Orienteering: Teen's head for heights

Devon Beckman competes in last year's junior world champs in Norway.

Will two weeks of altitude training be enough for Hawke's Bay orienteer Devon Beckman in the countdown to next month's Junior World Champs in Switzerland?

"Hopefully it will be long enough. I've never raced at altitude before so it will be a foreign experience. Athletes from a lot of the other countries will be in a similar position so those who adapt the best will be the ones who compete the best against the guns from the European strongholds of the sport," Beckman said as he pondered the July 8-16 worlds in Engadin.

The only Bay member of the 12-strong Kiwi team for the champs, Beckman, 19, couldn't fly any sooner because his final end-of-term exam at Auckland University is the day before departing. What the second-year commerce student - majoring in marketing and international business - lacks in altitude experience will be compensated to a certain extent by his wealth of international experience.

A member of the Hawke's Bay Orienteering Club since 2010, Beckman represented Napier Boys' High School at two World Schools competitions where a sixth placing was his best finish in 2011. He has competed in Australia with the New Zealand Schools team and also with the New Zealand senior men's team at a World Cup event, placing second equal in a B final.

Next month's Junior Worlds, which will involve 120 men and the same number of women, will be Beckman's second taste of competition at this level and he will also be eligible for next year's in Finland. At last year's Junior Worlds in Norway he started in four races and came 32nd in the sprint, 56th in the A final of the middle distance race, 65th in the long distance and seventh with the Kiwi relay team.

"It's no use setting goals based on positions for Switzerland because you only get a chance to race against the Europeans once a year. Having good races technically and physically is my main goal ... if I haven't made many mistakes and I've done all I can I'll be happy," Beckman said.

Another plus in his favour will be having his mother Karen, a Hawke's Bay club committee member, as manager of the Kiwi team. She has also managed NBHS teams Beckman has been in.

"Having mum there will add another element to being as comfortable as possible. Dad [Chris] will also be there among the supporters too which is awesome as my parents have been so supportive of my sporting pursuits," he said.

Trained by 2012 world junior middle distance champion Matt Ogden of Auckland and Hawke's Bay's Duncan Morrison, Beckman is rapt with the financial support he has received from the Hawke's Bay club and his university where five members of the Kiwi team study.

Seven of the 12-strong Kiwi team are Auckland-based and Beckman said they push each other during training in the Waitakere Ranges and Woodhill Forest. He spends up to 13 hours a week training.

During his days at NBHS Beckman was just as good a triathlete as an orienteer. While he has sacrificed his triathlon pursuits for now he pointed out it is a sport he can always return to.

"I'm in orienteering for the long haul. It's a good family sport and one I will always enjoy."