2015 was to have seen the first ever ETU Club Championships but due to the deadly storms that ripped through southern France during the night before the race, the event was cancelled by the French authorities.

It would have been a great chance to see top athletes racing in the exciting relay format that stunned the crowds in Geneva and left the IOC members who visited Glasgow hungry for more. The 2 man, 2 women format over a short distance is fast, furious and so stunningly exciting that we are sure it will attract big audiences. The distances involved create less of an impact on the host city, which means it is easier to fit into a busy city schedule.

It is not a new format.

It is an exciting format.

It has seen light at the Youth Olympics where athletes from different nations joined together to form “Team Europe”.

2014 saw the European athletes once again dominate.

The ETU Club Championships is a chance for athletes to work together in established teams as we see already in the German Bundesliga series.

Mario Mola, Will Clarke, Jonathan Zipf und die Brüder Denis und Ivan Vasiliev.
Foto: TV Germania Buschhütten

Not only in Germany but also in France and Italy there are successful team series that attract top athletes. This will be a chance to bring together these teams and ETU HQ has recently sent out a detailed announcement to all National Federations:

At the beginning of 2015 the ETU Executive Board decided to organise a European Relay Championships in Triathlon for clubs. The date and venue were set for Sunday October 4th in Nice, France. Unfortunately, due to the severe weather conditions the evening and night prior to the event, the event had to be cancelled. As the ETU Board is determined to implement its plan we are pleased to confirm that the 2016 race will take place with a new race organiser in Banyoles, Spain on Saturday 3 September. The event will be in a Mixed Relay format (300m swim/6,6km bike/1,8kmrun) with 2 men and 2 women per team. The race will be open to a maximum of 25 clubs. 

To avoid any issues the ETU Executive Board has developed criteria that a participating club should meet in order to be eligible: 

1. have a constitution regulating its activities;
2. be a legal entity capable of entering into contractual relationships;
3. be of at least one years' standing at the date of the relevant competition;
4. have a bank account;
5. have elected officers (Chairman, treasurer etc.);
6. have a membership that is open to the public or a section of the public, irrespective of ability;
7. members pay an annual subscription for membership;
8. be affiliated to the National Federation of the relevant country. 

Further guidelines for the purposes of the club mixed relay championships are:

• trade teams and other professional teams funded by sponsors are not regarded as clubs (unless they fulfil the criteria above);
• team members will be expected to demonstrate both membership of their club and  that they hold a current licence of a National Federation (e.g. by showing their membership card and NF licence);
• all team members will compete in the same club kit

The Relay Championships is designed to promote national clubs and their national athletes. As such please note that at least 1 of the men and 1 of the women team members that will race need to have the nationality of the country of the club.    

Stage 1

• National Federations ranked in category 5 (Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Switzerland) are allowed to nominate up to 2 clubs. This means the start list will be filled with a maximum of 20 teams.  National Federations ranked in category 4 (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine) are allowed to nominate 1 club until the start list is full. This will be on a first come, first served policy. In the case that more clubs apply, then clubs will be placed on a waiting list. 

Stage 2

• As a second stage, if the entry list has not been filled by Category 5 and 4 National federations by the date shown below, the ETU will apply a roll down process and contact Category 2 and 3 National Federations inviting them to nominate a Club team. Any nominations received during this second stage will be reviewed by the ETU Board and the Board will determine which club(s) should be selected. The decision of the Board is final. 

Key dates
Please note the following key dates regarding registration and selection: 

• Each National Federation of Category 5 and 4 to confirm by April 15th   that they will qualify and send one or two clubs, or not as the case may be;
• If by April 16th less than 25 clubs have been nominated from Category 4 and 5 National Federations, ETU will contact all National Federations of Category 2 and 3 and inform them regarding available slots;
• The category 2 and 3 National Federations contacted have to propose, before May 6th, whether or not they have a club to nominate as candidate. The ETU Executive Board will, before May 20th, decide which clubs will be invited from this category;
• Before 1st July National Federations should declare to ETU, the names of the nominated Club(s) and first choice triathletes which could be part of the team;
• A long list of potential team athletes (10 maximum) should be send to the ETU office 33 days prior to the event (1 August 2016) for checking purposes;
• Briefing on Friday 2 September: the team coach will declare the team composition (ITU -16.8-Rules -Team Composition) at the team relay briefing bearing in mind the restrictions on foreign athletes referred to above;
• All team compositions will be published after the team relay briefing;
• Two hours before the race start, the coach can communicate a different team composition to the assigned ETU Technical Delegate. 

The selected clubs will not have to pay an entry fee and each of them will receive a 400€ subsidy from the ETU to help to cover their costs such as travel and accommodation.    

Prize money for the clubs will be according to the table below:  
Position Prize Money

• 1st 4 500 € 
• 2nd 3 400 €
• 3rd 2 600 €
• 4th 1 700 €
• 5th 1 200 €
• 6th 1 100 €
• 7th 900 €
• 8th 660 €
• 9th 530 €
• 10th 410 €

TOTAL 17 000€

If you need more information regarding the 2016 Banyoles Triathlon Club European Championships, the invitation process or registration process, please do not hesitate to contact the ETU office at etu_hq@etu.triathlon.org. 

Kind regards,    
Kathleen Smet, ETU Secretary General In name of the entire ETU Executive Board and the Banyoles LOC