JWOC 2016

Thanks to the North West JWOCers who, amidst their busy schedules - catching up on uni work after being away in Switzerland, took the time to send through a brief reflection on an aspect of their experience.

Cameron de L’Isle
JWOC 2016 for me was an incredible experience. Racing in Europe is completely different to racing orienteering in New Zealand. My middle qualification race was probably the one I can take the most positive and negative lessons from:


The terrain was alpine forest on a big slope at 1600-1800m above sea level. There are 3 heats, each on a different course variation at the middle qualification and this results in a hectic start as 3 of you start at once. My first 5 controls were almost perfect, I had excellent flow and was reading the detail very strongly. I was in the zone and my thought pattern for this section was simply; ‘Compass, attack point, aggression’ and it paid off, placing me in 3^rd at the 5^th control.

The next few legs, I had time losses however. 6 and 7, the orienteering became easier and I found myself struggling to keep my aggression up, especially on the climb up to 7. 8 and 9 were crucial legs and had many factors to consider which unfortunately I didn’t nail. On 8, I had planned to follow the road along to the bend where the hillside became less steep and then drop down below the messy area of cliffs just above 8. However, this was not the fastest route choice and I also ended up staying too high in the messy area of rocks losing more time. The two best route choices were to go high above the control further along the road (the way the winner choose) or to exit 7 very low along the stream and then contour round the hill.

9 was a control that exemplified the difference between NZ and Swiss terrains and how this effects route choice. 1/3 of the way to 9 there is a boulder field/stony ground shown on the map. Normally in NZ this would be only be a few small pebbles on the ground, however in Switzerland, these sort of areas often have lots of huge boulder and are incredibly slow – as I found out. By control 11 I was sitting back in 13^th spot – still well in qualification for the A final however.

Control 12 was ultimately where my race unravelled. I knew I was having a good enough run still at this point and my concentration faltered a bit at the wrong moment. This resulting in me losing map contact just before the circle and then just missing the control, losing 60-90seconds. In the JWOC middle qual, one mistake can be enough to make you lose out on the A final. This was my 3^rd mistake of the race which meant there were no more chances and I dropped back to 25^th at this point. While I executed 13 and 14 really well, small mistakes on 15,16 meant that I finished 25^th in my heat – and potentially one mistake away from making the A final.

In the end, there were both positives and negatives to take from this race. Most importantly I learnt plenty from having been so close to qualifying – lessons I will be applying in my training and ultimately at JWOC 2017.

Alice Tilley
JWOC 2016 in Switzerland was a well-organised event. The event was organised by world champion Simone Niggli. It was an exciting prospect to know that each course would be planned in depth and the map quality would be at Swiss precision. Racing in Switzerland brought it’s own terrain challenges such as altitude, steep contours and rocky hillsides adding to both the physical and mental challenge. Not to mention the stunning scenery where it was difficult at times to keep your eyes on the map and not the view. I enjoyed all my races but if I had to chose my favourite map, it would be the Long distance at Val Müstair. With 6.5km, 16 controls and 310m climb at an altitude of 2,000m I found this race very mentally and physically challenging. The start was where we predicted, taking us straight into one of the most technical parts of the map with many rocks and steep features on rough open land. This meant you had to be in control from the beginning. I enjoyed how there was a balance between long and short legs especially towards the end. Given the chance, I would run this course again in an instant! I wasn’t totally satisfied with my performance at the sprint but shook off the nerves and settled in to qualify for the Middle A Final and 38^th in the Long distance. I have come home with additional of skills and plenty more experiences to build upon.

I would like to thank the North-West Orienteering club for their continued support of their club members, coaches and specifically their juniors for making NWOC such a supportive and encouraging environment.

Kayla Fairbairn
The Junior World Championships in Switzerland this year were an incredible experience. The terrain was so beautiful with huge snowy mountains and valleys everywhere you went! It was hard not to stop and admire the view during the races, especially on the long distance race. My approach to racing in Switzerland was slightly less conventional than it has been in previous years, after fracturing my foot only two months before the competition. However, after a lot of aquajogging and 15 rolls of strapping tape, I made it through! My favourite race of the competition would have to have been the middle distance- it was incredibly technical and completely different to anything I had run on before. The forest was relatively open, but lots of rocks and difficult contour features made it a very difficult course. My favourite control would have to be the huge blowup capricorn that was featured as the last control just before the finish chute!

I am so happy and grateful to have raced at JWOC this year, and I would never have got there without the continued support and encouragement from everyone in North West Club, so thank you so much to everyone!
 

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