Results from the most recent World Universities Debating Championship in Botswana are in: of roughly 680 debaters participating, U of T’s Brent Kettles ranks number nine.

Kettles, a political science master’s student, was humble about the outcome.

“I feel really fortunate. It was a really good competition. Frankly, I was pretty surprised. I wasn’t able to crack 100th in previous championships.”

This past WUDC, from December 29 to January 3, was Kettles’ fourth and therefore, according to eligibility criteria, his last championship at the international level.

“It was a nice way to end my debating career,” he said.

The WUDC is the largest world-wide debating tournament. It is held using the British parliamentary debate format and is hosted by a university selected by the World Universities Debating Council.

The competition begins with three days of nine preliminary rounds. Within these three days 80–90 debates carry on simultaneously around the campus. In each round, four teams are set against each other and are ranked according to respective feats. Judges score and pair up teams as the tournament progresses according to performance. Then the judges, who are often students from competing institutions, turn in their scores to the adjudication team.

Kettles and debating partner Christine Wadsworth had a good first day, scoring eight points out of nine. Though, faring well in this debating forum is often left to chance.

Kettles and Wadsworth learned of their pairings, what rooms they were debating in, the positions they were to assume, and the “motion” or subject of the debate only 15 minutes prior to its start.

As the official website for the debate describes, “You will see a wild frenzy of activity as debaters attempt to think and walk at the same time.”

To prepare for the competition, Kettles and Wadsworth participated in three intercollegiate tournaments, at Yale University, Queen’s University, and Dalhousie University. In addition, both had weekly sessions with the Hart House Debate Club.

“Christine and I also did a fair amount of research. The subjects are impromptu so we couldn’t anticipate them.”

Kettles read numerous publications that covered a wide area of topics in international relations. He lists The Economist as key.

The first nine rounds are followed by a break at which point elimination rounds are announced. From this point, 32 teams proceed, of which two teams from each debate proceed to the quarter finals, semi-finals and the Grand Final. The number of judges as also increases as the tournament progresses.

Both Kettles and Wadsworth progressed to the finals, or achieved “breaking.” It was Kettles’ very first time.

He describes the playoff rounds as a little different, including a bigger audience and most importantly, “If you don’t come out on top, you don’t advance.”

Alas, the U of T dream team did not advance to the final on a split decision. They were covering the subject of the buying of votes in international organizations.

“Every debater comes out of a round feeling like they won it. Having self-confidence is key. Christine and I left feeling we made the best arguments we could.”

For aspiring debaters, Kettles has some advice: “The most important thing is to practice a lot. The more debates you do, the more confident you’ll become and the more arguments you’ll know.”

The next WUDC will be hosted by De La Salle University in the Philippines in 2012.