Latest ONSW News
The Sydney Sprint Orienteering Series commences next Monday 14th January with an event at UWS Parramatta.
There are 9 events in the series this year including Big Foot's "University of Sydney" which promises to be a highlight of the Sydney summer season. It is a brand new map of a fantastic campus sprint area.
If you haven't tried the Sprint format before come and experience a new orienteering challenge. Each event has 1 course of 3 – 3.5km with winning times for the best orienteers about 15 minutes. The scale used for sprint maps will be 1:4000 or 1:5000.
Sportident timing used for at all events and if you don't own a sportident stick you will be able to hire one at the event. If you wish to purchase a stick email
Details of the full series can be found on the Sprint Series page and each event is listed in the event calendar.
Strong performances across the age classes saw Australia even up the scores in the Australia/New Zealand Challenge on Tuesday by winning the Sprint Race match.
Inspired perhaps by the international elite field whose World Cup races preceded the Oceania competition, NSW competitors delivered a stunning series of podium placings to give Australia the edge it needed to come back on terms with New Zealand after their fine win in the Middle Distance at the weekend.
Fedor Ishakov Bennelong Northside was the first Australian back in M21, Eric Morris also Bennelong Northside 1st place in M40, Karen Blatchford Newcastle 3rd W45, Michael Burton Big Foot 2nd M50, Debbie Davey Waggaroos 3rd W55, Nick Dent Central Coast 2nd M60, Bryony Cox Garingal 1st W65, Ross Barr Garingal (and Mr Sydney Summer Series himself) 3rd M65, Jean Baldwin Goldseekers 3rd W70, Basil Baldwin Goldseekers 3rd M70, and Maureen Ogilvie Uringa 1st W80. Full results listings here
The Australia/NZ Challenge moves on to the Long Distance race on Thursday near Masterton, with a very different set of terrain challenges for the runners.
Julian Dent had a great qualifying run on Monday placing 10th in a field which read like a Who's Who of the orienteering sprinting elite. Simon Uppill also had a good run to qualify but there was a veritable battalion of Australian girls including Grace Crane, Rachel Effeney, Felicity Brown, Mace Neve, Jasmine Neve, Aislinn Prendergast, Kathryn Preston and Anna Sheldon whose great performances saw them all getting places in the final.
The Sprint Final at Wellington College was highly technical and demanded full concentration. Minor mistakes were severely punished with even some veteran campaigners being caught out by the tricky detail. Helena Janssen found herself on what looked like a perfect route along the red line only to end up staring at an uncrossable fence she had somehow missed in her route planning. Tove Alexandersson made the same mistake but was able to adjust and pick up the pace to take the title. Home grown talent Lizzie Ingham had a great race to take a very popular 3rd place. The men's final was hugely competitive as was to be expected, with mere seconds separating places. Mattias Kyberz, recently profiled in the IOF e-magazine, Inside Orienteering, was the winner, with Jerker Lysell of Sweden preventing the Swiss three Mattias' taking out all the top placings. Julian Dent was the best of the Australians with a 13th place, Simon Uppill placing 17th. Amongst the girls Grace Crane topped the Australian listings with 18th place and Rachel Effeney in 21st spot. Special note must be made of Felicity Brown who, in her first time representing Australia at World Cup level, delivered a very creditable performance in 28th place.
Sprint Final results:
Women:1st Tove Alexandersson Sweden,2nd Annika Billstam Sweden,3rd Lizzie Ingham New Zealand
Men: 1st Mattias Kyburz Switzerland, 2nd Jerker Lysell Sweden, 3rd Mattias Merz Switzerland
The first of the World Cup races at Oceania were held yesterday at Waikawa on the west coast of New Zealand's north island. The world's best orienteers had primed themselves for a stunning display of technical prowess and pure speed which delighted the spectators who lined the banks of the nearby estuary to watch the action.
For many of the international runners, this was their first trip to New Zealand but that didn't mean that the terrain came as a surprise. The Danes in particular felt at home in the technical sand dune areas mapped especially for these races, which are very similar to their own training areas in Denmark. Fabian Hertner of Switzerland held off Swedes Johan Runesson and Jerker Lysell to win the men's race, whilst champion Helena Jansson (Sweden) won the women's race with Ida Bobach (Denmark) and Tatyana Riabkina (Russia) hot on her heels.
Julian Dent, NSW, was the best of the Australians in 27th place in a race where the times were as tightly packed as those of a sprint race.
The next race for these international elites is the Sprint Qualification which takes place around Wellington on Monday with the Sprint finals on Tuesday.
