Australopers Newsletter

Welcome to our June newsletter, I hope you enjoy reading it.

This is Us

‍Well some of us anyway, we actually have 194 members. It's our latest photo, taken at the 7-Mile Beach event and it adorns our club webpage. You didn't know we had a page? It's under Membership and Clubs on the Orienteering Tasmania website.

‍Congratulations Liana, Will and Mikayla

‍These three young members have recently been selected to represent Australia.

• Liana in the Australian Bushrangers Team in the W20 Elite class, taking part in Sprint, Long, and Middle distance events from 01-03 June in Takaka, near the Abel Tasman National Park on New Zealand's South Island.
• Will in the Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering team to compete in the World MTBO Championships in Bulgaria in September.
• Mikayla in the senior Australian team to compete in the World Orienteering Cup in Edinburgh in July.

Go you good things - we're proud of you.

‍Tasmanian School Forest Champs

‍Congratulations to our juniors who competed in the races on Sunday. Tassie is going to have strong junior teams at the Aus Champs at Armidale in September.

‍Meet our Members

‍This week we meet Rosie Rutledge, she's been around longer than I can remember. I asked Rosie a few questions about herself - well not quite, she made them up herself. Rosie is the one in the middle with fellow members Adele Winslow and Robyn Chapman.

‍What was your first whirl at orienteering?

My induction to the sport over 27 years ago was via an Adult Education course tutored by the late and great duo of Sue and Tony Mount.

Why?

Orienteering interested me because I was very runny. I did achieve some solid results for a couple of decades. An early achievement was first place in W35-44B in 1999 with a sprained ankle. It was strapped in the first aid tent amongst injured elites who were also there for the Easter Aus 3 Days in Southern Tasmania. In 2016 I was awarded the Orienteering Tasmania trophy for highest participation that year - 51 events – to the chagrin of Matt.

‍Where have you been?

I haven’t always been sure. I’ve enjoyed orienteering carnivals in TAS, NSW, ACT, VIC and SA and  at the World Masters Games in NSW and NZ. It’s been a pastime with trips plus tumbles and splats.

Terroir or terrain?

Pinot noir is where it’s at. My current gardening footwear is what I called my orienteering swamp shoes back when Tasmanian marshes had an underworld. My favourite maps used to be the ones I could be fast running over. Now I prefer the ones that don’t do me over. 

Do you listen to music?

I had a stint as Australopers president many years ago. It was 3 years without rock ‘n the role.

Top tip?

It was learnt on a hilltop at Lieemunetta: If there’s double the number of people walking to the start it’s wise to have your eyes checked. 

‍Setters' Corner

 We all enjoyed the challenge of the event at Lovelybanks, set by Hugh Fitzgerald and Liz Canning, with Sue Hancock as their controller. Here, Hugh and Liz give a fascinating insight into the thought processes and evolution of one of the legs on that course.

Training Sessions

In this week's OT newsletter you may have seen a notice about future training sessions. These sessions are on most Saturday afternoons and are run by our members. They are designed for people of all abilities. This Saturday Louise and Kirsten Fairfax will concentrate on efficient bush running, compass work and map simplification for sprints. What a great opportunity to improve our orienteering! Register here.

‍Devonport Long Weekend June 8 - 10

‍Yes it's a long way, but Jo and Rod Bissett have done an enormous amount of work for this sprint carnival. There are seven events, including two OST events, the Tasmanian Sprint Champs and four others - and three new maps. They deserve our support.

‍‍Next Meeting

June 20, 7:30pm at 6 Rupara Ave West Hobart. All members are welcome.

Thanks for reading this far.

Mike Calder

Australopers President

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