Rob Preston and Julian Dent were among the selections for the Australian team for the WOC announced last week. Both are veterans on the international stage with Julian having represented Australia in four previous WOC matches, and Rob first having run for Australia in the World Cup 2000, and then more recently on the WOC team last year. Both men are racing well, recently posting a 1 and 2 at the Tasmanian Long WOC Trial.Rob has been showing real consistency, finishing in the top three of recent Australian 3 Days in Western Australia, and winning the Silva National League No3. He attributes his recent return to form to changing his focus to faster training, and dropping some of his adventure racing which had left him quite fatigued for orienteering in recent years. Rob’s favourite race, the Long Distance, presents him with his best chance of success but he is also looking forward to the Relays. ‘It has been a dream of mine for a long time to run in the WOC relay, and it will be great to race with Simon and Julian, who are very experienced at this level.’Julian is having a great season taking out first in all the WOC trial races in Tasmania, and being unbeaten in all the races he has contested this season. He will be racing in all three disciplines at WOC, hoping for a top 10 result, particularly in his favourite distances, Sprint and Long. Having been injury free for 18 months, and with some encouraging results from his recent April Internationals in Sweden he says ‘my confidence has never been higher’. With Simon Uppill completing the squad they are looking forward to a chance to feature on the leader boards.
