Oceania Orienteering Championships 2025 was held on 24 – 27 January 2025 in New Zealand.

Today, I’m joined by Brodie Nankervis who will be taking us through his experience of attending Oceania Orienteering Championships 2025.

Hi Brodie, thanks so much for joining me today and taking the time to chat about your recent trip. 

No problem Liz! Happy to be here. 

I was planning on going to Oceania months in advance. I knew back in October 2024 I was going to attend. My focus was to be fit and race for the bonus spot on offer for the elite classes since the first place winner of the middle and long distance earned the wild card spot at World Championships later this year. This was extremely beneficial for the individual and nation to have an extra athlete competing. In November, I also signed up for the Team Manager position for the ANZ Challenge. 

Let’s get stuck in. Before going to Oceania, what did your training and prep work look like, being a competing athlete and Team Leader at this competition?

At the end of November, I was getting on top of a long term achilles injury and after seeing my physio, I made the difficult decision to take their advice and only do day on day off running at Oceania. 

The ANZ Challenge is a competition when full Oceania races are on between Australia and New Zealand for all age categories. It’s a cool competition and a great opportunity for athletes of all ages to compete. The test match between Australia and New Zealand for elite classes was also happening at the same time. 

As the ANZ Challenge Team Leader for Australia, my responsibilities included organising the selected team, making changes to the team when needed and getting the winners their trophies! For the ANZ Challenge, I coordinated uniforms for all athletes which actually ended up being a bit more complicated than expected because time-wise, we had to send them to New Zealand. But they got there safe and sound! And everyone looked great in their new uniforms. The new design is a flip of the elite design (green with a yellow kangaroo) and the plan is to use this design for the next 3-5 years. It was great to see Aussies blending into the forest as opposed to the green kit so it made us blend into our surroundings a bit more and made it harder for our competitors to spot us in the forests. 

I honestly considered not going to Oceania at one point because of my achilles injury, but having the Team Leader position gave me a real reason to go. I really want to give back to orienteering where I can and it made me very proud to put on the Australian uniform and represent Australia in the races I competed in. Also- being the Team Leader made the flight over more defendable! 

Can you tell me a bit more about your role and responsibility as the team leader?

I managed athletes of all ages. There were 3 Australian runners in every category with 20-30 categories. The main challenge with the role was coordinating so many athletes and making sure everyone was on the same page. I organised information about each event like entries, deadlines, general information and sent it off to the athletes, set up relay teams and sorted changes (like when people would drop out and taking others’ places), official work with the New Zealand Team Manager when giving out prizes and sorting trophies. I also followed up with individual athletes that had questions and provided some 1 on 1 contact when needed.

Thanks to everyone who reached out and said thank you! It’s an important role to make sure the ANZ Challenge happens and I view it as a very important competition for everyone. It’s a great time to showcase our juniors and masters athletes. The elites get showcased in other competitions in the calendar but it’s great to have others in the limelight, especially since we have so much Aussie talent.  

Did the team do any prep work together or was training mostly done separately before going over to New Zealand? 

With the size of the team, it wasn’t practical to do training for everyone. But maybe the next time if the event is in Australia, we can have a prep session that people can sign up for. 

There was some training put on by the New Zealand organisers that was very useful. Australia doesn’t have much sand dune terrain besides a few Tassie sand dune maps and few small maps on the Aussie east coast but even then, they’re not the exact same shape or super relevant to what we were racing on in NZ. Aussies are at a disadvantage when competing in sand dunes so I heard it was very useful to get out on the map. If we could’ve done it for 3 weeks leading into the competition, that would’ve been even better. But seeing what you’ll come across helps take the nerves out of it. Personally I found it very useful and so did most of the team. 

Can you tell us a bit more about these training sessions organised by NZ? 

Sure! There were warm up events not in sand dunes but still good to shake out the nerves. Then the week beforehand, there were 2 training days. 1 was on a model map which is in  an area where organisers choose terrain that’s close to the competition, maybe on an area adjacent or part of the competition that isn’t being used for the actual course and is reserved for the model map. The other training day was another opportunity to get out on the map and get more experience. It was great to get into the sand dunes before the actual competition. 

This was extra effort from the NZ organisers for athletes. Other competitions like WOC, JWOC, and World Masters will typically have training sessions like the ones at Oceania. Maybe people reached out for training opportunities, I know I did back in October/November of 2024, seeing if we could have an additional training day. I’d like to think these efforts were responding to requests and just the extra step in making this competition so quality. 

Normally, when you go out and do your own training, there are no flags, you only have the map. In this official with flags out, it gives you confirmation that you’re at the control spot and really helps cement the training you’re doing. 

That’s really great to hear! I’m sure it was a massive effort to get everything sorted but it seems like these training days were representative of the NZ organisers going the extra mile. We’re so thankful! 

Did the team have any concerns or nerves coming into Oceania 2025?

For the elite classes, there is always some level of nerves and I’m sure there were nerves for the masters and juniors classes as well because of the unfamiliar terrain. For senior elites, results would be taken into consideration for selection for World Champs. Juniors’ results wouldn’t directly affect selection but results would be something selectors could look at when considering prior performance. 

A majority of Aussies would’ve never been to this area before, I believe the last competition in the area was last 2013 Oceania Champs). With less familiar terrain, there’s always going to be feelings of nerves but also makes it more exciting and interesting. It depends on how you approach it! New terrain can be challenging and that’s what orienteers like, the challenge factor of new terrain. I guess it depends how seriously you’re taking the competition too.

It sounds like there was a lot on the line. How did you feel about the Aussies’ showing in the races?

We (Aussies) did a great job! For the elite classes, we knew the race we would do the best in was likely the sprint since it’s closest to what we do at home (running on university campuses in familiar terrain) so we had great results there! 

Best of the Australians in the sprint:

Elites:

• W21E: Grace Crane ACT in 6th place
• M21E: Angus Haines SA in 3rd place
• W20E: Nea Shingler NSW in 1st
• M20E: Elye Dent ACT in 6th place

Junior and Youth Championships class:

• W18: Aoife Rothery ACT in 1st place
• M18: Oliver Bishop ACT in 2nd place
• W16: Sanda Halpin ACT in 10th place
• M16: Hayden Dent ACT in 1st place
• W14: Naomi Penton ACT in 1st place

Masters classes:

• W45: Rachel West WA in 1st place
• M45: Ricky Thackray WA in 1st place
• M50: Bruce Arthur VIC in 1st place
• W55: Jennifer Enderby NSW in 1st place
• W60: Paula Shingler NSW in 1st place

The first event you competed in was the middle distance race at Koitiata, Santoft Forest where you finished in 10th place. How did you find the race? 

I’m assuming like many people, it was their first time racing in the first this year. It’s been 4 months since I’ve raced in a forest. At the start of the course, it was quite tricky terrain but eventually it got flatter which made it easier to run through. It was a fast course and I made a few mistakes early in the race and I didn’t have the legs to catch up because the running was hard. I’m relatively pleased to come in 10th place. It was really competitive and I’m glad to see many Aussies did well. 

Best of the Australians in the middle distance:

Elites:

• W21E: Grace Crane ACT in 5th place
• M21E: Leith Soden SA in 3rd place
• W20E: Nea Shingler NSW in 3rd place
• M20E: Euan Best TAS in 3rd place

Junior and Youth Championships class:

• W18: Alexandra Edwards QLD in 5th place
• M18: Elye Dent ACT in 1st place
• W16: Ella Maja Lang VIC in 6th place
• M16: Alton Freeman NSW in 1st place
• W14: Naomi Penton ACT in 1st place

Masters classes:

• M50: Grant Bluett ACT in 1st place
• W55: Martina Craig NSW in 1st place
• W60: Sue Hancock TAS in 1st place
• M65: Eoin Rothery ACT in 1st place
• M70: Geoff Lawford ACT in 1st place
• M75: Adrian Uppill SA in 1st place
• W80: Jenny Hawkins ACT in 1st place
• M85: John Hodsdon NSW in 1st place

Half of the top 10 in M21E were from Australia and most impressive was Leith Soden who placed 3rd with a good time. It seemed like this was his breakout race at this level where he’s done really really well- which is cool to see!

This race definitely set up the weekend and while many found it challenging, people also walked away with ideas and some experience under their belt on how to improve the next day.

It’s always great to see so many Aussies in the top 10, especially when competing overseas in unfamiliar terrain so it really was a massive and impressive effort! 

What can you tell us about the other races? 

The long distance had bigger hills AND it rained, which added an additional challenge. But overall I think the rain was welcomed because it meant the temperature was better for running.

Best of the Australians in the long distance:

Elites:

• W21E: Emily Sorensen SA in 6th place
• M21E: Leith Soden SA in 6th place
• W20E: Milla Key VIC in 2nd place
• M20E: Owen Radajewski ACT in 4th place

Junior and Youth Championships class:

• W18: Aoife Rothery ACT in 8th place
• M18: Oliver Bishop ACT in 4th place
• W16: Izzy Greenhalgh VIC in 2nd place
• M16: Hayden Dent ACT in 1st place
• M14: Euan Shedden NSW in 1st place

Masters classes:

• W55: Martina Craig NSW in 1st place
• M55: Jonathan McComb TAS in 1st place
• W60: Paula Shingler NSW in 1st place
• M65: Eoin Rothery ACT in 1st place
• M70: Geoff Lawford ACT in 1st place
• W80: Jenny Hawkins ACT in 1st place

Sadly, it was a day off for me and I didn’t compete. Usually the long distance is my favourite and best event but given I hadn’t been doing heaps of running and where I was at with rehab, it was the better call to do day on day off. The break also made me excited to get back into it on relay day. 

Sorry to hear you missed out on the long, but from what you were saying, it was worth listening to your physio and putting your body first so you would be okay to race in the relay. And it seems like the waiting paid off because your relay team finished in 3rd place and you had the overall 5th fastest time! 

Definitely! The relay was in the most interesting and challenging terrain. It was really cool to have had the chance to run it with David Stocks and Matt Doyle. Matt ran the first leg and came back in 3rd or 4th place. David ran leg 2 and came 2nd, with 3rd closely behind. This was such a feat because 1st place was the NZ 1 team and 3rd place was the NZ 2 team. But so far, we were looking good. 

I ran our third and final leg. I knew Joseph Lynch (NZ) was running the last leg for NZ 1 so I really just focused on running the best I could against Nick Hann in NZ 2. Everything went well in the first half, I only made a few small errors. At the spectator run through, I came together with Nick at the control. From the bulletin, I knew after the spectator run through, there was only 1km to go and I knew if I made an error, Nick would slip past me. I needed to get the controls cleanly. 

Unfortunately, I made a tactical mistake when I should’ve kept navigating cleanly because I was running slightly faster. At the second last control, I got stressed and rushed and made a mistake and he slipped past. It was a bit of a shame but he had a solid run. I used to race with Nick back as a junior so it was good to race against him again.

Our team ended up in 3rd place for Australia! It was a fun battle and good practice for later in the season with the same racing feeling. There were good reflections to take into the rest of the season.

Wow, it really sounds like it was a tight race! Nick might’ve won out for now but you still ran a good race, being the 5th fastest in all legs. And it’s still very early in the year so there’s many chances for you to compete this year. It’s a great attitude you have towards your results and learning from it.

Best of the Australians in the relay:

Junior and Youth Championships class:

• M14: Team Bandicoots TAS in 1st place (Naomi Penton, Angus Hewitt, Alma Walter)

Masters classes:

• M45: Team AUS M45 ACT in 1st place (Rob Walter, Ricky Thackray, Simon Rouse)
• M65: Team AUS M65 ACT in 1st place (Eoin Rothery, Neil Barr, Grant McDonald)
• W65: Team AUS W70 VIC in 1st place (Sue Key, Jenny Bourne, Louise Fairfax)
• W75: Team O2 Girls ACT in 1st place (Jenny Hawkins, Val Hodsdon, Janet Tarr)

Now that Oceania has ended, do you have any final thoughts about the experience? 

It was a really good competition! NZ always takes us to cool terrains and puts on high quality events. I didn’t see any big issues and it was a solid overall carnival. One thing I did notice that was different to the carnivals in Australia was that our races have GPS tracking for the athletes. I understand it’s not cheap technology and it’s hard to get the balance right but I do think that is something Aussies do well in having that technology. 

Something else I noticed is that even though NZ is so close to Australia, the terrain is more similar to Europe than Australia’s so from my perspective, it makes sense why Kiwis do well when they compete in Europe.

That’s an interesting observation. What makes you say that? 

Generally, the ground is much softer in NZ than what it is in Australia (more firm). This makes the terrain shapes different and running on the terrain would be different too. When I’m thinking about World Champs in Finland where last year the World Cup was in the same terrain, while that’s not the same as NZ sand dunes, the feeling under your foot and the softness is reminiscent of the terrain in NZ versus generally what we see in Australia. 

It sounds like NZ really could be an ideal place to train on terrain similar to Europe, without the time and price required to go all  the way there. 

Definitely! We have this location that’s so much closer to Australia than Europe. This terrain reinforces that there’s good training and competition that is close to home and relevant to competing in Europe. I remember I competed in NZ during the Queen’s Birthday Weekend and my races there were really good prep for JWOC later that year. 

Hopefully we’ll be sending Aussies to compete during the King’s birthday. Racing in NZ is definitely a good building block to use when working towards European competition. Kiwis are also good competitors who are doing well on the world stage so racing against them is good experience.

It’s a difficult balance. Traveling to NZ and training there as opposed to Australia takes more travel time and cost but it’s worth keeping in the back of the mind that NZ is a good place to test yourself, even if you don’t compete in Europe. It’s good competition and a good chance to try different terrains. 

And I love that you mentioned the fact that Kiwis are good competitors. On a global scale, Australia and NZ are often grouped together. When you’re on a World Champs stage, we’re always celebrating Aussie AND Kiwi wins! It seems like there are many opportunities to collaborate with them in the future. 

There’s always some good friendly competition. There’s a good relationship and camaraderie with the Kiwis. We’re like good friends who have each others’ backs. It was mentioned in one of the presentations that Oceania may be the most friendly competition. There’s banter but it’s always friendly at the end of the day and we enjoy racing against each other and also rooting for each other.

And finally, what do you have coming up in 2025? More racing? More coaching? 

In my domestic calendar, I have the 2nd round of the national league in WA from 8-9 March. I’m excited to head across to Perth. I’ll be going a few weeks beforehand for a holiday and also do a few training sessions! I’ll also be at the Australian 3 Days over Easter in VIC. 

This year the World Champs is in Finland. We’ll see how the selection races go. I’ve been running in the senior team for many years and I’m now one of the oldest athletes. It’s great to see the many young racers coming through, just out of juniors coming up, pushing me to race hard. I’m hoping I can make the World Champs team, but even if I don’t, we’ll have young talent I’m confident in. It’s bittersweet but also exciting to see. I’m looking forward to seeing how the domestic season pans out.   

It sounds like you’ve got the year worked out to be an exciting one. Best of luck in your races! And thank you so much for your time today in this interview.

We hope this interview gave everyone some more insight into attending Oceania Orienteering Championships 2025. Full results can be found here: https://www.oceaniao.nz/results/

Orienteering Australia extends a big thank you to Orienteering NZ for hosting the Championships. We extend an extra big shout out of gratitude to the organisers, Orienteering Wellington and the orienteering clubs of the lower North Island for a hugely successful event. Thank you to all your team for your amazing work.