Year 11 News

MUNA camp

"Several weeks ago, on the 17th till 19th of May myself and fellow classmate Ethan Turner were invited to Phillip Island and to attend a Model United Nations Assembly camp that followed as a real United Nations meeting would go. There were over 20 delegate teams from schools across the state that each represented a different country. We represented the country Indonesia. There were 6 separate resolutions that we worked through during the weekend that were Climate change, refugees, the North Korean and United States nuclear deal, the situation in Yemen and the Syrian war. They were very serious topics that are currently affecting out world today which made them interesting and relevant. It was important when debating these resolutions to represent not own personal views on these issues but the views of our country Indonesia and there were many heated debates throughout the weekend. The camp was fully sponsored and run by Rotary clubs all over Victoria, we were personally sponsored by Mornington Rotary. When debating the resolutions all delegates were dressed in their countries national dress which enhanced the feeling of a real United Nations Assembly. The camp allowed us to develop further public speaking and debating skills as well as help us understand how the UN works and how decisions in our world are made. It was an invaluable experience that was very different to anything I had done before but allowed a different perspective to our world."

Clare Hendy

Year 11

Lily and Matilda Richardson - Our Sailing Adventure

Soon we will be setting off to represent Australia at 2 major sailing championships in Europe. We started sailing when we were 7, taking turns crewing for Dad in club races at the Albury Wodonga Yacht Club. That only lasted one summer and we were soon sailing our own boats in club races. We loved the sport and did it at every chance we got. By the time we turned 9 we were competing in State and National Championships and we were lucky enough to be selected into the Victorian Sailing Team.

For the past 4 years we have been sailing together in a two person 420 dinghy. The 420 is a performance racing boat used around the world as a development boat for youth sailors. It has a 4.2m long fibreglass hull which weighs 80kg. Fully rigged the boat weighs 100kg. When we compete it is usually in regattas with up to 120 other 420s. Regattas can range from 2 days to 10 days with racing on each day. There are usually 2-4 races each day which take about 40-50 minutes each. All up we can spend up to 7 hours on the water a day.

In 2018 and 2019 we were fortunate enough to win the Australian Youth selection regattas, ranking us number one women’s team in Australia and gaining selection into the Australian Youth Sailing Team for the second time. On 28 June we leave for a 4 week campaign to sail in the Open 420 World Championship in Villamoura Portugal and the Youth World Championships in Gdynia Poland.

For the past 2 years we have been granted scholarships with the Victorian Institute of Sport. We do gym training at the VIS in Albert Park on Monday and Thursday nights and sailing training at Royal Brighton Yacht Club on Wednesday and Friday evenings. We have gym circuits and runs set for us by the VIS which we have to do at home. We also do sailing training on weekends when we are not competing.

Performance sailing has been described as a sport that requires the balance of a gymnast, the strength of a rugby player and the concentration of a chess champion. To prepare for the European campaign we have spent the past 6 weeks doing an intensive training program at the VIS in a heat tent which includes high output cardio exercise in a room at 40oC and 80% humidity. This helps to improve our V02 fitness. We also complete weights, strength and conditioning sessions. We feel like we are as well prepared as we can be for Europe.

The commitment required from our family and other supporters to enable us to compete with the Australian Youth Sailing Team is huge. Not only is there the regular drives to Albert Park and Brighton for gym and sailing training, we also have to regularly travel all over the place for training and competition. Over the past 18 months we have travelled to Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Sydney 8 times, Texas USA, Japan twice and New Zealand twice. On days were parents can’t drive us we often have to leave school early and catch a bus, train and tram to get to training.

We do our best to try and keep up with our homework and study. We study in the mornings before school which means most our mornings start at 5:20am; we also take homework with us when we travel. Hopefully when we get back from Europe we will be able to relax the training and spend a bit more time on school work, until the build-up for the national championships at the end of this year.

We are really looking forward to Europe. Our main focus is the Youth World Championships in Poland. This is a very prestigious event with only one girl team and one boys’ team from each country selected to compete. We will be racing against the 23 best girl teams from around the world. The Youth Worlds regatta is set up much like that of the Olympics were we have an ‘athlete village’ and no one is allowed into the competition aside from athletes, coaches and race officials so Mum and Dad will be cheering us on from home.

We are very thankful for the flexibility and support Mornington Secondary College provides us. Competing in the sport we love at the highest level means the world to us. Without the generous support from our parents, sailing club, the VIS and School we couldn’t enjoy what we do.

Wish us luck.

Lily & Matilda