalgh Angelina Kozma Ella Maja Lang Keely Williams Lucas Kent

Jayden Styk

Team officials are Bruce Arthur (coach), Carolyn Layton (coach) and Heather O’Donnell (manager).

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

SOUTHERN CROSS CHALLENGE

The Orienteering New Zealand (ONZ) Junior Selection Panel is pleased to announce the 2023 Southern Cross Teams.

NZ Karahiwi Schools Team Senior Girls: Anna Babington, Katherine Babington, Isabelle McDonnell, Lani Murray, Tide Fa’avae Senior Boys: Zefa Fa’avae, Nicholas Green, Jacob Knoef, Jake McLellan, Eddie Swain Junior Girls: Niamh Hoare, Torun Joergensen, Ami McGowan, Izzy Spreitzer, Anna Wright Anna Babington

Katherine Babington Isabelle McDonnell

Lani Murray

Junior Boys: Max Franks, Tahi Harris, Luke Jansen, Blake McKinnon, William Wooder.

Tide Fa’avae

Zefa Fa’avae

Nicholas Green

Jacob Knoef

Jake McLellan

Eddie Swain

Niamh Hoare

Torun Joergensen

Ami McGowan

Izzy Spreitzer

Anna Wright

Max Franks

Tahi Harris

Luke Jansen

Blake McKinnon

William Wooder

NZ Team officials are Michael Croxford (coach), Rachel Smith (coach), Joseph Lynch (coach), Briana Steven (coach), Susana Carryer (manager) and Talyn Stanton (manager).

NZ Harua Schools Team Senior Girls: Georgia Lindroos, Kate Borton, Juliet Freeman, Phoebe Hunt, Alicia McGivern Senior Boys: Marcus Brennan, Sam Carryer, Riley Croxford, Matthew Greenwood, Felix Hunt Junior Girls: Anna Batcheler, Annabelle Holdcroft, Aless Nicholson, Greta Prince, Zara Toes Junior Boys: Harry Borton, Oscar Burns, Nicholas Freeman, Zack Meads, Thomas Zinzan

Georgia Lindroos

Kate Borton

Juliet Freeman

Phoebe Hunt

Alicia McGivern

Marcus Brennan

Sam Carryer

Riley Croxford

Matthew Greenwood

Felix Hunt

Anna Batcheler

Annabelle Holdcroft

Aless Nicholson

Greta Prince

Zara Toes

Harry Borton

Oscar Burns

Nicholas Freeman

Zack Meads

Thomas Zinzan

24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Looking ahead to Australian 3 Days 2024 Booking accommodation well ahead of time is recommended for the busy Easter holiday, so here are some tips for the Australian 3 Days Champs to be held in South Australia next year. The Adelaide Hills and Murray Bridge are within easy driving distance of events, typically within 30 minutes to 1 hour (plus a bakery/café stop). All events are maximum 80 mins from Adelaide CBD.

This opens the entire tourism area of Adelaide Hills and Lower Murraylands for you to choose from, as well as the city and suburbs.

• Take South-Eastern Freeway (M1) to Heathfield High School for the Prologue, 35 mins from Adelaide Airport.

• Pymton (Day 1) is north-west of Murray Bridge, near Rockleigh.

• Ngaralta Country (Day 2), at Hellenic Park, and Narrinyeri Hills (Day 3), at Kinchina Conservation Park, are both near Monarto and Murray Bridge.

S ee yo

Adelaide Hills • Murraylands 29 March - 1 April 2024

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Logo designed by Bridget Uppill

Australian 3 Days 2024

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aus3days2024.saorienteering.au

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Prologue/29 Mar:

Day 1/30 Mar:

Day 2/31 Mar:

Day 3/1 April:

HEATHFIELD

PYMTON

NGARALTA

NARRINYERI

High School

Near Rockleigh

Near Monarto

Kinchina CP

All events within 45 mins of Murray Bridge

What weather to expect at the Kambarang Carnival? BLAIR TREWIN his year’s Australian Championships carnival will be taking place in Western Australia at the start of October. Last time there was a national carnival there, it was unusually cool for the time of year, so what to expect this time?

T

Although it is quite a warm part of the world, the southwest of Western Australia is slower to warm up in spring than many parts of the eastern states are. Average daytime temperatures in the first week of October are around 22–23 °C, both in Perth and at the inland event locations. There is also less variation from day to day than there is in the east in spring. On the one hand this means that cold days are rare in the event areas (although a possibility for those who venture further south); on the other hand, it also means extreme heat is unlikely. There will probably be some warm weather at some point during the week, as there was at the Australian Schools events in 2014, but in the majority of years Perth has not yet had its first day of the spring above 30 °C by the first week of October.

The region gets most of its annual rainfall in the cooler months, so early October is at the end of the wet season. While heavy rainfall is still possible (as happened on the first weekend of the 2014 carnival), by the first week of October it is unusual, especially inland. In Perth, some measurable rain falls on about 30% of October days and 10 mm or more on about 4% of days; at Northam, York and Beverley, the frequency is about half of that. The country has not usually dried out fully after the wet season by early October, so fire danger is unlikely to be a factor. All in all, it should make for good conditions for orienteering.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

MELBOURNE CITY RACE 2023 – BACK TO THE FUTURE Debbie Dodd (DROC) Summer is coming – and it’s bringing some sizzle to Melbourne’s city streets, at least for those of us who, map in hand, love to set out on a quest for the quirky, with a backdrop of colourful history. The fourth Melbourne City Race (MCR) takes us back to where it all began, at Docklands. We have a brand new start location in the north of the map, which means everyone will tackle the multi-level mayhem of The District, as well as New Quay, Waterfront City, Marvel Stadium and Victoria Harbour.

Peter Dalwood has been out and about updating the map; as expected, there have been quite a few changes since 2019.

Course planners Peter and Ilze Yeates are veterans of several Venice City Races, so they know what makes a great urban event with a waterfront theme. While they haven’t been able to rustle up any gondolas (yet), they have been busy scouting out some quirky control locations – although ‘man made object’ seems an inadequate description for a patchwork cow upended in a tree, or an elephant’s trunk emerging out of concrete!

This year’s MCR takes place on Sunday November 19. As in previous editions, you can choose any one of five line courses ranging from 3 to 10 km, with multiple changes in direction, and some route choices that might be vertical. Sportident controls will be in Air mode for rapid racing.

26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

We strongly recommend using public transport, which is very handy to the arena as parking is limited. You should enter online on Eventor, with entries opening in late October. As always, we have some fantastic prizes for the winners and place getters, and a random prize draw for everyone who pre-enters.

There is no Saturday warmup race this year, but we’ve got something much better – look out for the DROC Summer Shorts!

A brand new series of four short-distance races in parks and campuses on Sunday mornings, the Summer Shorts are the perfect way to get prepped; not only for the City Race, but for the Primary Schools Champs, and the Victorian Sprint Champs and Knockout Sprint on November 26. There will be a different Summer Short each week from October 22 to November 12.

Venues are still being finalised, but expect a great selection of full-colour maps, action-packed fun courses, and a big social atmosphere. The three courses at each Short will cater for all levels, from juniors and newcomers, to top sprinters, and everyone in between.

Find out more at www.melbournecityrace.com.au

Course setter’s notes Pete Yeates (Senior Narcotics Investigator, Department of Customs, retired) The 2023 Melbourne City Race will take you through the heart of Melbourne’s Docklands. Its historical setting will be not be lost on many, but I first visited there as a ten-year-old boy in 1956. One day I had to go to work with my father as my mother was ill. He was a serving customs officer stationed at No 2 Gate Victoria Dock. It is long gone, but the goods train track is still clearly visible. I was allowed to roam at will, and you cannot imagine the delight of those sights and smells as bales of jute, sacks of coffee and other wonderful things were carried off ships that were little more than piles of rusting junk from all four corners of the globe.

In the strange circle of fate that often bemuses not just orienteers, it was in 1975, almost 20 years later, that I again spent long periods at Victoria Dock. Having followed my father into a career in law enforcement, I was often sitting in freezingcold, unheated cars conducting night-shift surveillance along the road past No 14 Shed, searching for sailors smuggling opium and heroin. The shed is one of the few things still there.

Peter Yeates setting the courses. Photo

by Ilze Yeats.

Now, more than 45 years later, the cargo ships and smugglers are long gone, replaced by luxury yachts and apartments, but I am still searching through the docks. This time for those little nooks and hidey holes in which to place a little red and white flag for you to find.

If you wonder why the idiot course setter put a control in ‘that stupid place’, try looking at it through the eyes of that ten-yearold boy who, long before colour television, first saw it almost three quarters of a century earlier.

I hope you are successful in your search. I was very often not.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

AUSTRALIANS’ JUNE VISIT TO NZ

A dose over the ditch helps with direction!

King’s Birthday New Zealand 2023 TONI BROWN

small but dedicated group attended the King’s Birthday threeday competition on the New Zealand (NZ) King’s Birthday weekend – 3, 4, 5 June. Since 2016, a small group of keen juniors have been taking the opportunity to familiarise themselves with overseas competition and to create strong social connections.

Why wouldn’t you? The maps are terrific and oh so different to Aussie terrains, and the depth of competition is certainly greater than can be found in many areas around Australia, as the number of juniors competing is much larger than in any state in Australia.

A

As with previous NZ ‘tours’, the trip was strictly a development opportunity, meaning that decisions to include a person were not based on performance but rather commitment to the sport (and ability to meet financial obligations). Part of the development was to stay with NZ school-aged orienteers, and travel together. Interested juniors were required to submit a brief expression of interest along with a current training plan as a demonstration of commitment. 2023 saw five young athletes from four different states come together as an informal squad to develop, race, train and socialise with juniors from all across New Zealand.

We are grateful to the New Zealand junior squad organisers for welcoming us into their camp, to share learnings and make friends. Each year it has been a different NZ group who have opened their accommodations to us. This year we shared accommodation at Chosen Valley Christian Camp which was ‘chosen’ to avoid too much travel between events. We appreciate the generosity and friendship offered, this year by the South Island’s junior Southern Storms, and are grateful to Jenni Adams of Peninsula & Plains Orienteers and her band of welcoming parents.

I asked the squad to nominate their highlights: Cassy (QLD) Going over to NZ for the King’s Birthday Weekend of orienteering was such a great experience. It was so challenging running on the different terrain and technical maps. I especially loved the scenery at the start of the middle distance. I DIDN’T love the cutty grass at the long! I also really enjoyed staying with the NZ juniors from the South Island and getting to know them all. They gave us all some good tips for the NZ maps. Overall, I would recommend this weekend to anyone who has the opportunity. Staying with the NZ juniors plus the navigational and physical skills challenges in the NZ forest, was worth the trip. I definitely think this weekend has allowed me to improve my orienteering skills and form really tight friendships.

The squad, from the left: Cassy Reinbott, Sanda Halpin, Jess Jarvis, Jamie Woolford, Nick Stanley. Photo by Toni Brown.

running through the terrain, experiencing cutty grass firsthand. It was also a highlight of that day regardless of a bloodied map. The final day was on the north end of Waiuku forest. This run reminded that navigation cannot always be great. The map was filled with new things I haven’t gone through before. I have learned to orienteer through highs and lows, coming into the race I was not confident but coming out of that race felt more confident. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, I came away from it with new skills and new friends.

Nick (Sydney) The sand dunes were a unique challenge with vegetation and terrain unlike anything you would see in Australia.

Sanda (ACT) Orienteering in New Zealand was an awesome experience. This was my first time orienteering outside of Australia, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The number of junior New Zealand orienteers competing over the weekend surprised me, and I was glad to see a few familiar faces from the Australian Championships and the Oceania Championships. I also made many new friends.

The courses were fun, with challenging, unfamiliar terrain, and I made loads of mistakes. In the sprint, I somehow ended up at my 13th control when I was meant to be at my 12th. During the long at Waiuku state forest, I waded through a track completely obscured by water and avoided being sliced by cutty grass twice my height!

My favourite event was the middle, where I had a fast-paced course which began in a cow paddock and ended in a pine forest.

I really enjoyed my time in New Zealand and hope I can orienteer there again! Thanks so much to everyone who helped organise the trip.

Toni’s note: Sanda came third in middle distance in a field of 39 junior girls! She was in the top half of the field in the other two events.

Jamie (Coffs Harbour) It was good to run on some foreign terrain and to hang out with the lads (and encourage them all to come to WA for Aus Champs).

Jess (Adelaide) My recent trip to New Zealand is a trip I won’t forget, it was filled with so many memories, new people and friends. I found the first event to be very interesting, the map was very different to anything I have done before. The intricate level of detail on the University of Waikato map is something I am not used to. Going around that map at speed trying to read all the small details and buildings was a great learning opportunity. The next day at Waiuku Forest South was the long distance on the map that felt like a mixture of some of the maps I have run on in SA. I loved 28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Sanda at the finish.

Photo by Toni Brown.

Australian Bushrangers v New Zealand Pinestars Test Match in New Zealand FRANCESCA TAUFER (COACH IN RESIDENCE)

t was time for New Zealand to host this year's Bushrangers v Pinestars Test Match, which took place in the region of Waikato (North Island) during their king's birthday long weekend. The Bushrangers’ team had 13 strong Australians ready to fight and do their best in the New Zealand's forests: Erika Enderby, Mikayla Enderby and Liana Stubbs (W20E), Jennifer Enderby and Anna Sheldon (W21E), Torren Arthur, Liam Dufty, Riley McFarlane, Niko Stoner and Jamie Woolford (M20E), and Mason Arthur, Duncan Currie and Paul de Jongh (M21E).

I

The weekend started with a sprint at the University of Waikato campus in Hamilton, where the athletes faced long and tricky courses with plenty of controls (33 on the M21 course!) and lots of route choices. The Australian team had some good results with a highlight by Erika Enderby in W20E who after a great performance won her class with the time of 19:07. This would result in the third place overall for the course that was the same for W20E and W21E classes.

Time then came to enter the New Zealand forest. The organisers promised a mixed forest with lots of areas full of pampas (or to give a better idea: the socalled ‘cutty grass’) and low visibility…and the athletes were not disappointed.

All these on a map with an unusual contour interval of 3.5 m. The first forest event was the long distance, in the southern part of Waiuku Forest. The courses had some long legs, with route choices where the athletes had to select between some inviting fast tracks and going straight facing the cutty grass, alternated with short legs in more complex and detailed areas where navigation was harder and having the right compass direction was a crucial factor. Running in a new and such particular terrain was challenging, but Australian athletes were not afraid of facing the cutty grass and collecting some scars to bring home, and producing some solid performances.

The final event was the middle distance in the northern part of the same forest, but in a slightly different kind of terrain: the vegetation was greener and the terrain slower, where finding the flags in poor visibility was not an easy task. Most of the winning times ended up being a little bit longer than for an average middle distance, adding another challenging factor to the race.

Again, the Aussie team completed the event with some solid performances mixed with some bigger errors. The results against the really strong Pinestars team were not enough to win the challenge, and so the trophy had to stay in New Zealand… for now.

Long course - Paul de Jongh's route.

Bushrangers. Photo by Bruce Arthur.

Erica Enderby in sprint.

Photo by Damian Enderby.

Torren Arthur.

Photo by Damian Enderby.

SPRINT

LONG

MIDDLE

W20E

W20E

W20E

1 Erika Enderby

4 Erika Enderby

6 Erika Enderby

8 Mikayla Enderby

5 Liana Stubbs

7 Mikayla Enderby

10 Liana Stubbs

8 Mikayla Enderby

8 Liana Stubbs

W21E

W21E

W21E

6 Anna Sheldon

4 Anna Sheldon

10 Anna Sheldon

10 Jennifer Enderby

7 Jennifer Enderby

14 Jennifer Enderby

M20E

M20E

M20E

5 Niko Stoner

5 Torren Arthur

4 Niko Stoner

6 Riley McFarlane

6 Niko Stoner,

7 Torren Arthur

9 Torren Arthur

8 Jamie Woolford

8 Jamie Woolford

10 Jamie Woolford

9 Liam Dufty

9 Liam Dufty

12 Liam Dufty

10 Riley McFarlane

MP Riley McFarlane

M21E

M21E

M21E

6 Duncan Currie

6 Paul de Jongh

9 Paul de Jongh

7 Paul de Jongh

14 Duncan Currie

15 Duncan Currie

12 Mason Arthur

16 Mason Arthur

19 Mason Arthur

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

Orienteering on June 10-12 2023 in Australia, (not a public holiday King’s Birthday Long Weekend in QLD and WA)

TOTAL PARTICIPATION 2162

Wilpena Pound from the Mannawarra Course in SA. Photo by Leila Henderson.

Andrew Dun on day 2 of KB3 in NSW. Photo by Matt Bell.

• Flinders Ranges Day 1, Rawnsley Park (participation: 138 starters) • SA Long Distance Championships 2023, Wilpena Spurs and Wilpena Creek, Ikara- Flinders Ranges National Park (80) • Flinders Ranges Day 3, Orienteer of Year event, middle distance, Manawarra (142)

• NSW State League 7, 2023 KB3, middle distance, Olney State Forest (318) • NSW State League 8, 2023 KB3, long distance, Honeyeater Hideout (322) • NSW State League 9, 2023 KB3, sprint, The University of Newcastle (317)

Orienteering in Northern Territory, Litchfield NP, 20°C at 8 am.

Photo by Susanne Casanova.

Eleanor McLean at Tasmanian Sprint Championships. Photo by Donelda Niles.

• NT 2023 Litchfield skills practice (≈20) • NT 2023 Litchfield East – Litchfield National Park (31)

• Launceston Winter Sprint Extravaganza 1, Brooks High School (55) • Launceston Winter Sprint Extravaganza 2, Stephensdale (32) • Launceston Winter Sprint Extravaganza 3, TAFE Alanvale (44) • Launceston Winter Sprint Extravaganza 6, Windsor Community (46) • Tasmanian Sprint Championships, St Patrick’s College, Launceston (57)

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY • ACT MapRun Street Series, Watson (52).

Gellibrand Hill.

Victorian Series (Bush).

Photo by Hania Lada.

At the start of Wild Horse Mountain MTBO in Queensland. Photo by Jenny Hill.

• Vic Series (Bush) 4, Granite Hills, middle distance, South Morang (102) • Vic Series (Bush) 5, Gellibrand Hill, long distance, Greenvale (97) • Melbourne Park Street Monday Series, daytime score event, Boronia Bay (48) 30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

• MTBO Wild Horse Mountain (73)• Queensland Day Come N Try, Queens Park (≈40) • Enoggeroos Orienteering Development Series (EODS) Sedgley Park Brisbane City Council (BCC), (30) • Bush orienteering at Shelter Road, Arundel, Gold Coast (33) • Leyburn South coaching (56) • MapRun Parks 2023, Mercer Park (29)

I CAN DO THIS!

HANIA LADA

Red Roo cartoon

by John Walker.

Colour by Hania.

Orienteering word search Find the words for ‘forest’ and ‘orienteering’ in different languages in the puzzle: forest, las, gozd, bosque, foresta, metsä, skog, pădure, erdő; orienteering, tájfutás, orientering, suunnistus, orientare.

Words can go in any direction and they can share letters.

Quiz 1. The control description indicates that A. The third control is between two stony grounds.

B. The third control is on an island in a marsh.

C. The third control is between two thickets.

D. The third control is on top of overgrown high mound.

Polishing your skills - compass points Start on the grid on the black dot. Draw a picture by following the directions. Each step is as long as either a side of a square (N, E, S, W directions) or a diagonal (NE, SE, SW, NW).

NE, N, SE, S, NE, NE, E, E, E, SE, S, S, S, S, S, S, E, E, SE, W, W, W, NW, N, N, NW, SW, S, S, S, W, W, W, NE, E, N, N, NW, S, SW, N, N, NW, W, N.

Link to quiz / survey / post-print corrections Follow this link to Quiz, Survey and Postprint Corrections on one form. Feel free to attempt some or all questions, provide data by completing the survey and check out what mistakes in the current edition have been discovered too late. https://forms.gle/tPTqakp6PXVMSCiz5

The answers are on page 46

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

XMAS 5 DAYS HISTORY

XMAS 5 Days – A short history Nick Dent

PhotosByTom.com.au

‘1985 to 2023 and beyond’

Frank and Ethel. Xmas 2022.

More than just an orienteering event he Xmas 5 Days, a series of five orienteering events held in most years between Christmas and New Year, was first held in 1985, and has been held in one form or another every year since, except in 2020 when Covid-19 put a hold on the event for one year.

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The idea for this long-running event was the brainchild of Frank Anderson who was then a member of Central Coast Orienteers.

Frank: ‘The Xmas 5 Days was an idea I had a year or two before the 5 Days started. After I moved to the Central Coast, I started the Toukley 2 Days that had many entries. A year later I thought a five days in late December would be great after an event organised by Tom Andrews in Victoria in mid-January. So, the Xmas 5 Days started in 1985. I set all courses for five consecutive days and drew courses for four classes each day. It was a tiring time but a great time. Ethel [Frank’s wife] did all the entries and we had many people camp at our place on the lake at Toukley. We spent the afternoons doing water sports and many people learnt how to water-ski behind our boat. Things went so well, and I didn’t hesitate to run the 5 Days again in the following years – 1986, ’87 and ’88. Every year we had European visitors who came for our 5 Days. Peo Bengtsson [SWE] organised a large group every year and we had several more from Europe. Our visitor’s book was full of some WOC champions and medallists. Ethel and I have many fond memories of those years.’

Frank (in red top on the right) and Ethel (second from the right) at presentation in 1991.

Photo by Hilary Wood.

Early Central Coast map used for the Xmas 5 Days.

In the early years Frank was the mapper (mostly), course setter, controller for all events with some help from other Central Coast orienteers. Ethel looked after the entries manually, and results had to be manually calculated and then typed up. No SI in those days. Control cards had to be checked for the correct punches.

Frank remains part of the orienteering community as his daughter Jenny and grandchildren Mikayla and Erika Enderby continue to orienteer and perform at the highest level. Erika competed at JWOC this year. Apart from providing the opportunity over the many years for some good orienteering on some of Australia’s best maps, and against the best from Australia and sometimes the best from Europe during the festive season, some well-established traditions have become associated with the Xmas 5 Days. Dick Ogilvie, who was the coordinator of some later 5 Days events, said this about the very early days: ‘The nerve centre was Frank and Ethel’s kitchen.

Frank used to do everything, putting out the flags and bringing them in, and doing all the results on the kitchen table. Out the back there were 30 to 40 people camped in the backyard. Maps were a bit rough compared to today, but everyone had a great time.’

32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Early 5 Days' map 1988 – sign of the times, the coal power station has been recently dismantled.

Men’s A results 1986 as typed up by Ethel and sent out in the mail to all competitors. Some famous names amongst these. Also, interestingly three dead heats. Day 3 was a night event, something that has almost disappeared from the orienteering calendar but remains a very popular part of orienteering events in Scandinavia, such as in Tiomila and Jukola relays. The map Nunns Creek is now schools, retirement villages, houses, and shopping centres at Erina. Frank was keen on night orienteering and included a night event in the Toukley 2 Days, which is one of the few night events still held in Australia.

Aston Key at the 5 Days in 2008, 11 years before winning JWOC sprint gold. Photo from The Australian Orienteer March 2009.

Mountain Bike Orienteering In 2008 during the Xmas 5 Days held in Victoria’s Golden Triangle two mountain bike orienteering (MTBO) events were part of the program. At the event in 2012 in Beechworth the organisers also included two MTBO events in the evening of day 2 and day 4. The event on day 2 started and finished at Indigo Winery. Those who competed in this event and then stayed on for a drink had to orienteer the next two days on two of Australia’s most iconic maps – Rowdy Flat and Kangaroo Crossing.

Early morning and late afternoon start Frank established the tradition that day 1 would start late in the afternoon, mainly to allow travel to the event after Christmas and Boxing Day. The other days traditionally have early starts to avoid the possible heat of the day. This allows plenty of time for recreation and relaxing during the rest of the day.

Daily prizes and raffles A tradition to have daily random prizes and raffles was believed to have first been introduced to the Xmas 5 Days at Stanthorpe in 2000 by Dave Erbacher (The Australian Orienteer, March 2010).

However, there were prizes presented at the 5 Days in the 1992, for example one-sizefits-all t-shirts. Anyway, this tradition still exists at the 5 Days in some form to this day.

MTBO at the Xmas 5 Days in 2008. Photo from The Australian Orienteer March 2009.

Variety of formats 1992. Guess who? Photo by Hilary Wood.

Post-event recreation In some years post-event recreation activities were organised. One of the most popular was in 1997. A five-aside soccer tournament was organised at Lyneham soccer fields in Canberra on the afternoon of days 2 and 3, with finals and BBQ on day 4. One of the organisers of this event was Jason McCrae who says that his career, as part of the Voice of the Forest commentary team with Andy Hogg at JWOC 2007, really took off when he did the commentary for the final. The winning team included the Quayle brothers, Tom and Dave. This made the punters happy as Tom was favourite at 4-1 in pre-event betting (The Australian Orienteer, Autumn 1998).

Over many years the format of events has varied as there are no set rules for the 5 Days. Many years have featured chasing starts both real and reverse on day 5. In 2006 on day 5 at Macquarie Woods in reverse chasing start, Olav Lundanes (NOR), Julian Dent (AUS) and Carsten Joergensen [Jørgensen (DEN)] were being chased by Mats Troeng (SWE) the last starter in a very exciting finish to what was a very international 5 Days. Julian won the event but Mats held on to the overall victory. Some years there have been mass starts on one of the days. In 2000 on day 3 the course controller described the mass start at Long Swamp: ‘The mass start was good, it was just like the running of the bulls at the beginning. Fantastic!’ In the early years there were no separate male and female courses. As the entries grew, some years (e.g.

1997) featured age classes rather than just a range of courses.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

XMAS 5 DAYS HISTORY

Earthquake and bushfire The 1989 Xmas 5 Days was held in the Newcastle area, and day 2 was at Stockton Sand Dunes. On the day of the event, Thursday 28 December 1989, at 10:37 am the Newcastle region was hit by an earthquake which measured 5.6 on the Richter Scale. I was in the car park area next to my car, and I saw it move forward and back, thinking that someone was pushing the car. Little did I realise that it was an earthquake. It was only later from the radio on the way home did we realise what had happened. We drove home over the Stockton bridge which we later found out had actually moved during the earthquake. This was a significant natural disaster in which 13 people died and 160 people were injured.

Fragment of Stockton Sand Dunes map from day 2 1989.

who has won nine gold medals at JWOC and has [one gold and] multiple silver and bronze medals at WOC. Course 2 winner was Kjell Melander – a well known Swedish mapper. At the Xmas 5 Days in 1997 held in the Canberra area, Tore Sandvik (NOR), a WOC-1999-relay gold medalist, was the winner in men’s elite holding off Rob Walter in the chasing start on day 5.

In 1998 Peo Bengtsson’s World Wide Orienteering Promotion group included Janne Salmi [FIN] and Vroni KönigSalmi [SUI]. Janne was the winner of the gold medal in the short distance at WOC 1997, and Vroni subsequently won three gold medals at WOC in 2001, 2003 and 2005. However, the winner of the Results in 1998. men’s elite was Australia’s top orienteer at the time Grant Bluett [gold in World Games in 2001] who held off Janne in the chasing start on day 5.

1998 featured a who’s who of elite orienteering in Australia in the late 1990s.

In 2004 in Armidale David Brickhill-Jones returned to Australia from Finland and won all five days. Mårten Boström (FIN), a WOC sprint champion, was third after a bad run on day 5. In 2006, as a training camp for JWOC 2007 to be held near Dubbo, the Xmas 5 Days was organised at Orange. A large group of overseas orienteers made the trip down under to get some experience of the granite terrain that would be used for the JWOC events. Two of Eric Andrews’ maps, Kahli’s Rocks and Gumble were used for three of the events. Olav Lundanes (NOR) who had won the JWOC Long Distance in 2005 and had been second in 2006 was one of these overseas competitors. Olav on a hot day, clearly won the long at Gumble. He went on to win the long and middle events at JWOC in Dubbo.

In 2019 the 5 Days were held in Armidale for the fourth time in its history. The region had been suffering a prolonged drought and before Christmas it had bushfires to the east of Armidale. Just four days before the event the University of Armidale withdrew permission to use a map Newholme West due to concerns about bushfires. Long-term member of Northern Tablelands Orienteering Club Eric Baker’s property Oakview was the replacement map. The five days went off fine but on 4 January the southern part of the map used on day 4, Pine Tree South, was alight from a lightning strike, and over the next days two-thirds of the map had been burnt.

World champions and others The event has been popular with orienteers from Europe as they can have a summer holiday away from the northern hemisphere winter and compete in some orienteering as well. In 1990 the winner on course 1 was Arto Rautiainen (SWE), and second was Christian Aebersold (SUI) a three-time relay world champion and a father of Simona Aebersold 34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Sample of Pine Tree South – the area burnt out a few days after this event in January 2020.

Cockatoo Island 2014.

In 2014 on their way to the World Cup races in Tasmania in January 2015 multiple world champions Tove Alexandersson (SWE) and Gustav Bergman (SWE) participated in the 5 Days which was held in Sydney for the first time. It featured a sprint event at Cockatoo Island in the middle of Sydney Harbour and an ultra sprint in the parkland in front of the SCG. Tove won all four days that she entered and then went to Tasmania and won the three World Cup events. Christian Tingstrom (SWE) second in men’s elite said: ‘I am an orienteer not a runner, so I love how you have to concentrate very hard on the map in an area that looks very easy, with all the dummy controls from other courses.’

The former long-term Orienteering of Australia president, Blair Trewin, in 1997 described the Xmas 5 Days as ‘chance to experience five enjoyable days of orienteering in mostly pleasant terrain, a formula which has served the 5 Days well over its history.’

YEAR 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

LOCATION Central Coast Central Coast Central Coast Central Coast Newcastle Ballarat Belanglo Central Coast Bendigo Southern Highlands Ballarat Central Coast/Newcastle Canberra Newcastle Goulburn Lithgow Stanthorpe Orange Southern Highlands Armidale ACT/Jindabyne Orange Newcastle Daylesford/Ballarat Belanglo Armidale Central Coast/Newcastle Beechworth/Albury Orange Sydney Armidale Newcastle/Cessnock Southern Highlands Sydney Armidale Southern Highlands Southern Highlands Lithgow Central Coast

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

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36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

OA NEWS – NOL REPORT

Men relay. Wattle Gully 2023. Photo by Mike Dowling.

Women relay. Wattle Gully 2023. Photo by Mike Dowling.

Proudly supported by

Wildfire Sports National Orienteering League 2023 individual winners, Sam Woolford, Eszter Kocsik, Patrick Jaffe and Caitlin Young. Photo by Kelvin Meng.

NOL relay. Wattle Gully 2023. Photo by Mike Dowling.

National Orienteering League 2023 report

The senior women also had a close individual battle. It ended up as a straight contest between Cockatoos teammates Caitlin Young and Grace Crane, with whoever crossed the line in the final individual round set to be the individual winner. Young was able to do the necessary, with a deceptively comfortable margin in the end after coming second to Crane’s seventh, although they were only two minutes apart. Unusually, Young won the overall title without winning any race, and Crane only won one, although they had seven second places between them. The other wins went to Lizzie Ingham and Vanessa Round, who swept the start and end of the season respectively but did not run enough races for a full score, and Tara Melhuish, who won three of the four sprint rounds.

BLAIR TREWIN

t was a big year for the NSW Stingers in the National Orienteering League (NOL) as they took three of the four titles on offer. The senior men swept to a comprehensive victory; whilst they did not have any of the three leading individuals, they had three strong results in most rounds, depth that no other team could match. Next behind them were the Tassie Foresters, achieving their best senior team result from a core of Brodie Nankervis, returning to his original home state this year, and Joseph Dickinson, and a rotating support cast.

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Both the Stingers’ junior teams also won. The junior women were as dominant as possible, winning every round with three of the top four individuals. The junior men also had a useful lead for much of the season, but, failing to improve their own score with an under-strength team in the final round, they had to depend on the Canberra Cockatoos not winning in the last-round relay.

Canberra were in contention after the first leg but the Southern Arrows took control thereafter, to ensure that the Stingers’ lead in the pointscore would not be overcome.

The one grade not won by the Stingers was the senior women.

The Canberra Cockatoos had had their noses in front since a good Sydney Sprint Weekend in March, but the Southern Arrows stayed in touch and could have claimed the title had they won the final relay and the Cockatoos come third or worse. With both teams and the Victorian Vikings within three minutes of each other going into the last leg, such a result was within the range of possibilities, but Grace Crane’s dominant final leg made sure it wasn’t.

Patrick Jaffe always looked to have one hand on the title once it became clear that injury would cut short Aston Key’s season, and three wins out of four over the Easter weekend meant that he only needed a fourth place on the last weekend to make sure of overall honours. Although he lost a three-way sprint finish there to Brodie Nankervis and Angus Haines, Nankervis’s win was only able to get him second overall.

No junior man won more than two races in the season, but Sam Woolford got enough other results to keep the rest of the field at arm’s length. Second in the final event was enough to hold off David Stocks, who finished fast with wins in the last two rounds (and missed two scoring opportunities through being a planner for Easter). There were many scenarios for the final round for the junior women with seven going into it with a mathematical chance of winning, but Eszter Kocsik rendered those scenarios moot with a comprehensive race win, giving her the title ahead of Stingers teammate Erika Enderby.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37

OA AWARDS

National recognition of contributions to orienteering The OA Service Awards and Hall of Fame

DAVID HOGG – OA Awards and Trophies Manager

Silva service award. PhotosByTom.com.au

s regular orienteers appreciate, much work goes into the organisation of orienteering events and keeping the sport functioning in other ways. Most of this effort is on a voluntary basis, many orienteers have been contributing for a long time, and many state associations and clubs have ways of recognising such efforts.

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At the national level, Orienteering Australia recognises outstanding contributions in several ways. In doing so, it relies on the orienteering population at large to assist by nominating worthy recipients for its service awards and for induction into the OA Hall of Fame. The following article provides some historical background on these awards and advice to encourage nominations for the future.

History of OA Service Awards The process of recognising contributions to Australian orienteering began in 1983 when, to mark its fiftieth anniversary, the Silva Compass company in Sweden donated a trophy to each national orienteering federation for presentation to a person who had contributed in a most deserving manner to the development of orienteering in their country. This trophy was a bronze miniature of the statue of an orienteer that stands outside the Silva factory in Stockholm. This perpetual trophy was first awarded in 1984, to Ted Wester, the retiring president, former treasurer and a key figure in Australia’s successful WOC85 bid. From then on, the award has been made annually to individuals to recognise their services at the national and state levels. In addition, for many years Silva provided medallions, also depicting the orienteer statue, as personal mementos for the recipients of the award.

Men and women from all state associations have been recipients of the award. Their range of services has extended to many aspects of orienteering development, including administration, event management and coaching. This Silva Award is significant in that it began the process of the Orienteering Federation of Australia formally recognising orienteers for their exceptional contributions to Australian orienteering.

A further award donated by Silva was received in 1995. This also depicted the orienteer statue, but in glass. The OFA decided to present this award to recognise services to orienteering coaching in Australia. The Silva Award for Services to Orienteering Coaching was first presented in 1996, shared between Peta Whitford and Kay Haarsma. Coaches from all state associations have subsequently been recognised with that award, in some cases for their contributions at the national level, but often at the state association or club level.

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Silva coaching award. PhotosByTom.com.au

In 2009 the David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management was instigated by Orienteering Australia. The inaugural award was made to Ron Pallas, the main organiser for the 2007 Junior World Orienteering Championships held near Dubbo, New South Wales.

In contrast to the other service awards, this award did not involve a perpetual trophy, but the winners received specially struck medals. At one stage, the supply of medals was exhausted and a bronze plaque mounted on rosewood was presented instead but, from 2023, medals have been reintroduced.

One of the conditions of the three service awards is that a particular award is not made more than once to the same person, although some people have received the coaching or event management award in addition to receiving the main Silva Award.

The past winners of the three service awards are listed in the Awards section of the OA website. This is an impressive ‘Who’s who’ from Australia’s orienteering history, but there are other names which could be added, ranging from the distant past to recent years. To do so requires help from the wider orienteering community, as described below.

Orienteering Australia Hall of Fame At the 2013 Annual Conference, Orienteering Australia established its Hall of Fame as a further form of recognition for outstanding competitive achievements at the international level or outstanding contributions to the development of orienteering at the national or international level. A Selection Committee chaired by Michael Dowling was appointed at the 2014 Annual General Meeting, criteria for nominations were prepared and nominations were invited through state associations. The Hall of Fame provides for Athlete Members recognised for their competitive achievements at the highest level of competition and General Members recognised for their contributions to Australian orienteering through administration, event management, mapping and coaching. The initial inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2016 were Grant Bluett and Jenny Bourne (Athlete Members) and Tom Andrews, David Hogg, Barry McCrae and Alex Tarr (General Members). The induction took place at the annual OA Dinner, held during the Australian 3-Days Carnival.

In 2017, there was no Australian 3-Days event at Easter because of the World Masters Orienteering Championships and Oceania Championships in New Zealand, and hence no OA Dinner or Hall of Fame induction. Since 2018, inductions have taken place every year. See the table for a full list of current inductees.

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES Year

Athlete Division

General Division

2016

Grant Bluett Jenny Bourne

Tom Andrews David Hogg Barry McCrae Alex Tarr

Hermann Wehner

Eric Andrews* John Brammall* Bob Mouatt

2018

2019

Geoff Lawford

Hugh Cameron Peta Whitford

2020

Hanny Allston

Kathy Liley Ron Pallas

2021

Warren Key Christine Marshall

Dave Lotty Jim Russell

2022

Jo Allison Adrian Jackson Carolyn Jackson

Michael Dowling Rob Simson*

2023

Tracy Marsh

Nick Dent Don Young

Hall of Fame Athlete Division. Excellence of achievement at the highest international level in senior and masters competition, namely World Orienteering Championships, World Cup, World Games and World Masters Orienteering Championships, in foot and mountain bike orienteering.

Hall of Fame General Division. Demonstrated outstanding highlevel achievement from personal effort or initiative over many years at the international or national level to the development of orienteering in one or more of the fields of administration, event management, mapping or coaching.

An important distinction between Hall of Fame induction and other service awards is that, while the service awards may be based on contributions at the international, national, state or club level, Hall of Fame inductions are based on performance or service at the international or national level.

Submitting a nomination Nominations can be made at any time in accordance with the conditions in the OA Operational Manual, but close on 14 January each year, with the awards announced and presented during the Australian 3-Days Carnival. If you are considering nominating someone for an award, the following advice is provided:

*Deceased at time of induction

1. First check the OA website for past winners to ensure that the nominee has not received that award previously.

How the awards system works

2. Check the criteria for the award to satisfy yourself that the nominee meets those criteria.

The service awards and Hall of Fame inductions are determined each year by the OA Awards Committee, which is appointed by the OA Board. The current members of the Awards Committee are Bruce Arthur (Chair, Vic.), Clare Hawthorne (Board representative, Tas.), Jenny Bourne (ACT), Greg Barbour (NSW) and Robin Uppill (SA). The Committee reflects gender balance and broad state representation, but its members are not appointed as state representatives, and review all nominations based on merit, not state affiliations. The composition of the Awards Committee is reviewed every two years, with members eligible to serve for a maximum of four terms (eight years).

The nomination procedures for awards are described in the OA Operational Manual, which is on the OA website. Nominations for service awards are made through state associations, but clubs or individuals can propose nominations through their state associations and prepare supporting documentation. Nominations for Hall of Fame inductions can be made by anyone, but are likely to carry more weight if supported by a state association.

Nominees do not have to belong to the state association that nominates them.

The eligibility criteria for consideration for the awards are as follows: Silva Award for Services to Orienteering. Has rendered meritorious services to the sport of orienteering at club, state association and national/international level over a period of many years.

Silva Award for Services to Orienteering Coaching. Has rendered meritorious coaching services to the sport of orienteering at club, state association and national/international level over a period of many years.

David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management. Has rendered meritorious services to the staging of orienteering events at club, state association and national/international level over a period of many years.

3. Advise your state association of your suggested nomination, and check that the association is not already proposing someone else for that award.

4. Work with the state association to prepare the nomination in accordance with the conditions in the OA Operational Manual. Present the nomination in a way that emphasises the nominee’s contributions to the core criteria for the award, rather than necessarily all their contributions to orienteering.

5. Submit the completed nomination through the state association to the OA Awards and Trophies Manager dhogg1943@gmail.com with a copy to the OA General Manager ( gm@orienteering.asn.au ) by the due date (14 January unless otherwise advised). David Hogg is the current Awards and Trophies Manager and is available to provide advice regarding nominations, including checking OA/OFA records to confirm supporting information, if required.

If your nomination is unsuccessful, don’t feel too disappointed. There are sometimes several nominations for the one award, and lack of success does not imply that the nominee is not a worthy candidate. An unsuccessful nomination can be resubmitted the following year with updating if appropriate.

In the case of the Hall of Fame General Division, for which there is a maximum of two inductions per year, unsuccessful nominations are automatically carried through for up to three years, if the nominator agrees. Unsuccessful nominations for the Hall of Fame Athlete Division, for which there is no annual limit on numbers, are unlikely to be reconsidered unless there is significant additional supporting information.

Nominations for 2024 are now open, providing the opportunity for them to be discussed among orienteering colleagues at the Australian Championships Carnival, or at other events leading up to the end of the year.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

COACHING

Interview with Daniel Stott (Project Manager: Learn to Orienteer, E-Learning)

Intro Program for Juniors and Parents

Five week program covers:

Saturday afternoons 8 May - 5 June

Find out more: vicorienteering.asn.au/learntoorienteer

Daniel Stott is developing a new Learn to Orienteer program to teach beginners the fundamental orienteering skills. He is also creating e-learning modules for the new coaching accreditations.

These will be hosted on the Orienteering Learning Centre website, which will be launched very soon.

How did you get started in orienteering over in New Zealand, and how was the change when you came to Australia?

I grew up in New Zealand where the high school athletics coach took us to the local orienteering school champs. I suppose I got hooked on orienteering through the guise of a ‘cross country training day’! Over 20 years later my family is involved and I’m now helping to introduce others to orienteering.

40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

It was a shock not running through lush NZ forests where fallen branches just disintegrate under your feet but instead having the Australian dry scratchy branches and large grass seeds. The wonderful intricate contour details of the goldmining areas just beyond Melbourne make up for the scratches though!

Congratulations on becoming the project manager of Learn to Orienteer and e-learning. What does the new role involve?

Thankyou! I am delighted to be involved in helping newcomers into orienteering. As our daughter went through primary school, she learnt new sports through programs like NetSetGo, but orienteering only had a little bit of teaching and advice and more ‘learn as you go’… and there was even less education for my wife.

Brodie Nankervis, Martin Kozma and I created and ran a Learn to Orienteer program in-between the Covid lockdowns. This helped my family and a lovely group of other families in similar situations to systematically learn how to orienteer.

I now have the opportunity to expand this so all states can help teach newcomers. I’m working with a steering committee to create a specific program that newcomers can attend over a number of weeks to learn the fundamental skills of orienteering, and then connect with a club. We want the program to be fun, active, social and open to all ages.

You are a qualified and experienced teacher. Do you have an education philosophy in relation to orienteering?

When I started teaching, I lost the class’s attention whenever I rambled on using lots of words. Children (and adults) love joining in with the learning and feel part of the education journey. The Learn to Orienteer program will have a major focus on the participants learning a specific skill in an experiential way. Regarding the elearning, I’m in the process of turning textbook style pdfs into engaging modules; trying to make them as practical as possible.

You have a young family, what do you think keeps your family interested in orienteering?

Yeah, it is a tough one! There are lots of great sports and activities to participate in.

The long-term participation issue keeps coming up around Australia as I do research for Learn to Orienteer. Because orienteering involves driving great distances it requires dedication from the adults in the family. Therefore, we are aiming for this program to include and equip everyone, especially the adults.

There have been times when my wife and daughter haven’t been so enthusiastic about orienteering, and I struggled to understand why. I came to realise it wasn’t that they disliked the sport, but my approach of packing a bunch of bananas and a loaf of bread and taking them to a remote location to do something physically and mentally challenging is not everyone’s idea of fun. I have adapted.

Be it understanding that my daughter likes orienteering because of friendships, and even if she does a course with her friend… not running, but chatting… it is good. Or incorporating other family experiences into the orienteering trip, like stopping at a town and exploring the history or finding nice food.

Interview with Francesca Taufer Brodie Nankervis interviewed coach-in-residence Francesca Taufer. Courtesy of Orienteering Australia E-news.

The coach-in-residence (CIR) program is an exciting opportunity for orienteers from across the world to visit Australia and coach orienteering. Francesca has been in Tasmania from November 2022.

Hi Francesca, thanks for chatting with me, firstly let’s find out a little bit more about you. Where are you from, how did you start orienteering, and what has been your journey in the sport to now?

Why do you want to help newcomers?

A lot of people have helped me, so I think it’s good to give back.

Also, I believe helping others is good for the soul! If I can help more people engage with orienteering, they will also get to have experiences like those that have enriched my life. And the list can keep going… connecting with the outdoors, confidence you gain when you can navigate successfully, socialising, getting endorphins…

How are the projects going?

The state reps and I are busy working behind the scenes at the moment. We plan to run the first Learn to Orienteer pilot programs from term 4, so keep your eyes open for opportunities to invite your friends!

The orienteering instructor e-learning coaching course will go live from October, the other coaching courses will be published in phase two.

this experience as an athlete and a person, and I hope to transmit something to others. Also, I've never been to Australia before but always dreamed about coming to see different environments, maps and forests, and to meet new people, cultures and live great experiences.

Good to hear that the word is getting around in Europe! Tell us more about your experience with the program in Tasmania, what have you been doing?

For the first two months I was in Launceston, north of Tasmania, where I was coaching the local club (EVOC). I was doing weekly orienteering sessions (both sprint and forest, trying to focus each time on a different technique) teaching orienteering in primary schools and helping with other activities (like creating some materials with advice on some mental aspects of our sport (I studied psychology). After Oceania Championships, where I was helping to wake up controls, I moved to the south. In Hobart I’m doing more or less the same things for the club here (Australopers). Both of the times I had found a warm welcome and really nice people, so everything gets easier to do, and it is really nice to work with them. I’m loving my time here.

I came from Primiero, a small valley in the Dolomites (north of Italy). It’s a small place but perfect for running and orienteering. I started orienteering in primary school where my PE teacher (a coach of my club) introduced me to it. At 11 years old I joined the club, fell in love with this sport and its environment, so I never left it. I then ran for many years in the Italian national team competing at EYOC and JWOC as a junior and at World Cups and WOC as a senior. I have had some physical problems in the last years, but I hope to fully come back to it.

Ok, let’s get into the quickfire round. Favourite coaching activity?

Interesting to get to know your background, sounds like many years being a part of orienteering. How did you hear about the coach in residence program? What made you want to be involved?

Favourite Australian pastime?

A friend of mine did the program some years ago and since then I have wanted to do that. Then I finished with my studies and the right time has come. I like to coach people doing this sport to see the improvement they make, the effort and joy they put into what they're doing. I like this project because I believe that sharing experience has a fundamental role for growing in our sport. In my experience I have learned a lot from the stories, teaching and experiences of different people. I was sure that I’ll learn a lot by

Talking with the athletes after the training to check how it was.

Best orienteering map to coach on?

Right now: St Helens area.

Favourite Australian food? Italian food?

A vegemite toast (I’m joking of course, that’s not food). Italian lasagne wins.

Searching for wallabies everywhere.

What is the thing you miss most about Italy?

Winter and snow (mmm, definitely no). So, my cat Taco.

One thing still to tick off your bucket list?

I still have to see a koala, but they told me I can’t find them in Tassie. That was disappointing, but I don’t give up hope and try on the mainland.

Editor’s note: Happy to report that since the interview Francesca has managed to see a koala on the mainland.

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

COACHING

Interview with Wataru Teragauchi

Wataru Teragauchi at Sydney Sprint Weekend 2023. Photo by Tony Hill.

Leila Henderson interviewed coach-inresidence, Wataru Teragauchi, from Japan, who was a member of Orienteering SA’s coaching team from February to April 2023.

Do you have any advice to improve skills?

From SA Orienteer Newsletter 2/2023.

Don't be in a hurry for improvement. Enjoy trial and error and to focus on the changes in yourself.

Excitement is the best solution to keep doing anything.

Leila: When did you start orienteering?

Wataru: Fortunately, my university had an orienteering club so I started orienteering when I was 18 years old as a university student, like most Japanese orienteers do.

What are your orienteering highlights? I know you don’t want to brag, but please include the class and details of any major wins — we’d love to know.

Only a few, but I have had the experience in Japan of winning the National University Long championships, National Sprint championships and National Middle championships. Also I was part of a team that won Japan‘s biggest relay 3 times. It‘s called the ‘Club Cup 7 Relay’ because each team has 7 members. I‘ve also had a lot of experience in international competitions such as WOC, World Cup, WUOC, Oceania and Asia.

But when it comes to highlights, I‘d choose ―Now – I enjoy Aussie orienteering life very much.

Can you give us one great example of your favourite way to learn orienteering?

One is to try to remember the course and landscape without maps after orienteering training. Also discuss the race with other competitors or write out what we think and do while racing.

Another way is to memorise and draw your training session. First, plan the route and check (attack) point by reading one leg of your course on a map for a few seconds (for example 30 s). Second, draw the image of your proposed route and feature of check (attack) point on a white paper. Third, compare the image with others. I think these are good exercises to strengthen imagination.

This kind of training can help us visualise what we think and use while orienteering wherever and whenever.

Do you have family who are also orienteers?

What would you teach someone about accepting mistakes and learning from mistakes?

No. I hope more people (including my family) try to do orienteering, so I would like to promote orienteering more. I would like to learn more about how you have been promoting orienteering in SA!

I want to tell myself that there are both ups and downs in life (and orienteering) and we can learn more from mistakes than success.

However, it doesn't mean we should make mistakes intentionally :-)

What do you do when you’re not orienteering?

I like reading and other sports such as cycling, swimming and trail running. When I was a child, I used to play baseball, football and basketball. Professionally, I was an electrical engineer, but now I'm thinking to change my career from engineering to an outdoor, health or sports field.

What are your ambitions in life and/or orienteering?

I want to spend my life in nature and enjoy some adventure. I would like to keep doing orienteering all my life.

Is there anything you’ve observed about Australian orienteering compared to other countries you’ve coached or competed in?

I will try to compare Aussie orienteering to my experiences in Japan. Training: I'm impressed there are so many training events on weekdays in South Australia. Except for the university orienteering clubs, we don't have many training events on weekdays in Japan.

Terrain: From what I have seen, Aussie terrain is very dry and mostly not as heavily forested as Japan. The Australian mining terrain is unique. Generally Japanese terrain is more muddy, forested and steep. Also Japan has the variety of landscapes, coastal, ski slopes, volcanic terrain and so on. Culture: We don't have the culture to swim in the lake or sea after orienteering in Japan. It's the good culture to swim in the wild, nature place! On the other hand, we have the culture to go to hot springs after orienteering. I would like to exchange our culture more, let's talk!

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

What is the hardest map you've ever orienteered on?

It's difficult to choose one. I will choose several maps.

1. My first volcanic terrain at the foot of Mt.Fuji, which is known as Sekotsuji in Japan. Japanese orienteers often hold a training camp on this terrain. The World Cup race was held here in 2000.

I heard Australian orienteer Rob Plowright was one of the mapping controllers of this terrain.

2. My first Scandinavian terrain in Sweden (O-Ringen 2004).

3. Many small hills and depressions in France (WOC 2011).

4. Unfamiliar sandy beach terrain in New Zealand (World Cup 2013).

5. The longest leg in Tasmania (World Cup 2015).

What's the worst thing about orienteering?

Orienteering is addictive. Good addiction! (lol) What's the best thing about orienteering?

Again, I choose several things: variety, it‘s not all the same like road running; requiring us to make our own decisions; life-long sport and warm global community.

Many thanks Wataru —safe travels, hope you plan to return to South Australia soon!

Editor’s note: Read about other CIRs at https:// scholar.orienteering.asn.au/previous-coaches/

Women’s Coaching Weekend in Tasmania Christine Brown rienteering Tasmania held its biennial Women’s Coaching Weekend in early July. 37 eager participants came together at St Helens for a range of activities that suited the beginner orienteers to those with many years experience. Italian coach in residence, Francesca Taufer, planned a variety of exercises to suit the diverse audience.

It started with a middle distance course for the experienced navigators at Rajah Rock near Avoca. Once in St Helens we had a map walk, relocation exercise and compass exercise on Golden Fleece, contour exercise on Mt Pearson and a route choice exercise on Littlechild Creek. The St Helens terrain offers the most technical terrain in Tasmania, and enabled ladies of all skill levels to be challenged.

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There were many laughs, especially in a team-building activity that required teams to build a tower from spaghetti and string strong enough to hold a marshmallow on its pinnacle. On Saturday evening Dr Jo Mitchell, clinical psychologist, held an

Participants at Women’s Coaching Weekend in Tasmania in July 2023.

informative question-and-answer session on the mental aspects of orienteering. Everyone was appreciative of Francesca’s hard work and are looking forward to the next Women’s Coaching Weekend in 2025.

Rajah Rocks

Golden Fleece

O-SPY

All about chocolate from The Victorian Institute of Sport Nutrition Team

he health benefits of chocolate come directly from the cocoa, so while some might find white and milk chocolate good for the soul, it’s really the dark chocolate, with a high cocoa content, that has an abundance of health benefits. Cocoa is rich in several antioxidants, all which contribute a variety of health benefits: epicatechin and catechin contribute to increased nitric oxide production which has a favourable impact on blood flow and heart health; procyanidins work to decrease oxidative stress, protecting cells from damage.

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Chocolate also provides some essential minerals including magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and copper which are important nutrients to support the immune system, cell production, and muscle function.

It’s important to remember that chocolate is an energy dense food and so the quantity consumed should be considered depending on your goals. Consuming it in excess might also displace your appetite for other nutrient rich foods. For this reason, it’s best consumed after a meal or snack, as opposed to before.

While chocolate has many health benefits (due to its cocoa content), there are some factors to consider when deciding when and how much to have. These include its caffeine content, and impact on iron absorption. Caffeine: A dark chocolate bunny ear (30 g) contains approximately 18 mg of caffeine, similar to a cup of green tea. For those who find caffeine has a stimulating effect, this could be enough to delay sleep if consumed later in the afternoon or evening.

For this reason, having earlier in the day might be better placed. Iron absorption: Chocolate contains oxalates and polyphenols which reduce the absorption of non haem (plant based) iron. Therefore, if you have a

history of low iron, it is best to avoid having chocolate at the same time as meals or snacks containing non haem iron foods (nuts, seeds, tofu, beans, fortified cereals).

Our tips to help you reap the benefits of chocolate and prevent a chocolate coma: 1. Go for quality over quantity; 2.

Savour your chocolate; 3. Portion it out; 4. Eat it after a meal or snack, not before; 5. If caffeine affects your sleep, avoid having too much in the evening.

Did you know?

Cocoa and cacao are different! Cacao is the raw, unprocessed bean, compared to cocoa which is roasted. In the raw form, cacao contains more minerals, antioxidants, and caffeine than cocoa. Cacao does have a slightly stronger and more bitter taste, so can take some getting use to. You can often find it in raw chocolate bars or as cacao powder.

Give it a try and see if you can taste the difference!

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

LETTERS

JWOC spectator and JWOC O-Tour experience Zara Soden etting to Baia Mare was quite an undertaking, with supporters taking different travelling options but all experiencing a lengthy wait at the border with Hungary. This led to some of us arriving later than planned.

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Baia Mare is a regional city with a population of 100,000, with forested hills nearby. The soil is volcanic in origin and very fertile particularly in the hills. Most rural houses had productive vegetable gardens, complete with fruit trees and chickens and Monet-style haystacks. Several times on the way to events we passed horses pulling a farmer in a cart!

In Baia Mare there were some impressive historical buildings and a beautiful traditional town square with many restaurants, plus some Soviet-era civic buildings and apartment blocks.

It was exciting and nerve wracking to watch our juniors in their events. Like back home, we watched dots on our screens until we got glimpses at spectator controls or cheered our athletes along the often very long finish chute. The yellow jerseys helped our team stand out. We also cheered on our NZ neighbours.

The JWOC O-Tour was the name for the public races that occurred alongside the JWOC races, comprising two sprints, two middle-distances and a long. Despite most events being hot and humid we enjoyed experiencing the maps the JWOC athletes had earlier raced around on (or trained on in the instance of the first event). It felt surprisingly normal and familiar to be orienteering despite being on the other side of the planet. In the sprints we had to look out for cars on the ‘wrong’ side of the road while running about, and ignore the sun and trust the compass. The 'bush' maps were comprised of runnable beech forest with some open meadows with very long grass. It was lovely to be in the shady forest after being in the hot sun (or under the marquees) at the arenas.

Meredith Gray in Romania.

Photo from JWOC O-Tour web page.

JWOC O-Tour Australian placegetters. Photo by Damien Enderby.

Overall it was a great experience. The Aussie supporters were a friendly group and we often ate out together in various combinations in the evenings. The Romanian countryside was beautiful with the lush green fields, and distinctive with the low-set old wooden cottages, barns and carved gates at the entrances.

We were really proud of the team’s effort and great results especially for such a young team.

It's fun to compete in the JWOC O-Tour. Running on the same maps as JWOC gave us an insight on the challenges they faced. Aussie tour winners were Sophie Taverna W20, Jenny Enderby W55 and Marcus Cazzolato Open Hard.

Jenny Enderby

Orienteering and weeding in South Australia Jeffa and John Lyon, Tintookies Orienteers, South Australia he quote from the June editorial: ’I am unaware of any conservation projects (…) by orienteering organisations’.

The following is a very minor effort, but it may reassure you that we are conservationists (OSA has been a member of Conservation SA for over 30 years) and our club (Tintookies) has until recently helped Friends of Para Wirra Park and Forestry SA to remove bone seed plants and Pinus radiata seedlings from native forests on which we have maps. As you say, blackberries are a curse, and olives and bridal creeper are growing nuisances. There is still so much to do but our efforts are good for public relations. Yes, there is an appetite to organise a weed removal group.

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44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

LETTERS

Orienteering and weeding in Victoria Neil Barr, Bendigo Orienteers, Victoria n response to your weeds article in The Australian Orienteer, there is an informal alliance between Bendigo Orienteers and the Loddon Plains Landcare Network. The target is wheel cactus. This might not be on the national list of top weeds to control, but for orienteers it is probably top of the list for the threat it poses to our best granite terrain. Left uncontrolled, it can leave areas totally impassable. There is no green deep enough in the ISOM specification to represent how impassable wheel cactus can be.

I

Kooyoora - The cactus was noticed on a course setting trip. It was on the tough upper northern slopes of the mountain. We got in touch with the Landcare Network and offered our services. The Landcare Network provided the equipment for each trip and left us to it after discovering how rough the approach was and how hard it was to find the infestations with a map. The public health restrictions ended the work but it’s time to restart.

Korong - The cactus is controlled by a local landcare group that seems to be composed of residents of the local surrounding properties. Our course setters have supplied them with information about cactus plant locations and they go out and eradicate. They do a very thorough job. This week [early May] the landcare group reached out to the club for another cactus update. There are seven plants to report.

The Granites - The cactus here is much more widespread. In mapping the area recently I created a cactus symbol and recorded 985 plants on the map. The area is surrounded by

Weeding wheel cactus. Photo by Bendigo Orienteers.

farmland on which cactus is rampant. Control is problematic.

We have made informal approaches to the Loddon Plains Landcare Network who were then to approach the Dj Dja Wurrung Corporation seeking support in the form of equipment and herbicide and agreement to start the task. Still awaiting responses. The governance of management of this land is more complex.

The mapping of the weed, whilst mapping or remapping an area for orienteering, is probably one of the most useful contributions we can make. If we can also get in there and do some eradication, even better. But as you suggest in your article, it’s not just a simple matter of turning up with gloves.

You need equipment, herbicide (in the case of wheel cactus) and to sort out the permissions. The question of insurance and training will come up, and at that point it’s sensible to make an alliance with a group that already has these issues in hand.

Spot the Difference

BY MICHAEL HUBBERT

We bring you part of a complex granite map. Scale is 1:5000 for better legibility.

Map 1 is the original drawing. Map 2 contains 15 changes. CAN YOU FIND ALL 15 ??

SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45

O-SPY

World Trail Orienteering Championships 2023 in Czechia here were 35 competitors in the Para Elite category in Precision Orienteering, representing 11 European countries.

Michael Johansson and Ola Jansson, both Swedish, correctly identified 61 of 68 controls, but Michael was 3 s faster in decision-making at timed controls. Vladyslav Vovk from Ukraine gained 57 points and the bronze medal. The medallists in the Open category, scored 67 points each, and they were from Norway (gold), Germany (silver) and Italy (bronze). The 105 Open competitors came from 19 European countries, Japan, USA and Hong Kong.

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Nea Shingler at National Sprint Championships in Sweden and Denmark ea Shingler placed third in W20E at Swedish National Sprint O Championships in May. A week later, her international mixed relay team with Jim Bailey (GB), Jakub Plonk (CZE) and Eliska Hajkova (CZE) came third in the senior elite class in Danish National Sprint O Championships.

N

IOF country codes Code AUS DEN HUN NZ SUI

Country Australia Denmark Hungary New Zealand Switzerland

Code CZE FIN NOR ROU SWE

Country Czechia Finland Norway Romania Sweden

Glossary of acronyms AO AOC ASC ASOC DNF DNS EOC EOD EYOC IOC IOF JWMTBOC JWOC MTBO NOL O OA OACT

The Australian Orienteer Australian Orienteering Championships Australian Sports Commission Australian Schools Orienteering Championships Did Not Finish Did Not Start European Orienteering Championships Enter On the Day European Youth Orienteering Championships International Olympic Committee International Orienteering Federation Junior World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships Junior World Orienteering Championships Mountain Bike Orienteering National Orienteering League Orienteering Orienteering Australia Orienteering Australian Capital Territory

Quiz answers Quiz Answer: 1C. Compass Points Solution: Hopefully you can see a kangaroo.

Spot the Difference solution

HANDYMAN For stockist call 1800 808 971 MAKERS OF THE ORIGINAL SWISS ARMY KNIFE | ESTABLISHED 1884

VICTORINOX AWARD This issue’s Victorinox Award goes to Francesca Taufer for providing The Australian Orienteer with her photos and articles. Francesca will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $139.

46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2023

Top Events August 16-20

2023 Sept 8-10

AUS MTBO Championships Brisbane, Queensland

Sept 30Oct 8

AUS Championships Western Australia

Oct 3-8

World Cup Round 3 and EOC 2023 Trentino & Veneto, Italy

Oct 20-22

NZ Championships Hastings, New Zealand

Nov 11

Malaysia MyO Asia Cup 2023 Putrajaya, Malaysia

Nov 11-12

Venice Orienteering Meeting 2023 Venice, Italy

Dec 23-26

Asian Junior and Youth Orienteering Championships 2023 Hong Kong, China Xmas 5 Days Terrigal, Central Coast, NSW www.onsw.asn.au/xmas-5-days

Dec 27-31

Sept 9-16 Sept 27-29

Sept 28 - Oct 6 AUS Champs Carnival Armidale, NSW South American Orienteering Oct 11-14 Championships, Colombia Oct 18-20 AUS MTBO Championships, ACT Asian Orienteering Championships Dec 24-30 Chiang Mai, Thailand (prelim dates) 2025 AUS 3 Days Carnival Bendigo, Victoria April 28-May 4 WMMTBOC 2025 Spain (preliminary dates) World Masters Games 2025 May 17-30 Taipei, Taiwan JWOC 2025 June 30 Bormio, Italy (preliminary dates) - July 6 July 7-12 Forest WOC 2025 Kuopio, Finland April 18-21

Aug 8-15

WMOC 2025 Girona, Spain

Aug 11-17

WMTBOC & JWMTBOC 2025 Poland (preliminary dates) EOC 2025 Antwerp, Belgium

2024 Jan 26-28 Jan 26-Feb 6

Mar 29-Apr 1 Easter May 25-26 June 1-2 June 15-16

June 21-24

June 30 July 7

HIGH O Dinner Plain, Victoria Oceania Sprint Orienteering Championships 2024 – Auckland/ Tāmaki Makaurau, New Zealand AUS 3 Days Carnival Lower Murraylands, South Australia World Cup Round 1 Olten, Switzerland World Cup Round 2 Genoa, Italy Jukola Relays Lakia, Finland

Aug 26-31

European Youth Orienteering Championships 2024, Szczecin, Poland JWOC 2024 Pilsen, Czechia

July 12-16

Sprint WOC 2024 Edinburgh, Scotland

July 21-27

O-Ringen 2024 Smålandskusten, Sweden

August 1-5

World University Orienteering Championships 2024 Bansko, Bulgaria World Masters Orienteering Championships Turku, Finland

August 3-9

World Cup Round 3 and EOC 2024, Mór, Hungary WMTBOC & JWMTBOC Bulgaria World Cup Final, Kuopio, Finland

August 5-10

WMMTBOC 2024 Viborg, Denmark

August 6-11

North American Orienteering Championships Ottawa, Canada (preliminary dates) SEPTEMBER 2023 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47

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