Blair is simply the best
JEWISH Sydney Girls’ High School student Eden Blair has officially been named the best young debater on the planet after being ranked number one in the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC).
JEWISH Sydney Girls’ High School student Eden Blair has officially been named the best young debater on the planet after being ranked number one in the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC).
“It’s so exciting and so hard to believe,” the year 12 student said. “It’s something I’ve been working on for a long time, since I did my first debate in year 5.”
The Australian team, captained by Blair, travelled to Stuttgart, Germany, last month to compete for the world title. They finished third overall, narrowly losing to the Canadian team by one vote in the finals, arguing that a school’s history curriculum should be designed to promote national pride.
However, in terms of individual debaters, adjudicators hailed Blair as the top performer in the contest.
“I was very luck to be part of a great team,” Blair said. “Our coach had previously won the World University Debating Championships, so we were in good hands.”
The debates were hosted by different schools all over Germany, so Blair was thrilled to be able to spend some time sightseeing while travelling to and from the competition venues. It was difficult to see the sights, however, with a jam-packed training schedule that involved three full debates per day.
“We went a week early and did debate training in Berlin. As we got closer and closer to the finals, I got more nervous. The audiences got bigger, and people started filming us. But I also go more confident as we went on.”
The WSDC brings together 56 countries, each of which send their top five speakers to the finals. After eight rounds of debating, a panel of adjudicators select the finalists. This year, Australia qualified in first place, tying with the South African team.
This is the second time Blair has competed in the WSDC on the Australian team, having attended last year’s finals in Singapore, where they were also narrowly knocked out of the finals by Canada.
Past patrons of the championships include Nelson Mandela and Tony Blair.
“I’m so grateful to everyone who helped us,” said Blair. “This experience has done a lot for me and I know I’ve improved. I loved meeting all the German students too, and the other teams. There was an Israeli team this year too, which was great to see.”
Blair, who is currently completing year 12, hopes to study a combination of law, English and history at university in 2017.
YAEL BRENDER
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