THE AUSTRALIAN
WINNING PARTNERSHIP
The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) develops, supports and invests in sport at all levels in Australia.
Orienteering Australia has worked closely with ASC to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance. Each year Orienteering Australia receivesfunding to support participation in orienteering across Australia.
Some current orienteering initiatives using ASC funding:
•Data Collection and Analysis. Nigel Dobson has begun working with OA to improve participant data collection. A variety of research methods will enable participation trends and insights to inform OA’s future plans.
•Online Controller Accreditation. Jim Mackay is starting the process of developing the learning material for the Controller Accreditation modules. These will be transitioned onto the Orienteering Learning Centre so members can gain accreditation in a flexible and timely manner.
• Short online learning courses. Sophie Taverna, Brodie Nankervis and Daniel Stott are working to create introductory online modules for mapping, course setting and using Purple Pen. Having these initial courses will assist more people to start within the technical realm of orienteering.
We thank the ASC for their ongoing support of orienteering in Australia.
ausport.gov.au
Cover: Niko Stoner at Day 2 of Aus 3-Days, photo by Don Cherry.
Photo by qentinjlang.com
The Chair’s
MIKE DOWLING – CHAIR OA BOARD
In April Orienteering Australia (OA) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) via the Zoom video conferencing technology system. The meeting was an opportunity of OA to present the work undertaken on behalf of the Australian orienteering community over the previous year and to formalise the working intentions of OA through 2025. As part of the AGM some amendments to the constitution were passed by members. These amendments tidied up matters that had arisen since the change to a company structure such as improving aspects of governance and equity, making it explicit OA is a not-for-profit company, and some small editorial modifications. In addition, elections for the Board were conducted. Anna Sheldon and I were re-elected to the Board, and OA was delighted to welcome Gayle Quantock from NSW to the Board. Gayle brings a wealth of knowledge and experience across a wide range of governance and orienteering areas. Clare Hawthorne left the Board. We owe Clare a huge debt of gratitude for her strategic leadership of the Performance and Coaching area of OA activities.
The Board held its first meeting past the AGM in early May. Key topics discussed by the Board were how we need to address our response to the Gender Equity directive issued by the Australian Sports Commission to achieve improved gender balance in our sport, and an associated improvement in our cultural diversity, the first analysis of how we are going in achieving our operational objectives that are aligned with our strategic objectives, the endorsement of our national teams’ management personnel for the coming international competition season in Europe, an update of how we are implementing our 'whole of sport’ participation plan, and how we may better address risk across our sport. The Board heard that our Manager, Coaching and Athlete Development in Brodie Nankervis had resigned from the role. The Board expressed its sincere thanks for the work Brodie had undertaken in that role, his work as a member of our HPMG, the development and activation of the Orienteering Learning Centre coaching curriculum, and his work in leading the development of our participation plan. By the time this edition
Year Aus 3Days Aus Champs ASOC Aus MTBO Champs Oceania Champs 2025 VIC QLD QLD WA NZ(forest)
2026 TAS TAS ACT VIC AUSNSW(sprint2026) AUSACT(forest2027)
(sprint2028) 2029 ACT TAS TAS ACT (forest2029)
2030 QLD NSW NSW (sprint2030) 2031 VIC WA WA (forest2031)
hits your mailbox we hope to have advertised and secured a suitable person to take on this important role within our sport.
On the competition front we had Australian 3-Days, or Easter 3-Days, in late April with a set of great events. On behalf of OA and the wider Australian orienteering community I wish to extend a huge thank you to the team of Victorian orienteers led by Margi Freemantle and Ted van Geldermalsen for putting on this feast of orienteering. It is always a massive volunteer effort to organise a major carnival, and OA acknowledges the valuable support of the Loddon Shire and the Victorian Government. The individual component of our National Orienteering League will have wrapped up, and our Mountain Bike Orienteering National Series is fully underway. In closing, the Board also congratulates all our members who have been selected to represent Australia across the World Championships, Junior World Championships, World Games, World Cup and World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships in both seniors and juniors. It is an honour to be selected to represent your nation in such events and the Australian orienteering community knows all of you will compete to the best of your ability and do our sport and country proud.
National Junior Training Camp
Start late afternoon of Friday 12th December Finish at lunchtime on Tuesday 16th December
Cataract Scout Camp,
Southern Highlands NSW
We apologise to those still at school that time of year. We tried to book for a week later but were unable to do so.
Round 3 18 - 21 April
Participation data
HANIA LADA
The Annual Report 2024 of Orienteering Australia contains participation data for orienteering in Australia. While all state and territory associations strive to collect and record such data we are still not capturing everyone. Take permanent orienteering courses for example. After clubs and associations put much effort into creating maps and installing permanent controls in public parks, thus facilitating orienteering for the community, there is currently no efficacious way of collecting reliable data on how many people have actually used them. We know that schools organise excursions and utilise our maps but exactly how many schools and students participate each year is a mystery. We rely on often-overworked teachers to inform us. Another issue concerns the Eventor. While the software is great for recording the number of entries, for each course, as far as I know, we still need to do manual counting if there are pairs or larger groups.
The annual report contains data on participation by females, males and ‘unknown’. To reduce the number of ‘unknown’, the organisers of events that aren’t on Eventor should remember to note how many males and females are in the cohort to improve our data collection and reporting. For people who are non-binary or prefer to not be classified or who the organisers have missed, there would still be the
‘unknown’ category. Female participation is an important metric when applying for grants for community and school sport at the moment.
Much of school orienteering for years 3 to 8, is funded by the Australian Sports Commission, through Sporting Schools grants scheme, with applications opened for three weeks each term, and schools being able to select up to three sports. Special schools, both primary and secondary, are funded as a priority. Then the leftover funds are allocated to primary schools with fewest grants in the previous four rounds, those with the lowest Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage, and who are the most remote. For the secondary and combined schools the assessment criteria are based on the percentage of females in the cohort and inactivity of the students, thus aiming to increase female participation and to target students who don’t meet their daily physical activity requirements. The latter variable sounds great in theory but in practice it leaves one wondering how accurate it is for a given school. Nonetheless, when advising teachers who apply for the Sporting Schools grants, it is worth keeping in mind that year 7 and 8 grants target females and relatively inactive students.
Finally, there is an issue concerning participation data and state levies. At the moment the formula used to work out the state levies doesn’t distinguish between U18 and adult participation. If we want to grow our sport and have many programs for the youngest then charging the states full fees for their many discounted U18 entries seems counterintuitive. Should U18 participation be allocated at most 50% of the cost of the adult one?
Australian WOC, JWOC, MTBO, WUOC and World Cup teams are outfitted by
Photo: quentinjlang.com
Photo FISU WUOC 2024 website.
Photo FISU WUOC 2024 website.
Photo IOF / Kristina Lindgren.
Photo by Eszter Kocsik.
Photo IOF / Kristina Lindgren.
Photo by Kay Haarsma.
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA BOARD
Chair & Director – International (IOF)
www.orienteering.asn.au
17 Gooraway Place, Berowra Heights, NSW 2082
MikeDowling
Director – Finance PaulLiggins
Director – Technical AnnaSheldon
Director – Performance & Coaching, IOF Foot O Commissioner
BrettWeihart
Director GayleQuantock
Director Media & Communications TroydeHaas
Director – Ex Officio, IOF Council Member BlairTrewin
Director AndreaHarris
Secretary RobertSpry
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA STAFF AND OFFICERS
General Manager
Head Coach
High Performance Administrator, IOF Map Commissioner
Participation Manager
Manager of Coaching & Officiating Administration, Manager of National Sporting Schools Program
Manager of National Awards
Chief Medical Officer
Editor of The Australian Orienteer
Manager of E-News Bulletin
Badge Scheme Secretary
Eventor Project Manager
National Integrity Manager, Complaint Manager
Manager of MTBO Development, IOF MTBO Commissioner
Communications & Marketing Manager
Ranking Officer (General)
Ranking Officer (Elite)
STATE ASSOCIATIONS
Orienteering Queensland: secretary@oq.asn.au
Orienteering NSW: secretary@onsw.asn.au
Orienteering ACT: office@act.orienteering.asn.au
ÁrpádKocsik
NatashaKey
FredrikJohansson
DanielStott
JimMackay
DavidHogg
MarkFreeman
Hania Lada
LindaBurridge
JohnOliver
PaulPrudhoe
AndrewShipton
CraigSteffens
LizLeung
DarrylErbacher
Bruce Arthur
Orienteering Victoria: secretary@vicorienteering.asn.au
Orienteering South Australia: secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au
Orienteering Western Australia: oawa.secretary@gmail.com
THEAUSTRALIAN
NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE Ideas: JUNE 27. Items: July 18. Timesensitive items: July28.
ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 2/25 (no. 215) JUNE 2025
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, magazine design & assembly: Hania Lada, P.O. Box 200, Ringwood East, Victoria 3135
magazine@orienteering.asn.au Phone 0493 615 203
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/ Orienteering Australia website > magazine
Regular Contributors: Blair Trewin, David Hogg, Marina Iskhakova
Subscriptions: State Association members via State Associations. Contact relevant Association Secretary for details. Other subscribers: refer to the OA website https://orienteering.asn.au/index.php/magazine/ Orienteering Australia website > magazine, or contact the editor.
Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.
Orienteering Tasmania: secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): topendorienteersNT@gmail.com
John Oliver9
Anna Sheldon¹¹
Andrea Harris³ Fredrik Johansson Paul Liggins Blair Trewin
Mark Freeman*
Paul Prudhoe Árpád Kocsik Natasha Key*
Jim Mackay²
Mike Dowling4
Linda Burridge³
Liz Leung¹
Bruce Arthur5 Hania Lada Daniel Stott6
Brett Weihart7
Craig Steffens8
Spectators at the last control on Day 2.
The 2025 Australian 3-Days showcased the maps of the Loddon Shire, west of Bendigo. This is an area which has both granite terrain, known from the days of the 1985 World Championships at Kooyoora, and numerous areas with goldmining. Both were on display during Easter (and at the Victorian Championships weekend afterwards), with generally runnable and enjoyable terrain which still provided a significant technical challenge.
Prologue
This year the pre-3-days events came in two parts: first a JWOC selection trial at La Trobe University in Bendigo on the Thursday afternoon, then a forest sprint in mining detail near Tarnagulla on the Friday. The JWOC trial, set by Aston Key, was very technical with numerous substantial route-choice problems. Nea Shingler and Milla Key dominated the women’s trial, finishing more than a minute clear of the rest of the field, but it was a different story for the men, where the placegetters, Cooper Horley, Euan Best and Henri du Toit, were covered by 6 s and the top five were within 16 s. For du Toit, it was the best result of his career to date and was to become the springboard to JWOC selection.
For everyone else the action started the next day, on a hot afternoon. Both senior races were won by large margins, and both sent a signal in their own way. It had been a surprise when Justine Hobson missed the 2024 JWOC team after a good season in Europe in 2023, but she bounced back from that setback in the second half of the year and had carried that form into a very promising start to her senior career in early 2025. She took a further step up here with her first significant senior win, building a lead of over a minute by halfway, which gave her leeway to lose some time on #14, and still win comfortably from Vanessa Round and Natasha Key. Matt Doyle has been in and out of serious competition over the last few years, but at the moment he is very much in, and sent a clear signal to the rest of the field with a 48-s win. Late mistakes were decisive for others; Patrick Jaffe was in the battle for the lead before losing 45 s at #17, and Sam Woolford dropped from second to sixth at the second-last. For the juniors this was a less significant race than the day before, but Nea Shingler and Milla Key again dominated (with Shingler, not for the first time, doing faster than the seniors on the same course), while Euan Best reversed the previous day’s result to take the win over Cooper Horley.
IMAGES BY DON CHERRY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
Patrick Jaffe followed by David Stocks in Prologue. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Photo by Hania Lada.
‘Crowd’ at the control on Day 2.
Toby Cazzolato on Day 2.
Planner: Aislinn Prendergast. Mapper: Neil Barr.
Grace Crane in Prologue. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Mikaela Gray approaching the last control in Prologue. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Anthony Stoner on Day 2.
Oscar in the finish chute on Day 1.
Prologue. Photo by Mike Dowling.
The Australian 3-Days
The 3-Days took in three diverse terrains. The opening was at Psalm Singing Gully near Inglewood, a flat goldmining area with often low visibility in mallee forest; Sunday took us to The Granites at Mount Egbert, a rocky area in a mix of open land and scrub, while the event finished near Tarnagulla in mostly open and fast terrain but still with enough detail with tricks for the unwary. Reverting to Easter formats last seen some years ago, the non-elite classes had three approximately equal days rather than the middle, long and relay-length format which has become familiar more recently. For the elites it was still a middle-distance opening day. Margins are often close on the opening day but the men took this to extremes this year; there were six within a minute of the lead, 14 within 3 min, and 19 within 5 min. Julian Dent, Matt Doyle and Ewan Shingler swapped the lead over the first half of the course, and Doyle and Shingler looked to have lost their chance when losing time on #12, but Doyle surged over the closing part of the course to come from fifth to first ahead of Julian Dent and Patrick Jaffe. (A welcome feature of the first day, the only one he ran officially, was the return of Aston Key in fifth place after a long injury layoff).
That laid the platform for Doyle to take control of the overall competition at Easter. He won again on the long day in a close battle with Leith Soden whose excellent season had hit a wobble on the Saturday but came good in his favoured long distance, leaving Doyle, Soden and Jaffe in the placings going into the final-day chasing start. With each separated by about 2 min, the chasing start proved to be something of a nonevent for the leaders; Jaffe narrowly won the last day but none of the gaps ever looked like closing, and Doyle prevailed by two and a half minutes. The action was instead in the battle for fourth, with Andrew Barnett making a last-day charge to catch Alastair George and David Stocks but missing out in a sprint finish.
The senior women were also relatively close on the first day, especially at the front where Caitlin Young was 12 s ahead of Justine Hobson, following on from her Prologue win, Mikayla Cooper led early before striking trouble at #9, while Grace Crane was in the mix until a late mistake. She was still in touch overall though – a margin which looks big on the first day can be swallowed very quickly in a long distance – and given her recent dominance of long distance that was exactly what happened. Emily Sorensen, who had won the long at the ACT Championships two weeks earlier, challenged Crane strongly for most of the course and led with six controls to go
Day 1. Greg Barnes and Alison Inglis finishing. Day 1 arena.
Nicole Thomas in M21 Sledge. Gary Buchan in M21 Sledge. Andrew Mason in M21 Sledge. Tash Thackray in M21 Sledge.
Day 1. W20E course routes. Planner: Clare Brownridge. Mapper: Neil Barr.
M20E – Aus 3-Days 1 Cooper Horley 2:12:41 2 Jamie Woolford 2:12:42
3 Owen Radajewski 2:12:44 4 Euan Best 2:23:20 5 Elye Dent 2:29:26 6 Alton Freeman 2:30:00
M21E – Aus 3-Days
1 Matt Doyle 2:32:12
2 Leith Soden 2:34:40
3 Patrick Jaffe 2:36:41
4 Alastair George 2:39:35
5 David Stocks 2:39:40
6 Andrew Barnett 2:39:42
W20E – Aus 3-Days
1 Nea Shingler 2:14:37
2 Erika Enderby 2:20:17
3 Liana Stubbs 2:35:42 4 Gemma Burley 2:38:31
5 Ariadna Iskhakova 2:40:43
6 Kate Braid 2:44:16
6 Ella Hogg 2:44:16
W21E – Aus 3-Days 1 Grace Crane 2:46:27 2 Caitlin Young 2:48:23
3 Emily Sorensen 2:48:29 4 Mikaela Gray 2:55:46 5 Justine Hobson 2:55:52
6 Mikayla Cooper 2:56:55
Mick Cooper in M21 Sledge. Busy finish chute on Day 1.
Liana, and Matt Doyle on Day 2.
Cooper on Day 2.
Hayden and Euan on Day 2.
Nea Shingler.
Lanita Steer in W21E on Day 2.
but time losses on #24 and #26 dropped her a couple of minutes back, ahead of Young in third.
That left Crane 4 min clear going into the chasing start, with Young and Sorensen separated by 11 s. The lead was whittled away without being seriously threatened – the gap was 2 min in the end – but the battle for second was close throughout. Young let her lead slip with a minor time loss at #21 but got it back over the closing stages and prevailed over Sorensen in the closing stages. The next three places were filled by Mikaela Gray, Hobson and Cooper; given the predominance of older competitors in elite women’s races in Australia in recent years, it is an encouraging sign that five of the top six were in their early or mid-20s.
The one chasing-start sprint finish for the lead was in M20, in which Cooper Horley, Jamie Woolford and Owen Radajewski were separated by 3 s after three days of competition. Horley struck the first blow with a 20-s win over Woolford on the opening day. Radajewski had got off to a bad start there when he lost 3 min on the first control, but got back into overall contention with a strong win in the long race and ultimately won the last two days, but that was still not quite enough for the title. Horley started the chasing start a minute ahead of the other two but lost a minute at #5 to drop into the bunch, and it was a head-to-head battle from there.
In contrast with close finishes elsewhere, Nea Shingler completely dominated the first day in W20 (with some help from her nearest rival from the previous days, Milla Key, running W21), finishing over 5 min clear of the field and
staying clean while most of her rivals did not, winning 10 out of 15 splits. Erika Enderby narrowly won each of the last two days but the gap was far too big to bridge. On the long day, Enderby and Shingler were 9 min clear of the field with Liana Stubbs best of the rest. Shingler was never really under pressure on the last day and had more than enough space to withstand a 3-min loss at #8; Enderby was an equally comfortable second, with Stubbs holding third despite dropping back on the final day.
Outside the elite classes, six classes were decided by less than 2 min. Closest of all was W14, where Justine de Remy de Courcelles came from 5 min behind on the last day to overtake Alma Walter by 6 s. Another big last-day comeback came in W75, with Val Hodsdon hauling in a 4-min lead on Kerryne Jones, while in W80, Jenny Hawkins turned a 2-min deficit into a 1:53 win over Valerie Brammall. M45 and W40 were close throughout, with Gareth Candy edging out Rob Walter by 32 s, and Briohny Seaman 25 s ahead of Felicity Brown, while wins on the first two days gave Lachlan Braid enough of a margin to hold off Ben Marschall by 47 s in M18. W40, W75 and W80 all had three separate day winners. Six competitors, all men, managed a clean sweep of all three days in contested classes (although Jennifer Enderby missed out by only 4 s from doing so in W55). Of these the most impressive was Geoff Lawford, who has been in excellent form all year and won by at least 7 min on all three days in M70 (it might have been closer had Chris Norwood and Ted van Geldermalsen not been otherwise engaged in the
Andrew Barnett.
Prologue. Serena Doyle. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Day 2. Ian Dias.
Day 2. Wendy Taverna. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Day 1. Jana Asterova and Natalie Still.
Day 2. Robert Smith and Jarrah Day. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Emily Sorensen. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Sophie Taverna on Day 2.
Day 2. Steve Cooper.
Day 2. Alastair George. Day 2. Pui Fung Chan (HK).
Ariadna.
Christine Sinickas.
William.
Day 2 map. Course 5.
organisation, but even had they been there it would have been hard to see him being beaten). Tim Hatley and Greg Barbour also swept M65 and M60 respectively, Matt Crane and Richard Goonan dominated small fields in M40 and M35, and Walter Butler got his first, and probably not his last, title by winning M10.
Euan Shedden (M14) and Basil Baldwin (M85) both came from third after two days to win, although both were within 2 min of the lead when they did so. Shedden won the last two days to take overall honours after a slow start, while Baldwin was one of four who won overall without winning a day. The remaining final-day comeback was in M50, where Grant Bluett found himself 12 s down on Craig Dufty after a significant error on the second day but reasserted control with a finalday win to prevail by 3 min.
W45 was denied the close finish it deserved when Jo Allison missed the last control on the first day; she was first and
second on the remaining two days but her elimination from overall contention meant Shannon Jones took a comfortable win. In W50, Belinda Allison won the first and last days, but two major time losses on the second day dropped her to third overall, with three straight second places giving Clare Hawthorne the win over Jenny Casanova. Debbie Davey (W65) and Jenny Bourne (W70) both got off to a slow start, but dominated thereafter to end up with double-digit margins.
Kwok Fung Cheung on Day 2.
Day 3 arena in Tarnagulla. Photo by Hania Lada.
Justine Hobson. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Day 2. Duncan Currie.
Day 1. Jenny Casanova.
Day 2. Peter Dalwood.
Day 2. The last control. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Day 1. Maja and Charlotte sprinting to the finish line.
Day 3 arena. Photo by Hania Lada.
Day 2. Anna Skarbek.
Day 2. Rosemary Kullmann.
Day 2. Remi Afnan. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Day 3 map, course 1. Planner: James Roberston. Mapper: Neil Barr.
Crane and Soden take individual National Orienteering League titles
Grace Crane and Leith Soden are the senior champions in the 2025 National Orienteering League after the individual part of the season concluded on the Central Coast of NSW in May. This completed a season which started with the Oceania Championships in New Zealand and continued with rounds in Western Australia in March and at the Australian 3-Days in Victoria.
For Soden, the title put the stamp on an impressive first year and a half in the senior ranks which has seen him selected for
M20E Middle NOL 2a WA 4.7 km
1 Euan Best TAS 33:56 2 Cooper Horley NSW 34:13
3 Jamie Woolford NSW 34:38
Jett McComb
2 Euan Best TAS 15:21
3 Elye Dent CBR 15:55
Henri
M20E Sprint NOL 2c WA 3.7 km
1 Cooper Horley NSW 13:39
2 Elye Dent CBR 14:11
3 Euan Best TAS 14:14
3 Owen Radajewski CBR 14:14
5 Alton Freeman NSW 14:45
6 Liam Dufty WA 14:59
M21E Middle
1
M21E Sprint NOL 2c WA 3.7 km
1 Ethan Penck SA 13:26 2 Callum White VIC 13:56
3 Angus Haines SA 14:09 4 Leith Soden SA 14:11 5 Alastair George NSW 14:12
his first WOC team later this year. He set up his season by being lead Australian in the two forest races at Oceania and winning the middle distance in Western Australia, and while he did not have any more wins, he picked up enough placings to keep his challengers at arms’ length. Angus Haines took second, led by two wins in his favoured sprint distance. Matt Doyle won three races over the weekend, but did not run enough races for a full score and finished out of the placings.
Nea Shingler NSW 13:32
Milla Key VIC 15:07
Erika Enderby NSW 15:15 4 Liana Stubbs TAS 15:51 5 Kate Braid WA 16:39
6 Gemma Burley SA 17:09
W20E Sprint NOL 2c WA 3.2 km
1 Nea Shingler NSW 13:46
2 Milla Key VIC 14:08
3 Erika Enderby NSW 14:17
4 Liana Stubbs TAS 15:57
5 Amy Dufty WA 16:00
6 Kate Braid WA 16:10
5 Amber Riddle VIC 15:50
5 Emily Sorensen SA 16:01
6 Ewan Shingler NSW 14:14 W21E Sprint NOL 2c WA 3.2 km 1 Caitlin Young CBR 14:17 2 Grace Crane CBR 14:32 3 Justine Hobson CBR 15:41 4 Natasha Key VIC 15:47
M21E 4leg-2person Sprint
BLAIR TREWIN, IMAGES BY TASH THACKRAY FROM OUTBACK PAPARAZZI, UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
Aus 3-Days. Henri du Toit and Euan Best. Photo by Don Cherry.
Leith Soden. Photo by Don Cherry.
NOL WA 2025. Grace Crane.
Brodie Nankervis
Angus Haines SA 37:50 3 Leith Soden SA 37:55 4 Alastair George NSW 38:46
5 Elye Dent CBR 49:32 6 Jett McComb TAS 50:23
5 Angus Haines SA 40:49
Crane’s title was the latest of many – her sixth in total (over a span of 20 years) and fourth in the last five years. It came down to the last day of the season, which she went into level with Cockatoos teammate Caitlin Young in a winner-takes-all scenario, and she secured the result with a win while Young was third. Both won four races during the season, with Crane taking two wins and a second in New Zealand, while Young won the two sprints in Western Australia and two days of Easter. Emily Sorensen and Justine Hobson also finished within striking distance, with both winning races during the season.
For most of the season the junior men had a close three-way battle among Cooper Horley, Euan Best and Owen Radajewski, but only Horley made it to the last round and his win there was enough to give him overall victory. His reputation comes from the sprint and he won twice there in Perth, but also added two middle-distance wins to his record, while Best and Radajewski won three times each during the year. Nea Shingler dominated the junior women’s competition, winning seven of 11 races and getting the maximum possible score; Milla Key and Erika Enderby were best of the rest.
The team competition continues until the Australian Championships but is already taking shape. The NSW Stingers are once again dominating the junior women and have maximum points from every round, while the Canberra Cockatoos are almost as dominant in the senior women, only dropping points in the sprint relay in Perth. In both cases there are good battles for second, with the Victorian Vikings and Southern Arrows fighting it out in the seniors, and four teams within nine points in the juniors.
The Vikings have made a good start in the senior men and came away from Easter with a useful lead, although the Stingers and Cockatoos made inroads into it on the Central Coast in May. With the two lead individual runners, the Southern Arrows are also close enough to be contenders if they can find a reliable third scorer, although their cause in that respect was not helped by a significant injury to Simon Uppill at Easter. The junior men have a tight two-way race between the Stingers and Cockatoos.
Katherine MaundrellCBR 1:08:04
NOL WA 2025. Cooper Horley.
NOL WA 2025. Nea Shingler.
NOL WA 2025. Caitlin Young.
NOL WA 2025. Angus Haines.
NOL WA 2025. Relay.
NOL WA 2025. Milla and Natasha Key.
World Masters MTBO Championships 2025, Spain
JOHN GAVENS, TEXT AND PHOTOS, UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
John Gavens. Photo by Heather Leslie.
Peter Cusworth. Photo by Eloisa Tapia, WMMTBOC 2025 website.
Day 4 - The sprint. Hasten slowly!
The final event of the championships was a complex sprint on a campus of Universidad de Murcia. For most riders, the quicker you went the more trouble you found! In W70, Heather Leslie again finished second just 1 min 28 s behind the Swiss powerhouse [Monika Bonafini]. Kay Haarsma rode steadily to finish in third and Carolyn Cusworth was fifth. In M70, Peter Cusworth and John Gavens failed to find harmony and rhythm with the map and finished sixth and 13th respectively.
The wrap
Overall it was a great carnival!Firstly, the organisation, communication and administration of the events were exemplary. Secondly, the doyen of masters MTBO, Keith Dawson, described the championships as the ‘hardest world championships that have been set to date’. Finally, there were some standout performances by the Australian riders. These included first-time medals to Heather Leslie including one gold and three silvers, first-time medals for Carolyn Cusworth with a silver and bronze, first-time gold to Peter Cusworth and a bronze 11 years after his last medal, and two bronze medals to Kay Haarsma.
These performances continue to demonstrate the quality of riders and events in Australia. We should all take the opportunity to bring friends and families to our events and encourage riders to enjoy the experience of riding at overseas events such as these.
Medals for mass start. Carolyn Cusworth, Heather Leslie and Peter Cusworth.
Heather Leslie.
Photos by Eloisa Tapia, WMMTBOC 2025 website.
Photos by Eloisa Tapia, WMMTBOC 2025 website.
The long area. Photo by Kay Haarsma.
Sprint. Photo by Eloisa Tapia, WMMTBOC 2025 website.
Fragment of the sprint map, Men Elite Part 1. WMMTBOC 2025 website. Mapper and planner: Juan F Abellán Ortin.
National MTBO Series, round 1, Victorian MTBO Championships
JOHN GAVENS, VIC CHAMPIONSHIPS CARNIVAL DIRECTOR, EDITED
Strong fields, great weather, championship quality courses, top-class administration; what more could you ask for at the Victorian MTBO Championships? Close to 100 individual competitors from all Australian states, the ACT and New Zealand gathered at Castlemaine to take on the challenge. It was also great to see a strong field of junior riders. The events were selection trials for the upcoming world championships in Poland, and part of the national MTBO series.
A special call out to David King from Christchurch who decided on the Friday to attend, subject to availability of maps. He then booked a flight, and arrived on Saturday morning in time to compete. We call that passion for the sport!
The sprint
The championships opened with a sprint that included Castlemaine Secondary College, Mt Alexander Golf Club and the adjoining Kalimna forest trails. First-time championship course setter, Gavin Bennette (YV), supported by controller Kathy Liley (YV) challenged riders with tricky navigation choices including several crossings of the golf club fairways and twisting rocky trails that brought a smile to most competitors’ faces.
In the open women’s, world junior representative Maya Bennette (Vic) was first to most controls and finished 1:24 ahead of Marina Iskhakova (ACT). Celsey Adams (Vic) finished third. In the open men’s, James Robertson (Vic) won by 0:53 from 2024 Australian representative Will Whittington (Tas), 2 s ahead of Ricky Thackray (WA).
The middle
The middle distance event was set by Dion Keech (MFR) with support again from controller Kathy Liley. The event was on the Old Quartz Hill map east of the school, and included trails and single track through native forest and pine plantations. As a taste of what was to come, the start was at the top of a 1 km steep hill from the school. A number of competitors had their heart racing before they started, in particular the two M60
competitors who forgot to take their SI sticks with them, and had to do it twice!
The course had many trails with rocky steep climbs, and was a worthy challenge as a championship course. One competitor who did not finish texted ‘ I’m so lost I’ve had to use my phone to navigate’, and ‘recovered’ by riding towards a tracker placed on their son!
In the open women’s, Iskhakova turned the tables on Bennette to win by over 2 min, with Adams third. In the open men’s, Robertson again proved too strong with a 9 min margin to Whittington, with Fedor Iskhakov (ACT) third. Thackray did not finish following a mechanical failure.
The long
The long distance event was held on Sunday at Muckleford. This was a return to the location used for the Victorian Championships in 2023. The course setter for the event was Rob Edmonds (NE) who was assisted by Helen Edmonds, and Tim Hatley (BK) was the controller. This area consists of a complex single track network with many other tracks and roads. Competitors generally agreed that is a special area suited to MTBO.
One competitor was caught ‘short’ when they forgot to bring their riding knicks. They think that nobody noticed that they rode only in merino underpants!
In the open women’s, Bennette was hampered by a tyre blow out resulting in a clear win to Iskhakova. This was a disappointing result as their head to head was turning into a highlight of the championships. In the open men’s, Thackray recovered from the disappointment of the day before to take the win by over 5 min from Robertson, with Gavin Bennette (Vic) coming in third.
Thank you!
This event was made possible by the enormous contribution of the setters and controllers mentioned above, and the starting team organised by Carolyn Cusworth (BK), the registration team organised by Kathy Liley, and the finishing team lead by Greg Tamblyn (BK) and supported by Pierre Brockner. We thank them for their great support.
Kate Gavens in the long.
Start of the sprint.
W21. Maya, Marina & Casey. M21. Fedor, Will, James, Ricky & Gavin.
Photos by Hania Lada.
Ride. Navigate. Conquer. 2025 Australian MTBO Championships Collie, Western Australia 5–7 September 2025
We need you! Whether you're chasing a podium, love the thrill of riding fast with a map, or just enjoy a social ride on gorgeous trails, the 2025 Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships in Collie, Western Australia is your mustdo spring adventure.
Two hours south of Perth, Collie is home to world-class mountain bike terrain, including the newly built Wambenger Trails - packed with flow, challenge, and speed for all levels of skill and endurance. The maps have been crafted by WA’s most experienced mappers, and courses set by a mix of Australian representatives and well-travelled world master racers who know how to test skill, strategy, and stamina
Race Program:
Riders of all ages and experience levels are welcome - from juniors to elites to recreational riders and E-bike riders. You’ll be navigating using your bike and a map board through terrain designed to challenge and inspire. E-Bike riders we need you!! We have specially designed E-bike courses for your enjoyment.
Saturday night is social night — a chance to unwind, share stories, and celebrate our legendary MTBO community. This will also be our presentations night, where awards and prizes for the first three events will be held.
September in Collie is magic: cool mornings, wildflowers blooming, perfect trail conditions. After your race, cool off in the stunning Black Diamond Lake, explore the Wellington National Park trails, or take a short drive to the coast to dip your toes in WA’s famous turquoise beaches.
Keen to keep the adventure going?
On 13 Sept, Dwellingup 100 MTB Classic, WA's premier MTB event, and WA Spring 12-Hour Rogaine - navigate on foot under the stars.
• Mass Start – Friday 5 Sept (PM)
Adrenaline-fuelled, head-to-head racing to kick things off.
• Middle Distance – Saturday 6 Sept (AM)
A technical, fast-flowing ride through the forest.
• Sprint – Saturday 6 Sept (PM)
Sharp turns, quick decisions, and full-throttle fun.
The maps are fresh. The terrain is fast. The planning is elite. All that’s missing is you.
Entries & info: ausmtbochamps2025.orienteering.asn.au eventor.orienteering.asn.au
• Long Distance – Sunday 7 Sept (AM)
A true test of endurance, route choice, and brain-on-bike navigation.
Grab your bike and ride into something unforgettable. The Aus MTBO Champs are calling you.
Everyone is warmly welcomed to the 2025 ACT MTBO Championships!
The 2025 ACT Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships will be held over 2 days in the beautiful surroundings of Canberra! Events will provide competitors with some great network of beautiful tracks and fire road riding in fantastic locations of Jerrabomberra (Sprint Champs), and with excitement of a newly updated map of flowing single tracks and fire roads of East Kowen by Hamish Mackie (Middle and Long Championships). It will be the next big MTBO event in ACT, after a recent 2024 Australian MTBO Carnival hosted by OACT in Canberra. Entries are open on Eventor. Lock the dates, book accommodation and start your intense MTBO training and preparations:)! CANBERRA IS CALLING!
SPRINT CHAMPS – Jerrabomberra - Saturday, 18 October (9am)
MIDDLE CHAMPS – East Kowen - Saturday, 18 October (2pm)
LONG CHAMPS – East Kowen – Sunday, 19 October (9am)
Full details and entries are here:
https://act.orienteering.asn.au/event-series/mountain-bike-orienteering/
New Zealand Orienteering Championships 2025
COURTESY OF ORIENTEERING NEW ZEALAND FACEBOOK & WEBSITE, PHOTOS BY JOOLZ MOORE UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
Photo by Annemarie Hogenbirk.
Despite huge adjustments to the map in the last few weeks due to a last minute change in consent, planner Ryan Moore & controller Bruce Steven worked hard to extend, and map, a new section for the sprint. Light drizzle on race day created slippery conditions, challenging competitors' speed and stability especially on smooth stone and wet grass. The courses featured many short sharp legs, a small maze and barriers on a central Christchurch’s park area. The race between Zefa Fa'avae and Joseph Lynch in Men's 21E was exciting to watch, with Zefa finishing only 16 s in front. In the Women's 21E favourite Lizzie Ingham's resilience, unflappable navigation and consistent running strength was evident. Lizzie held onto top position with 54 s spare in front of Renee Beveridge.
Mixed relay
1 Nelson 1 (Zefa Fa’avae, Tide Fa’avae, Matt Ogden) 1:38:33
2 Auckland 1 (Sam Carryer, Zara Stewart, Nathan Borton) 1:44:24
3 PAPO 2 (Tane Cambridge, Katherine Babington, Jakob Knoef) 1:49:02
Elites in 20E and 21E thrashed it out competitively on a new technically demanding sand dune map for the 2025 NZ National O Champs Middle Distance event. In the senior women Lizzie Ingham holds onto her title, with Kaia Jorgensen just less than 2 min behind. The big thrashing was in the battle between the junior and senior men's elites, with Felix Hunt showing the gutsy success of the juniors by outpacing Matt Ogden. The long course featured plenty of climbing in steep, rough, rocky terrain which made the stakes high on the key decisionmaking choices. Later in the day, the rain set in adding to the challenge and making it more slippery underfoot. The rivalry between Felix Hunt and Zefa Fa’avae was fiercely contested, with Felix Hunt winning by just 22 s. In the men’s junior 20E category, Jake McLellan claimed the top spot. Oscar Burns, whose route choice led him through some challenging green, followed 10:28 behind. In the women’s race, Lizzie Ingham was seen to make a fast slide into the second-to-last control, securing victory over Kaia Jorgensen by 2:48. In the junior 20E women’s category, Rachel Baker led through the hilly terrain, with Tide Fa’avae trailing by 2:26.
Knoef 49:08
3 Jake McLellan 50:16
3 Anna Babington
Joseph Lynch and Zefa Fa’avae in the relay.
Lizzie Ingham in the sprint.
Orienteering at the Australian National Botanic Gardens
TEXT BY PHIL WALKER, OACT EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PHOTOS BY JOHN HARDING UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
As each year goes by it seems to be getting harder to obtain permission from landowners and property managers to hold orienteering events, even at locations that previously have had no issues. Reasons for not being approved vary, be it buildings under construction in campuses and institutions, forest areas closed off or heavily restricted due to new environmental conditions, multiple landowner groups to be consulted, or it just being all too hard for some property managers to take on. Added to this some institutions and government land managers are requiring substantial fees for access.
Every so often, a bright light appears, which was the case with the management at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) in Canberra being very receptive to our approach. Engagement was initiated by the Orienteering ACT President, Susanne Harrysson in mid-2024 and continued throughout the year. The ANBG’s management set out clear guidelines for areas that could be used with strict conditions that no participants should enter the garden beds. This was entirely understandable given that the ANBG has the world’s most comprehensive display of living Australian native plants. To satisfy this condition Paul de Jongh produced a map that was extensively olive green, crisscrossed with a network of tracks and paths between the garden beds.
On Sunday 16 March 2025, Orienteering ACT held the ACT Sprint Championships at the ANBG. ANBG management had given us approval for the event to be held between 8.30 am and 11.00 am to minimise the impact on other users of the Gardens. This worked well making for a safe event but presented a challenge in constraining the time for setup, running the event and packing up. The Gardens were open to the public, with visitors, birdwatchers, volunteer friends of the Gardens, and ANBG rangers on duty. Forever in the minds of the event organisers was the risk of reputational damage if only one participant was seen running across a garden bed. To mitigate the risk the event organisers provided numerous briefings on the need stay out of out of bounds areas, and placed marshals at key points to monitor the runners. Pleasingly there were no reported cases of participants entering the olive green.
A lot of maintenance work goes on every week at the ANBG, with tracks being repaired, trimming of plants, clearing fallen trees after high winds and garden beds being replanted. Consequently, tracks were closed off or opened to the public at short notice necessitating several changes to the map in the fortnight before the event with purple hatching added or removed. March happens to be the time of year when the huge cones from the Bunya Pines start to fall and there are several large specimens close to tracks that would have been used as route choices for the event. These tracks were closed off by the ANBG rangers due to safety concerns.
Course setter, Bryant Allen, had the runners quickly into a maze of multiple tracks in the Myrtaceae and Proteaceae gardens, from there the courses criss-crossed and looped on the way to the narrow intricate tracks in the rock garden and the Gondwanan garden, followed by a hill climb on the longer
Photo by Phil Walker.
courses to test the legs and lungs, before descending into the rainforest gully which offered route options of staying in the gully, using the elevated boardwalk or getting out of the gully and using longer but faster routes on the roads.
Another aspect of the event was the use of the Mesh-O radio network for tracking and displaying participants’ progress throughout their courses. The concept is being refined from event to event and worked well, and was used across all classes and courses.
The event attracted 205 entries, with dozens travelling from interstate to experience a rather unique orienteering competition at an iconic location of national significance. The event was an outstanding success, and goes to show that when an organisation, such as the ANBG, is open to conversations about holding an orienteering event, and the event organisers work closely with the management and stakeholders, then orienteering can be held in locations that may at first thought seem improbable.
The event was put on by the Parawanga club. Many will remember Sue Garr, a Parawangan, who sadly passed away in December 2023 after a brave 9-month battle with GBM brain cancer. Aside from orienteering one of Sue’s passions was volunteering in the seed propagation group at the ANBG. A memorial bench was installed at the ANBG in the fortnight before the event, and coincidentally that bench was next to the start triangle, making this event, even more special for all those who helped organise the event. Sue would surely have been looking down approvingly on the day.
Rock garden. Photo by Phil Walker.
Youngest competitors.
Alex Davey (NSW).
Arena. Photo by Phil Walker.
Tony Garr at Sue Garr’s memorial bench.
Nea Shingler (NSW).
The EYOC 2025 Australian Squad
The team will represent Australia at the 2025 European Youth Orienteering Championships in Brno, Czechia, from 16 to 20 July. This is the largest and most prestigious orienteering competition for athletes competing in the youth orienteering classes, WM16 & 18. This year, more than 400 youth athletes from 28 countries, including nations beyond Europe such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Israel, will compete in Brno across three formats: long, sprint, and relay. EYOC 2025 Squad: 14 team members plus one reserve
W16: Shari Gilbert, Ariadna Iskhakova
M16: Ho Lam Marcus Cheung, Hayden Dent, Alton Freeman, Rory Shedden
W18: Alexandra Edwards, Maggie Mackay, Liana Stubbs, Savanna Sweeney Reserve: Aoife Rothery
M18: William Barnes, Euan Best, Elye Dent, Matthew Slater Squad coach: Marina Iskhakova Squad manager: Fedor Iskhakov
A reminder. The end of the financial year is approaching fast. Please consider making a tax deductible donation tosupport our teams representing Australia in2025, National Senior Team, National Junior Team, and National MTBO Team. Thank you so much for your generous donations last year, they helped our athletes afford to compete overseas. The donation page on the Orienteering Australia website provides all the information about donations. Link to the donation page https://orienteering.asn.au/donate/
Savanna Sweeney12
Liana Stubbs2
Hayden Dent2 Shari Gilbert2
Euan Best10 Ho Lam Marcus Cheung13
Matthew Slater2
Rory Shedden2 William Barnes2 Alexandra Edwards6
Maggi Mackay2
Elye Dent2
Marina Iskhakova and Fedor Iskhakov. Photo by Fedor Iskhakov.
Ariadna Iskhakova2
Alton Freeman2
Photo credits: 2Terry Cooke, 6 Mike Dowling, 7Tony Hill, 10PhotosByTom.com.au, 12Geoff Peel, 13Hania Lada
World Cup 2025 Round 3
Alastair George5
Brodie Nankervis14
Page photo credits: 1quentinjlang.com, 2Terry Cooke, 5Simon George, 6Mike Dowling, 7Tony Hill, 8IOF Kristina Lindgren, 12Geoff Peel, 14Don Cherry, 17Tash Thackray from Outback Paparazzi, 18Silvan Schletti, 19IOF / Terje W. Pettersen
Spot the difference
What are the five differences between the two maps?
Quiz
1. On the master map above what is a thick black circle depicting?
A. Dangerous pit (falling into it could be deadly).
B. Boulder.
C. Pile of tyres.
D. Termite mound.
2. What type of terrain does the map above represent?
A. Sand dunes.
B. Reef mining.
C. Granite terrain.
D. University campus.
HANIA LADA
Polish your skills
Find the highest point on the map below. Draw how you would go from there to control 2.
3. The road (thick black line) just above the start triangle, goes SE to NW to the road junction
A. Down a spur.
B. Down a gully.
C. Up a gully.
D. Up a spur.
The answers are on page 46.
Link to post-print corrections/quiz/survey
Follow this link to post-print corrections, quiz and survey on one form. Check out what mistakes in the current edition have been discovered too late, feel free to attempt some or all quiz questions, and provide data by completing the survey.
Independent Athletes Development Camp 2025 Invitation
HELEN O’CALLAGHAN, ONSW JUNIOR SQUAD MANAGER (0478226601), 2025 INDEPENDENT ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT CAMP COORDINATOR
Invitation
You are warmly invited to attend our Independent Athletes Development Camp to be held at Tyamolum Scout Camp, near Brisbane, from 26 September to 5 October 2025. This camp is being held to enable you to participate in the Australian Orienteering Championships Carnival, including the Australian Schools Orienteering Championships (ASOC) with a full camp experience. The camp will include coaching, participation in all events, transport, fun activities, social connections and more.
Eligibility
While you will be encouraged to run your normal age group for the Australian Championship events, preference will be given to those who meet the requirement for ASOC participation in order to come on this camp. These requirements include being at least 12 years old by 31 December 2025, and being capable of safely completing a moderate course (if 15 or under in 2025) or a hard course (if 16 or over in 2025). If you are unsure, please contact us, as we would love to be able to have you along if we can.
Program of events
Friday 26 September: Arrival at Tyamolum Scout Camp 4 pm to 8:30 pm. Camp meeting at 8:30 pm.
Saturday 27 September: Australian Sprint Championships, Brisbane.
Sunday 28 September: Australian Long Distance Orienteering Championships, Wivenhoe.
Monday 29 September: Rest day, activities TBA.
Tuesday 30 September: Australian Schools Sprint Orienteering Championships, Indoorapilly.
Wednesday 1 October: Australian Schools Long Distance Orienteering Championships, Old Hidden Vale.
Thursday 2 October: Australian Schools Relay Orienteering Championships, Deebing Creek.
Friday 3 October: Rest day, activities TBA.
Saturday 4 October: Australian Relay Orienteering Championships, Wivenhoe.
Sunday 5 October: Australian Middle Distance Orienteering Championships, Ipswich.
A more comprehensive program will be provided as the date draws closer.
Event entries do not form a part of the costs of this camp. You will be expected to enter yourself in all of the competition events. For ASOC events, you need to enter yourself in the Independent Athlete (IA) category. For the ASOC relays you will be placed into an ad hoc team which may be with juniors from your home state, or juniors you have met on our camp. Either way, you won't miss out on all the fun!
Accommodation and food will be at the Tyamolum Scout Camp, about 35 min from Brisbane. Bedding will be dormitory accommodation, and you will need to bring sleeping bags and pillows. Should the need arise, we can have some overflow accommodation in tents. All meals will be provided from Friday 26 September (light supper) to Sunday 5 October (lunch). Dietary restrictions will be catered for, as long as they are listed on your entry form.
NOTE: There is a maximum capacity for the bunks (no limit on camping), so enter early to secure your place.
Accompanying adults
Do you have an adult in your life who would like to come on the camp as a coach, supervisor, cook, driver and/or photographer? Please encourage them to contact us. If bunkrooms are filled with juniors, adults may be asked to camp onsite (tent hire available). All volunteer adults will be required to have the Queensland Government Blue Card. Day campers are once again warmly welcomed. There are any number of reasons why it might be best for you to stay off-site. However, that won’t stop you from being fully included with the group at all events as well as many of our other activities – including presentations, social activities and some meal invitations at camp; our rest day excursions and our restaurant dinner. There may even be a chance for a camp sleepover.
The cost of the camp will be approximately $900 per junior for the whole camp. A deposit of $150 is required to secure your place on the camp. Volunteer adults can expect a reduced cost for the camp, but will still need to pay a $150 deposit. The camp fee will cover accommodation, all food, transport to and from all events, and sundries. This does not include the cost of transport to and from the camp from your home town, though we will do our best to help you out with logistics. Day campers can expect a total fee of up to $100, and can secure their place with a deposit of $30. Final costs will be known (and billed) after the camp.
This camp is supported by Orienteering Australia and Orienteering Queensland with administration support from Orienteering New South Wales.
Do you want to go to the Australian Championships Carnival 2025? 26th September – 5th October 2025
Do you want to meet people, make friends and become better at orienteering?
Are you working towards trying out for your state team in 2026?
The IA Development Camp may be your perfect solution!
Are you looking for certainty even if you’re not sure if you’ll be selected?
Orienteering Australia brings full Livelox access to all members
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
Orienteering Australia is excited to announce the purchase of a full subscription to Livelox, giving all members free access to the complete range of features!
Livelox Unlimited allows all races and orienteering activities organised inside the borders of Australia to be fully accessible to Livelox. No Livelox subscription is required to access the Livelox features. Livelox AS assures a continuous service, maintenance and support for all the events. Livelox is a powerful online platform that allows orienteers to upload, view, and analyse their race results and routes. With this subscription, every Orienteering Australia member will now be able to track their performance, compare routes, and share experiences with fellow orienteers. The free version only allows one route to be viewed. Now you can replay multiple routes simultaneously.
OA is thrilled to offer this valuable resource to the community and look forward to seeing how Livelox will help you enjoy and improve your orienteering experience!
Introducing the winning formula: from distraction to discipline
RACHEL COLLINS, PSYCHOLOGY COACH
Orienteering is coined as the ‘thinking’ sport for runners. So why does the thinking aspect not get the same recognition as its physical and technical counterparts? There are big gains to be made when we start to own this thinking aspect. What’s the answer? Psychoeducation, mental skills training and personal understanding of your own mind. Through these magazine articles I aim to provide psychoeducation of individual mental skills. This article will introduce four mental skills, with each edition hereafter taking one skill in detail, so keep an eye out for the following articles.
Introduction of the four mental skills
1. Focus state: A state is everything that a person experiences in any given moment, for example, our thoughts, emotions, and physiology. So, a focus state is ensuring that our experience is supportive of being focused, i.e., able to fully concentrate on the given task at hand.
2. Mindfulness – being aware of thoughts that are happening in the moment (potential distractors) and choosing to let these go.
3. Visualisation – imagining visual scenarios alongside your other senses to run through a ‘movie’ of how to deal with specific situations (e.g. seeing another runner out on the course).
4. Self-talk – this refers to the language that a person uses when talking to themselves. This language is usually positive or negative by default.
A couple of tools to help gauge your current proficiency with these mental skills:
Mental skills table
Fill in the table below, with a scale of 0-5 with 0-poor, and 5great to rate your current levels.
You can then use this rating to reflect on your strengths and weakness and what areas may need more attention.
Mental skills diagram
Place each mental skill in the most relevant coloured box below.
Ultimately, you are trying to move through this diagram, from green > pink > yellow > blue. It may vary as to which colour you feel you are currently, and this will depend on a number of factors, including your current knowledge of these mental skills.
The more you practise a skill, the more competent you become at that skill. The more competent you become, the more often this skill can be performed at an unconscious level.
For example: generally driving a car happens automatically, therefore this skill would be placed in the blue box.
What are your goals with the ‘thinking aspect’?
Think of this question in terms of progression within your orienteering. To make this slightly easier you may want to ask yourself:
•What will I notice that shows I have progressed?
•What will be different once I have reached these goals?
What have my participants said?
Allison Page, DFOK
I have changed my whole start process and no longer chat but instead run through a routine of starting my Garmin, reading any info properly, checking north while looking at the blank map and just being more mentally present. I am more mentally aware during my run using just the word ‘focus.’
Another thing I have started to do is to slow down and properly focus from the start to control 1, so that I don't make a mistake. I realise that making a mistake so early on really upsets the rest of the run so am now trying to avoid that.
Rachel’s top tip It is often easier to strengthen the skill that you are already capable of. To gain real benefits though, developing the skills that you find hardest, will allow for a more varied toolbox so that you can complete a race that you can be more satisfied with.
Services
If you’d be interested in purchasing this webinar miniseries, please email me at hello@rachel-coach.com
If you are interested in working 1-1 then please take a look at my website: www.rachel-coach.com
Instagram: @rachel_coach_athletes
LinkedIn: Rachel Collins (founder of Rachel-Coach)
Photo by Hugo Lilleström, Monki Media in Falun, Sweden.
Falcon O Club
OLIVER WELLINGS, GARINGAL ORIENTEERING CLUB
There has been a long history of involvement in orienteering at North Sydney Boys High School (NSBHS), so this is a story about how we revived the tradition after the pandemic caused a hiatus of a couple of years. The key factors have been the easily accessible and family-friendly structure of the Bold Horizons Saturday Orienteering Series (SOS), the links to the sport and networks established in the past, and the friendliness and support of the orienteering community, including the leadership team of Garingal Orienteers and many others. In my case, connections between orienteering and running clubs also led me to find out about the sport.
A few years ago, when I was looking for something fun my son Ren could try, I noticed orienteering was one of the extracurricular activities made available to students at NSBHS by the P&C’s Falcon Sport committee. They also offered badminton, table tennis and other sports, all organised by volunteers and paid for by parents, with some administrative backing from the committee. Ren had tried ‘Falcon Tennis’ in Year 7 but when I tried to register him for the ‘Falcon O’ Club the following year, there was a problem. I was able to find lots of information about the sport, including how to join ONSW, but no team. We eventually learned that the club had become inactive after COVID. Fortunately it had been very active in the past, so there were still many people in the community who knew about it. But I didn’t come across them until later. Ren and I had already joined ONSW (junior membership is a bargain at only $10), so I thought I’d try an event some of my running friends had mentioned, to see what it was all about. It was the last of the 22/23 Sydney Summer Series. I arrived too late to compete, but I was allowed to take a map and observe the course. What fun! It wasn’t at all like a Sydney Striders race. Why were all these middle-aged men coming back to the finish area panting excessively and soaking in perspiration? Was it the first time they’d ever tried running? Had they fallen in the creek? Or was there a military-grade obstacle course somewhere on the way back? They looked knackered, about to collapse! Anyway, feeling naively confident that I could do this without breaking any kind of a sweat, I decided I would sign up for the next season. Thinking, wrongly, that nothing much happened in this sport over winter, I let my plans go into hibernation. What prompted me again to try orienteering with my son came a whole six months later, when I saw a sign on the local Parkrun course for a Bold Horizons event. One of Ren's friends was living here from overseas so I took them both along and they enjoyed it. It also gave me a chance to ask whether anyone knew about the mysterious NSBHS club and I was introduced to Barbara Hill, the director. It turned out she had once been the President of the Falcon Sport Committee and the convenor of the Falcon O Club. After attending a few more Bold Horizons events and seeing how well they catered for school-aged children, I asked Barbara to help me get the club started at the school again. By then my son was spending a lot of time in front of video game screens and I really wanted to make sure there was an opportunity for him and other boys at the school to get some outdoor exercise without the pressure of team sport. Barbara introduced me to her contacts at the school and we managed to get some promotional material out to the new Year 7 parents in time for the 2024 season. What really helped was that Barbara had decided to kick off the year with a training event on the grounds of NSBHS, with free entry for students of the school. About a dozen came along and this gave the club a core of five or six regular competitors for the rest of 2024.
In 2024, the FalconO boys participated in Bold Horizons events six times per term, and in the winter months we were able to put together a team of five for the Metro League. I bumped into Natalie Robertswho had been a former convenor of the school club - and she prompted me to get the FalconO Club T-shirts out of storage. Garingal Club President Barbara Junghans gave us not only free club socks but also a special team name - the GO Falcons. She made everyone feel welcome, while Team Captain Jamie Kennedy got all the competitors to each venue and sent them off in the right time slot. They both made sure everyone had a good grounding in orienteering skills, with a club member on hand to debrief them after their run - thank you to Airdrie Long and others! All of the boys had great moments and very good results, and Marc Heng even ended up getting a medal for the highest individual tally in Division 6.
The FalconO team also competed at the NSW Schools Championships, at Macquarie Uni, where parents could stand on a high balcony and observe their children criss-crossing the battlefield below. Tony Hill’s photos of active, happy kids striving for success in the relays made it into the school newsletter.
At the end of the year, Barbara helped again by arranging for some volunteers to attend the school Orientation Day and explain the sport to the parents of the new Year 7s. Airdrie Long and Paula Shingler must have been great ambassadors for the sport because suddenly we had nearly 20 expressions of interest. In Term 1, Bold Horizons made arrangements so parents at the school could send their children along to try an event, and everyone who tried it wanted to continue. There are always friendly people at these events who are able to offer tips and advice. We now have about 17 active club members who are being coached by Cooper Horley, a representative of Australia at JWOC and WOC. The boys are mostly Year 7s and 8s, and they enjoy the social and competitive aspects, too. We haven’t been able to recruit many older boys, but I hope most of the new students will continue to participate. Most are yet to encounter leeches, bushland or wet weather, though... As for managing the club, it’s mostly just a matter of keeping up communication with the parents using apps. We can thank the Bold Horizons and ONSW teams for all their hard work setting up the excellent events that keep the kids coming back. The flexible start times make this sport a good option for parents whose children have more than one morning activity. Many parents have also given the line courses at the SOS 3D events a go themselves. This sport can be fun for all ages. I remember one defining moment, back in October 2023, when I took my son on the Rivercat to try the first event of the SSS season at Rydalmere. It was rainy when we started, and dark by the time we completed the course. Wow! I really loved the score format and I was hooked for the rest of the season. But Ren, sensing my enthusiasm, told me immediately how much he hated it. He still completed the course, but that first wet, dark and heavily-penalised episode designed for his father’s legs must have really scarred him! He’s reluctant to come to another one. Maybe he was embarrassed about how out-of-breath and sweaty I got? Luckily, his Japanese friend really likes orienteering, so whenever he wants to try a competition, my son has a reason to come along too. I hope Ren will try more events this year, it’s such a great sport to do all through your life. Even better to do it with a friend.
Photos by Tony Hill.
Live tracking
GRANT BLUETT, EDITED BY GROK BEFORE LETTER SUBMISSION
Iam writing to express my frustration with the recent approach to live tracking at major orienteering events. There has been a significant investment in live tracking technology, equipping top runners with GPS devices and setting up large screens to display maps and real-time progress. This has the potential to transform the spectator experience, making races dynamic and engaging. However, the decision to delay showing this tracking until hours after the race undermines the entire initiative.
The stated reason for the delay is to avoid giving an unfair advantage to runners who start later in the day, as they might gain insights from seeing the map or tracking beforehand. While I understand the concern for fairness, I believe this advantage is minimal and overstated. Does it really matter if a competitor in, say, the Men’s 50 class gets a slight edge? Orienteering is about skill, strategy, and physical prowess, and the nuances of live tracking are unlikely to significantly alter outcomes.
By withholding live tracking, a golden opportunity to enhance the atmosphere at events is missed. Imagine the excitement in the arena as spectators watch the race unfold in real time, cheering as runners make split-second decisions or recover from errors. This could draw larger crowds, boost engagement, and elevate the sport’s profile.
Instead, delayed tracking feels like an afterthought—few people want to watch a race hours after the results are known. If we are going to invest in this technology, we should commit to showing the tracking live. The minimal risk of unfair advantage pales in comparison to the potential for creating a thrilling, immersive experience.
Other sports embrace real-time data to captivate audiences— why should orienteering lag behind? There is an over emphasis on perceived fairness in orienteering, at the expense of entertainment and participant engagement. I urge reconsideration of this policy, and prioritisation of the fun and excitement that live tracking can bring to our sport.
Orienteering and the dopamine D4 receptor gene
Orienteering gets a special promotion in a new book The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors and The Blank Spots On The Map by a Canadian sports science writer, Alex Hutchinson. [In] a review in Spectrum (published with The Age), March 29, 2025, [Dr Andrew Leigh, a federal member of parliament and ultramarathon runner, writes:] 'The book’s title comes from research that identifies a novelty-linked version of the DRD4 gene. In populations with a high prevalence of this gene variant (... ) exploration and migration rates tend to be high'. He also notes ‘Hutchinson argues that most of us are too quick to abandon the search for newness. He advocates listening to different kinds of music, travelling to fresh destinations and updating your hobbies. He makes a special case for orienteering, pointing to research suggesting that even one session boosts brain-deprived neurotrophic factor, a neurochemical associated with better spatial memory ability.’ Be prepared for a deluge of newcomers to our sport - seeking a brain boost by trying something newalong with a guarantee of improved fitness and an increased capacity to venture into the unknown (especially if they have the [novelty-linked allele of the the dopamine D4 receptor] DRD4 gene). Perhaps we should ask the author of the review, Andrew Leigh MP, to come orienteering, give it a promotion in the news, and then maybe have an event when we issue an annual invite to all federal MPs, a bit like their annual cricket match.
Brown crosses are not a valid map symbol
ROBIN UPPILL
On page 28 of [the March 2025 issue of The Australian Orienteer] you have two images of the same map for ‘Spot the difference’ and other map related activities. One question is ‘What are the brown crosses on the maps depicting?’
Technically the answer should be that the brown crosses are not a valid map symbol. Brown crosses have not been a valid map symbol since the 2017 ISOM [International Specification for Orienteering Maps] was published. Likewise it is not a symbol in the ISSprOM either. Brown crosses used to be used for termite mounds in Australia. Now the brown triangle is used. The brown [cross] should be converted to the brown triangle on older maps (pre-2017), and not used on new maps.The brown triangle is symbol 115 –Prominent Landform Feature.
The brown cross was removed so it could not been confused with the green cross by colour-blind orienteers. The green cross remains – symbol 419 – Prominent Vegetation Feature. Refer to the article in the June 2018 issue of The Australian Orienteer – page 38-39.
Description of symbol 115 in ISOM 2017-2.
BELINDA DALE
ACT & NSW Ski-O Champs. Photo by Tash Thackray. Xmas 5 Days 2023. Photo by Geoff Peel.
World O Champs 2023. Photo by Rémy Steinegger .
Aus O Champs 2024. Photos by Terry Cooke.
Aus MTBO Champs 2023.
Photo by Michael Shiffer.
Orienteering in 2050, how could it look and feel?
Marina Iskhakova.
Photo by Hania Lada.
3. AI-coaching, personalised courses
AI coaches. Highly intelligent virtual coaches will provide personalised feedback, tactics, and encouragement based on an athlete’s performance. They will be able to analyse each orienteering session and each leg, offering advice on how to improve map reading, route choice, terrain interpretation skills, control description reading skills, concentration skills, physical and mental endurance.
AI-personalised courses. Using individual athlete’s historical performance data, AI will generate personalised orienteering courses, adjusting complexity and difficulty based on athlete’s skill level, physical condition, and goals. Imagine that your main weakness is diagonal traversing and exiting controlsAI-supported course setting will create specific courses for you to improve your weakest orienteering techniques.
4. Dramatically improved training, skills development and post-analysis
Virtual Reality (VR) O-training. Orienteers will be able to train with VR simulations while running on workstations to experience different types of terrain (particularly for IOF-level events, when frequent travel overseas to the precise terrain is impossible), learn navigation techniques, or practise under varying weather conditions without leaving their home. O-wearables and sensors. Biometric O-wearables will measure a participant's heart rate, hydration, brain activity, concentration level, eyes movements, and muscle fatigue. These sensors will not only optimise performance but provide real-time advice, signalling critical low levels of concentration
to prevent mistakes or extreme muscle fatigue level to avoid injury.
Post-analysis. After each course, real-time feedback and analysis will be given to an individual athlete with a full analysis of cognitive, technical and physical mistakes. Strategies to improve performance will be generated in realtime as well. An opportunity to ‘re-live’ the course and to ‘rerun’ it, experiencing the ideal course without mistakes, will be possible with the VR use.
5. Increased safety
First-aid O-drones. Drones will be able to navigate to the site of accident and to deliver quickly first-aid kits in case of emergency. Further into the future, the big O-events could have fully automated Safety O-systems tracking participants and intervening when necessary (in case of heavy rains, sudden storms, fallen trees, flooded creeks, etc.).
O-Drones assistants will make bush orienteering for beginners much safer. Imagine, a mother hires out an O-drone assistant that will supervise her 8-year-old child on their first moderate O-course. The drone assistant could even be programmed to give directions or advice if a child stops for an extended period. The mother would receive live updates on her child’s location, progress and well-being. Orienteering has never been as safe as it will become in the future.
Orienteering will continue its dynamic technological development and will continue to be the most beautiful of sports which combines exploration, physical and intellectual challenges, care of environment and constant novelty.
Orienteering March 1-2 2025 in Australia, the first weekend of autumn.
ACT
MTBO,CotterPines (30 starters)
SprintSeries#6ArandaPS (123)
NEW SOUTH WALES
SOS3DKillara (208)
SOSMacarthur (50)
O’Shea2Days-races1,2,3 (177)
MapRun#6Tatton (5)
GoldseekersBushEvent#1 (14)
IMRSSummer#3Kiama (53)
QUEENSLAND
ENSprintSeries#4IthacaCreek (54)
OY1CraigsleaSchools (100)
MapRunParks2025Edenbrooke (32)
Stanthorpe (21)
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
PortLincolnMarina (44)
SASprintDistanceChamps (98)
VICTORIA
Bike-O75 (44)
MorningtonMapRunHastings (13)
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Albany-GreatSouthernGrammar (12)
Port Lincoln Marina event on March 1 in South Australia. Photo by David Winters.
In everyday life, my biggest concern is to always report where I am
COURTESY OF SWISS
ORIENTEERING MAGAZINE
01-2025
TRANSLATED BY SUSI STRASSER
Matthias Kyburz at World Orienteering Championships in 2023 in Switzerland where he won gold medals in the middle distance and in the relay, and silver in the long distance. He represented Switzerland in the marathon at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Photo by Rémy Steinegger.
The Victorian Long Distance O Championships long-leg route analysis.
NEIL BARR, COURSE PLANNER & TED VAN GELDERMALSEN, CONTROLLER
The course setting team used OCAD Route Analyser to plan the long legs on Mt Korong. The algorithm predictions of optimal routes did not match the routes chosen on competition day. On the third long leg for the elite courses we hoped to entice more runners to take the route across the southern slopes that was preferred by Route Analyser. Most runners found the wide track options much more appealing, even to the extent of running backwards out of the control [including Patrick Jaffe who ran the leg in 12:45, at 3:58 min/km pace, and ran the furthest south].
The controller tested the Route Analyser optimal route and found it quite viable. It doesn't have much more climb than the track routes (12 m more than the northern track route, and 2 m more than the southern track route). It is almost all yellow or white and has no rock scrambling. Perhaps it isn’t intuitive to look for a route that sidles and is that far from the straight line. It also requires much more navigation so has a greater risk.
We will use Route Analyser in the future, but will put more effort into tweaking the model parameters given we now have a significant amount of data with which to calibrate. Perhaps in the future all our club maps will have both an embedded Digital Elevation Model and calibrated parameters for the Route Analyser algorithm. This may require new hidden symbols on the map to account for speed variations in rocky terrain.
The OCAD Route Analyser results for leg 9 on course 1 and 2 of the Victorian Long Distance O Champs 2025. Mt Korong.
Livelox tracks for course 1 runners, M21E, on leg 9. The Victorian Long Distance O Champs 2025.
Orienteering Australia awards
DAVID HOGG UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
Orienteering Australia HALL of FAME
Hall of Fame - Athlete Division
NATASHA KEY (Vic.)
Natasha Key’s induction as an Athlete Member of the Hall of Fame recognises her outstanding performances at the national and international level of the competition over three decades.
Natasha is the most successful long distance female orienteer in Australia, with five national titles to her name. In addition, she has four national titles in the sprint distance format, three national titles in the middle distance, and has won the Australian 3-Days competition at the elite level on four occasions. Natasha has been a member of four winning teams in the Australian Relay Championships. At the international level, Natasha has represented Australia at a remarkable ten World Orienteering Championships (WOC). The first was in Detmold, Germany in 1995, and the last in Riga, Latvia in 2018. Natasha’s best result at WOC was tenth in the World Sprint Championships in Rapperswil, Switzerland in 2003. She has had four individual results in the top 20 and was a member of a relay team which placed seventh in Inverness, Great Britain in 1999.
Alongside her excellent WOC results, Natasha has represented Australia in 17 World Cup races, placing an incredible 17th place in the long distance race in the Lake District, Great Britain in 1998 and 17th place in the middle distance race in Västerås, Sweden in 2004.
After a break from international orienteering between 2005 and 2016 and after having three children, Natasha was able to return to success at the international level at the age of 45. Beyond her success at the elite level internationally, Natasha has also had outstanding success at the World Masters
Orienteering Championships, with 12 podium finishes, including eight wins, making her Australia’s best performed female masters orienteer.
Natasha continues to have success today in her age group, winning the Australian Long Distance Championships in the W50 age group in 2023 and 2024. She has also continued to have the occasional podium placing at the elite level (the most recent in 2024 in the third-placed relay team, and victory in the 2023 Australian Middle Distance Championships).
Natasha has also made a significant contribution to orienteering from a coaching perspective, and is currently Orienteering Australia’s head coach. Natasha has strived throughout her orienteering career to encourage and develop young athletes and improve Australia’s international performances.
Hall of Fame - Athlete Division
SIMON UPPILL (SA)
Simon Uppill has been a key member of Australian national teams, being a member of the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) team in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and the World Orienteering Championships team ten times in the period from 2008 to 2019. He has participated in more races
Natasha Key. Photo by Mike Dowling.
Photo by Sputnik.
Simon Uppill and Natasha Key. Photo by Don Cherry.
at WOC than any other male Australian – 31 events and 37 races. He has also represented Australia at the Oceania Championships on multiple occasions, World Cups held in the southern hemisphere in New Zealand and Australia, as well as being a Bushranger team member on many occasions. In 2009 Simon was in the Australian team at the World Games in Chinese Taipei, when the Australian team placed fourth in the relay.
International highlights have included fourth in the JWOC Long Distance in 2007 and tenth in the Sprint. Following those results, Simon was the Orienteering Australia Athlete of the Year for 2007. Simon was a team member of Australia’s tenthplaced Sprint Relay team at WOC in 2014. He also had several outstanding runs as the first-leg runner in the men’s relay team at WOC, and was a team member of the forest relay team at all WOCs in which he participated.
Simon has been either first (seven times) or second (six times – the first as a junior in 2007) in the senior National Orienteering League (NOL) individual. In 2008 in his first year as a senior he won all individual championships as well as the Australian 3-Days. Many other titles and placings have followed, most recently the Australian 3-Days in 2018 and a second place in 2019, and Australian Long Distance Champion in 2019. Simon has the most national and regional (Oceania) championship titles, as follows:
• Sprint Championships – five titles
• Middle Distance Championships – six titles
• Long Distance Championships – five titles
• Australian 3-Days Championships – six titles
Overall, Simon has been one of the most regular and consistent performers in NOL and national championship events in the junior and senior men’s elite class since 2005.
Hall of Fame - General Division
BLAKE GORDON (Vic.)
Blake Gordon has played a key role in introducing and developing mountain bike orienteering (MTBO) in Australia, and in establishing Australia’s place as one of the leading MTBO nations at the international level.
When the new discipline of MTBO reached Australia in the late 1990s, several people in different states became involved in organising events and competing. Blake was one of the most active in Victoria and, in 1997, was appointed as chair of the newly established MTBO Committee of the Orienteering Federation of Australia (OFA), set up to coordinate MTBO development. In 1998, he was the organiser of the first Australian MTBO Championships, held in Creswick Forest near Ballarat. In 2002, he was manager of the Australian team at the inaugural World Championships in MTBO in Fontainebleau, France.
Prior to that event, Blake had convinced the OFA to bid for the second World MTBO Championships in 2004, with a view to staging them in Victoria. The bid was accepted by the IOF, and Blake became the event director. The Championships were an outstanding success in both their organisation and the performance of the Australian team, which won one gold, one silver and three bronze medals, with four other podium (top six) finishers.
These performances established Australia’s reputation as one of the leading nations in international MTBO competition, and were followed by several gold medal performances at WOC, WMOC and JWOC in MTBO.
As well as performing at the national and international level, Simon was a coach of the South Australian Schools team for several years, focusing on supporting juniors ahead of his own performance. He has also been the course planner for several NOL and national events held in South Australia.
Blake’s commitment to MTBO at the national and international levels continued for many years. He remained chair of the OFA/OA MTBO Committee until 2011, was a regular contributor of MTBO news and articles to The Australian Orienteer throughout that period, established and managed the national ranking system for MTBO, and oversaw the establishment of a National MTBO series, which began in Ballarat in conjunction with the 2008 Victorian MTBO Championships. He continues to maintain the results and statistics for the National MTBO series awards.
Simon Uppill. Photo by Peter Yeates.
Blake Gordon. Photo by Don Cherry.
At the international level, Blake was a member (or associate member) of the IOF MTBO Commission from 2000 to 2009. Locally, he was the MTBO Coordinator for Orienteering Victoria from 1999 to 2003.
Blake’s involvement with MTBO followed a long period of activity with orienteering, commencing in 1975 when he was elected vice president of the newly formed Ballarat club, Eureka Orienteers, subsequently serving as president in 1977, 1978 and 1979. In 1991 and 1992, Blake was vice president of the Victorian Orienteering Association, becoming president in 1993 and 1994. His services to VOA were recognised by being made a life member in 1999.
On behalf of OFA, Blake undertook the initial preparation of the submission to IOF to host the 1994 World Cup Carnival in Ballarat, then taking on the role of deputy event director and media liaison for those events. Other events with an international flavour in which he played a co-ordinating role
Hall of Fame - General Division
MIKE HUBBERT (Vic.)
Mike Hubbert’s contributions to Australian orienteering began in 1969-70 when orienteering was launched on its path towards becoming a national sport in Australia. Mike was the event secretary for the event that Tom Andrews organised at Upper Beaconsfield on the fringe of Melbourne in August 1969 that began this path. He competed in the event, finishing eighth out of 33 starters, and became a regular competitor in the events that followed.
In early 1970, Mike was involved with Tom Andrews, David Hogg and Ron Frederick in establishing the Victorian Orienteering Association (VOA) and the Orienteering Federation of Australia (OFA). Had he not been heading overseas shortly after the inaugural meeting of those bodies, he would have been the logical choice for secretary, a role which awaited him a few years later.
Returning to Australia around the end of 1972, Mike resumed an active role in Victorian orienteering, joining Red Kangaroos Orienteers, which had been formed earlier that year. In December 1974 he organised an evening event at Blackburn Lake in the east of Melbourne that was to set the pattern for Melbourne’s series of Park Street orienteering events. He was the cartographer for the first coloured map used for an Australian Championships in Victoria (Tallarook State Forest in 1975). During 1974, he became assistant treasurer for the VOA and was elected treasurer at the 1975 Annual General Meeting.
His role as VOA treasurer was short, as he soon became heavily involved in OFA affairs, being elected OFA secretary in June 1975 and holding that position until 1981. In that role, he maintained a series of OFA Council Bulletins to communicate with state associations, and was involved in starting work on the first OFA Development Plan.
As OFA secretary, Mike received a circular letter from the International Orienteering Federation inviting proposals to host the 1985 World Orienteering Championships. He suggested to Tom Andrews that Australia should submit a bid, worked with Tom, Ted Wester (the OFA president) and Alex Tarr to develop the bid documentation and, in July 1980, attended the IOF Congress in Germany when the bid was accepted. The hosting of WOC85 proved to be one of the
included the 1981 Australian 6-Days, which attracted many overseas competitors, and the Ballarat component of WOCARN 85, the public carnival held in conjunction with the 1985 World Championships. He and his wife, Dale, were managers of the Australian team to the 1989 World Championships in Sweden.
Blake’s contribution to orienteering have been recognised through several awards:
• 2004. Orienteering Victoria Award for Services to Orienteering.
• 2005. Silva Award for Services to Australian Orienteering.
• 2009. Ballarat Sportsmens Club McKenzie Award for Administrator of the Year.
most important events in the development of Australian orienteering.
Mike again became involved with orienteering at the national level in mid-2004 when he took over the role of editor of The Australian Orienteer from Ian Baker. Continuing to work with graphic designer, Peter Cusworth, Mike maintained the high quality of the magazine in a role which continued until he handed it over to Hania Lada at the start of 2023.
In his later years, as Mike began to slow down in the bush, he became an enthusiastic devotee of Park Street orienteering. The Millennium Club counted his appearances in a total of 2524 Park Street events since 1 January 2000, and he was an inaugural Hall of Famer, inducted to that status in 2023. His involvement in these events included mapping, organising and promotion.
Mike’s involvement over more than 50 years places him among those most committed to Australian orienteering throughout that period.
Mike passed away in late August 2023.
Mike Hubbert.
Silva Award for Services to Coaching
TEXT BY GRANT BLUETT
TARA MELHUISH (ACT)
In 2020, at the age of just 21, Tara transitioned from a highly successful junior orienteering career, having competed in four consecutive Junior World O Championships, to take on the role of coach for the ACT Blue Lightning junior squad. At an age when most are focused on their own athletic pursuits, studies, or early professional endeavours, Tara selflessly chose to invest her energy and expertise into nurturing the next generation of orienteers. This selfless commitment to coaching at such a young age is remarkable in itself.
Under Tara’s guidance, the ACT Blue Lightning squad has flourished. What began as a modest group has grown significantly in size and popularity, attracting juniors from across the ACT and even interstate. Tara’s ability to foster a strong sense of belonging and community within the squad has been pivotal to its success. She has created an environment where young athletes feel supported, motivated, and inspired to excel, both as individuals and as a team. Tara’s coaching extends beyond building camaraderie. She provides expert guidance in both physical and technical training, equipping the juniors with the skills and confidence to succeed. Her Tuesday night interval sessions, which run year-round and attract up to 50 participants, are a testament to the vibrant culture she has cultivated. These sessions have become a cornerstone of the squad’s training, drawing juniors, seniors, and even interstate athletes who value the inclusive and high-energy atmosphere Tara fosters.
The impact of Tara’s coaching is evident in the achievements of her athletes. Some of the original squad members have progressed to represent Australia, yet they remain connected to the group, a reflection of the strong bonds Tara has nurtured. Her ability to balance competitive excellence with a welcoming, community-driven ethos has made the ACT Blue Lightning squad a model for junior sports programs.
The
Bob Mouatt Award for Services to Orienteering Australia
JOHN OLIVER (NSW)
The Bob Mouatt Award for Services to Orienteering Australia is a new award which is determined by the Board rather than through the Awards Committee. The first presentation of this award is made to John Oliver to recognise his 50 years of service in administering and promoting the OA Badge Scheme, by far the longest period that any individual has held the same official OFA/OA position.
The Rob Plowright Award for Services to Mapping
MIKE MORFFEW (Tas.)
The inaugural Rob Plowright Award for Services to Mapping is awarded to Mike Morffew, who has been a cornerstone of the Tasmanian Orienteering community, both as an esteemed mapper and a dedicated mentor.
Mike's mapping expertise is recognised nationwide, with the National Library of Australia proudly housing six of his maps, dating back to 1980.
His mapping skills came to the fore nationally and internationally when, as the director and chief mapper for the IOF Veteran World Cup in 1992, he undertook the monumental task of producing the original drawings of the Golden Fleece and Jason’s Task maps, which remain in use today. This project showcased Mike's exceptional skills in fieldwork, cartography, and the intricacies of the non-digital mapping process, including offset map printing. His meticulous preparation and supervision ensured that the maps were nothing short of masterpieces. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to Orienteering Tasmania, Mike has received multiple accolades. In 2014, he was honoured with the Service Medallion for his exceptional service, and in 2022, he was awarded the President's Award. These awards reflect the high esteem in which Mike is held by his peers and the broader orienteering community.
Currently, Mike is diligently preparing or updating maps for Australian 3-Days 2026, and leading mapping workshops, which are instrumental in helping participants hone their mapping skills.
When the Orienteering Federation of Australia established the Badge Scheme in 1975, John was appointed as a National Statistician to manage it and keep track of qualifying events. In 1984, the National Statistician role was split and John’s position was renamed Badge Scheme Secretary. When interest in the Badge Scheme began to wane around the year 2000, John became proactive in promoting the scheme among clubs, advising club secretaries of the highest award each club member had earned and encouraging clubs to purchase badges on behalf of their members. The result of this initiative, which was beyond the expected duties of the Badge Scheme Secretary, was a huge increase in awards over the next few years, with about half of Australia’s clubs purchasing badges for their members, providing additional income for Orienteering Australia.
Tara Melhuish. Photo by Don Cherry.
Mike Morffew. Photo by Don Cherry.
John Oliver.
David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management
MARINA ISKHAKOVA AND FEDOR ISKHAKOV (ACT)
Marina Iskhakova and Fedor Iskhakov have been awarded the David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management in recognition of their respective roles as Event Director and Technical Director for the 2024 Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Carnival, held in Canberra between 17 and 20 October. With five events in four days, the carnival attracted 213 individual participants, including 41 New Zealanders, who were contesting the Australia–New Zealand MTBO Challenge, making it the largest Australian MTBO Championships held to date.
Planning for the carnival took place over the preceding 12 months during which Marina and Fedor were heavily involved in an area selection, working with individual course planners, controllers and the IOF Event Adviser, volunteer recruitment, raising sponsorship and support from local businesses, organising social functions, and coordinating with the New Zealand visitors. In addition to their overall carnival duties, Fedor and Marina were the course planner and controller respectively for the long distance event, which was the climax to the Carnival.
The successful management of the 2024 Australian MTBO Championships Carnival followed a period commencing in 2017 when Marina and Fedor have been the driving forces in organising, coaching and promoting MTBO in Canberra, after
Silva Award for Services to Orienteering
ANN AND JOHN SCOWN (ACT)
Ann and John Scown have each made major contributions to orienteering in their own right, but it is as a couple that they have excelled in contributing at all levels and across many facets. Their involvement with orienteering started in the mid1970s in the ACT, then from 1986 to 1988 with the Top End Orienteers before returning to the ACT and joining the Abominable O-Men (AO A) club.
a period when MTBO was relatively dormant. They have made a special contribution to event management also through conducting an annual ski orienteering event at Perisher Valley for ACT and NSW orienteers.
Marina and Fedor have previously been acknowledged by Orienteering ACT through the Jim Sawkins Award for Services to Event Management in 2018, with Marina also receiving the Mike Cassells Award for Services to ACT Orienteering in 2023.
members since 2014, co-ordinated ACT teams for the Australian Relay Championships, and have regularly been involved in organising the annual ACT relay event.
They have been prominent members of the OACT Board in most years from 2001 to 2021, with Ann serving as president in 2001, secretary in 2009 and treasurer in 2006-2008 and 2009-early 2015, and John as secretary from 2013 to 2015 and e-Newsletter editor from 2014 to 2018. They have jointly managed the OACT equipment supply for over ten years, including equipment for major carnival, have handled the distribution of The Australian Orienteer to OACT
At the technical level, both have been level 3 controllers since 2014, were technical directors for the 2023 Australian 3-Days and NOL events held in the ACT in 2022 and 2024, and have been involved in the delivery of controller courses and managing controller accreditation in the ACT. At the national level, Ann is a former chair of the OA MTBO Selection Panel and a former member of the OA Hall of Fame Selection Panel, while John was the OA Manager Coaching and Officiating from 2010 to early 2016.
Both are life members of OACT, and recipients of the Mike Cassells Award for Services to Orienteering in the ACT as well as the Jim Sawkins Award for OACT Event Management.
Silva Medal Winner
DARRYL ERBACHER
ALEX TARR (VIC)
The 2024 Silva Medal has been won by Alex Tarr (M80, YV V) on a countback, having been one of three orienteers who won all six events. Matthew Crane (M40, AO A), and Ted van Geldermalsen (M70, YV V) also won all six events but with a lower winning margins than Alex. Congratulations Alex.
Fedor Iskhakov and Marina Iskhakova. Photo by Don Cherry.
Alex Tarr. Photo by Don Cherry.
Ann and John Scown. Photo by Murray Scown.
Athlete of the Year 2024 HENRY MCNULTY (WA)
TEXT BY BLAIR TREWIN
Congratulations to Henry McNulty who was announced as the 2024 Orienteering Australia Athlete of the Year at the recent OA AGM. The highlight of Henry’s year was his ninth place in the individual sprint at the World Championships in Scotland. This was the best result of his career in his sixth World Championships, and made him the fourth Australian man to achieve a top-ten result at the World Championships.
He was also part of the Australian team which placed 15th in the sprint relay and reached the quarter-finals of the knockout sprint. Earlier in the season, he had achieved his best World Cup result with a 19th in the first round in Switzerland. Whilst his best WOC results have come in the sprint, he has also achieved some good forest results, including 35th in both the middle and long distance at the 2023 World Championships. Henry has lived in Norway for most of his senior career and has achieved a number of high placings in Norwegian national competitions. He won the Australian Long Distance Championships, running for the Western Nomads, at his last attempt in 2018.
Why does the OA website NOT have an in-built search function?
MIKE DOWLING
Since the major update to the OA website at orienteering.asn.au a year ago, some users have been asking for an in-built search functionality for the site. Why does it not have this?
That is because the updated website uses Search Engine Optimisation or SEO. So, what is SEO? SEO involves a range of techniques and strategies to make a website more visible and easily discoverable by search engines like Google, Bing, Firefox etc. So, how does this work? SEO focuses on technical aspects of website structure such as grouping topically similar pages into directories, speed such as optimising graphic content, mobile-friendliness and content optimisation (using relevant keywords, creating high-quality content, and including title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags). In addition, advice from the developer of the site framework was that in-built search engines pose a security risk for the site.
The OA Website Working Group will continue to enhance the SEO capabilities within the site.
In summary, if you need to find something on the OA website, just go to your preferred search engine application and enter what you are after.
Some examples from entering ‘orienteering australia learn to orienteer’ in search engines
Google
Bing
Duck Duck Go
Ecosia
Henry McNulty. Photo by IOF / Kristina Lindgren. Henry McNulty at World Cup. Photo by Silvan Schletti.
Do you know the minimum distance between two Control Stations in AIR+ mode?
FROM SPORTIDENT.COM NEWS
You might be thinking:
‘I’ve always set them up this way!’ – but did you know that there is a recommended minimum distance between two stations working in AIR+ mode? The reason is quite simple: Every SPORTident Station transmits information within a specific radius in contactless punching mode. For BSF7, BSF8, and BSF9 Stations, this radius is about 40 cm. To prevent signal overlap and ensure accurate data recording, the general rule is: If two stations are placed side by side at a checkpoint, they should be at least 1 metre apart. With this small adjustment, you can ensure a smooth and reliable timing experience – for yourself and all participants!
Can you help?
Camp Assistant Organiser needed for IA Development Camp Sep/Oct 2025 in Queensland.
Are you passionate about including all juniors in development opportunities?
Are you keen to develop your own experience in organising and running junior camps?
Do you have some time and energy you are willing to donate to orienteering juniors?
I am organising this year's Independent Athlete Development Camp being run alongside the Australian Orienteering Championships in Brisbane. I need an assistant to join me in making this camp a success.
There is no particular skill set needed - we can tailor your role to what you feel best able to do by way of contribution. You would also attend the camp and serve as the assistant organiser on the camp.
Note that all camp volunteer adults will have two rostered days off during the camp where they are free of responsibilities, and can rest and recharge. If this interests you, please contact me, Helen O'Callaghan, on orienteering.helen@gmail.com or 0478226601
ICDT answers
Quiz answers: 1A, 2B, 3C.
Spot the difference answers
Glossary of acronyms
ANZ Australia-New Zealand
AO The Australian Orienteer
AOC Australian Orienteering Championships
ARDF Amateur Radio Direction Finding
ASC Australian Sports Commission
ASOC Australian Schools Orienteering Championships
DNF / DNS Did Not Finish / Did Not Start
EOC European Orienteering Championships
EOD Enter On the Day
EYOC European Youth Orienteering Championships
IOF International Orienteering Federation
JWMTBOC Junior World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships
JWOC Junior World Orienteering Championships
MTBO Mountain Bike Orienteering
NOL National Orienteering League
OA Orienteering Australia
SCJC Southern Cross Junior Challenge
WMTBOC World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships
WOC World Orienteering Championships
WRE World Ranking Event
WTOC World Trail Orienteering Championships
Top Events
May 17-30
World Masters Games 2025 Taipei, Taiwan
June 14-15 Jukola 2025 Mikkeli, Finland
June 19-21
2026
Orienteering World Cup Round 1 Idre Fjäll, Sweden
June 28 - July 4 JWOC 2025 Bormio, Italy
July 7-12 Forest WOC 2025 Kuopio, Finland
July 17-20 European Youth Orienteering Championships Czechia
July 21-26
O-Ringen 2025 Jönköping, Sweden
July 24-27 European Universities Orienteering Championship Łódź, Poland
Aug 6-11 The World Games 2025 Chengdu, China
Aug 9-15 WMOC 2025 Girona, Spain
Aug 11-17
WMTBOC & JWMTBOC 2025 Warsaw, Poland
Aug 16-22 World ARDF Championship 2025 Birštonas, Lithuania
Aug 26-31 EOC 2025 & World Cup Round 2 Antwerp, Belgium
Aug 26-30 Asian Junior & Youth O Champs Shitara, Japan
Aug 26-30 World Trail O Championships 2025 Hungary & Slovakia
Sep 5-7 AUS MTBO Championships 2025 WA
Sep 18-21 U23 WMTBO Championships Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Sep 25-29 Orienteering World Cup Final Uster, Switzerland
Sep 27 - Oct 5 AUS Champs Carnival 2025 Brisbane, Queensland
Jan 24-26
Preliminary dates
March 1-6
Apr 3-6
Apr 24-26
May 27-31
June 25-27
June 29 - July 4
Oceania Champs 2026, Sprint Central Coast, NSW
World Ski-O Champs 2025
Japan
Australian 3 Days & Australian Championships 2026 Tasmania
Orienteering World Cup Round 1
Switzerland
Orienteering World Cup Round 2
Sweden
European Youth Orienteering Championships Slovenia
JWOC 2026
Karlskrona, Sweden
July 6-11
WOC 2026
Genova, Italy
July 27 - Aug 2 FISU World Uni Orienteering Champs 2026, Portugal
Aug 5-9
Aug 7-14
Aug 25-30
Sept 9-13
Preliminary dates
Sep 23-27
Sep 26 - Oct 4
2027
May 21-29
Orienteering World Cup Round 3 Czechia
WMOC 2026
Rzeszów, Poland
WMTBOC & JWMTBOC Mora, Sweden
WMMTBOC 2026 Forres, Scotland, UK
Orienteering World Cup Final & EOC 2026, Lithuania
Oceania O Championships 2027, ASOC & SCJC 2026, ACT
Preliminary dates WMOC 2027 Japan
June 3-6
Preliminary dates
July 2-7
Orienteering World Cup Round 1 Sweden
Preliminary dates Orienteering World Cup Round 2 Czechia
July 11-17 JWOC 2027
Kłodzko Valley, Poland
Aug 9-14
Aug 10-16
Preliminary dates
Nov 4-5
Preliminary dates
Nov 9-14
Preliminary dates
WOC 2027
Veszprém, Hungary
WMTBOC & JWMTBOC
Latvia
Orienteering World Cup Round 4
Spain
World Trail O Championships 2027 United States
