The red and brown leaves are starting to appear, and it’s becoming that annoying period where it’s dark till like 7 am in the morning. It means just one thing. We are close to the biggest party of the season – TNSW Club Championships!

This true celebration of what makes Triathlon NSW Affiliated clubs and memberships so wonderful and unique, takes us back to the superb and spectacular beach side location of Forster, NSW.

You already know the drill, our experts are back with their hot take on Division 1 for the 2022 Club Champs! 

Division 1

2021 Champions: Warringah TC
TNSW’s ‘Most likely to win’: Warringah TC
TNSW’s Dark Horse:  BRATS and Balmoral TC

In 2021 it was the ‘Warringah’ show, with huge numbers on the start line and a huge victory in the TNSW Club Champs Division 1. At this stage, all signs point to them being super competitive once again.

Their entries are tracking strong but it must be acknowledged that their Forager Sydney Triathlon League results have left this author a little underwhelmed. Despite this, the club has gone from strength to strength this season with their membership tracking stronger then ever, despite COVID and the tough season we’ve endured.

President David Wiles has drunk the sweet nectar of victory with the club in 2020 and 2021 and despite having had two years of success, remains thirsty for more.

We asked David what makes the Club Champs so special and about his thoughts on how the club was shaping up with 60 days to go.

“The TNSW Club Champs remains a special event for the club when we swim, bike, run and party as a team. We encourage all Warringah TC members to attend and compete, irrespective of their ability. It’s all about coming together and sharing in the comraderies as a club. As a committee our message is simple. Come to Forster, enjoy the whole weekend but remember, you race 5% faster in Warringah kit!’.

Based on entries for the event thus far, we anticipate a sea of Warringah TC members on the day, with a strong presence throughout all age groups and distances.

The renaissance and resurgence we’ve seen from the BRATS has been immense. This club that once held the mantle as ‘largest club in NSW’ dropped down in size significantly but now appears to be bucking the national trend and growing. Of the back of their hugely successful ‘Try a Tri’ program, their ranks are being filled and they are without doubt building into something special.

The eastern suburbs outfit decked in blue made quite the impression in Huskisson, with some stellar performances and it has been a remarkable 12 months for BRATS as the club continues to show signs of returning to the glory years. We saw a whopping 117 BRATS in Husky making them the largest team at the event. We know that their athletes are incredibly talented with huge depth in both gender and age group. The ingredients are there for this former champion club to return to the top step of the podium.

We aren’t sure if 2022 will be their year, but we are confident that within the next three we’ll be getting the trophy engraver to work out how to fit ‘Bondi Running and Triathlon Club’ onto the perpetual shields without taking up two lines!

President Jeremy Garling was significantly cagey when we asked him for his clubs chances this year.

“We aren’t sure how much traction we’ll get at this stage’ Jeremy advised us, despite our knowledge that their members are entering on a daily basis!

“Will Forster become ‘BRATland’ as we did at Husky?? Only time will tell! One thing is for sure is that BRAT’s love to race and support each other. Some of the regular clubs who are on the podium will not be expecting much from us this year, and that gives us an advantage. We aren’t just there to make up the numbers!”.

We could not separate the BRAT Club and Balmoral TC for our ‘Dark House’. So we didn’t bother and figured we’d write about them both!

Balmoral Tri Club have been on the podium and a Top 3 Division 1 club for the past 3 years. Is 2022 the year we will see the BTC return to the summit?

2012 will remain a year that is fixed in our memory for varied reasons. The passing of the iconic Whitney Houston seems like it was only yesterday and we bid our farewell to a true hero and maybe the most recognisable name on the world stage - Mr. Neil Armstrong. Barack Obama was re-elected for his second term as president of the United States and an Austrian sky diver became the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance during a record space dive out of the helium-filled balloon.

But for those who live in the North of Sydney and are members of Balmoral Tri Club, 2012 remains the first and only time that the club experienced Triathlon NSW Division 1 Club Championships glory!

To say it’s been a long time between drinks for this club is a significant understatement.

President Tony Barbaro really focused on the clubs participation goals for event. ‘BTC can’t wait for the 2022 TNSW Club Champs! For us, it’s as much about club podium success as it is about participating with club mates, enjoying the atmosphere and catching up for a post-race pizza’.

Despite Tony’s obvious focus on the club and participation it’s hard to deny that this club would have lofty goals of taking home Division 1 and returning to the pinnacle of triathlon in NSW once again. And their team on the start line is growing on a daily basis, pushing up to make them one of the largest teams attending at the event. With some of the states best athletes already confirmed and locked into the start line, we anticipate this club to be highly competitive and justifiably identified as our ‘Dark Horse’

Allow me to leave you with a quote taken from one of the great bodybuilders, Hollywood movie stars and politician of our time, Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger. As quoted in his historic film  'Pumping  Iron' and directly related to the Warringah Triathlon Club.

‘The King of the Hill can only go down – or stay up. The fox on the hill is not as hungry as the fox climbing the hill, but when he wants the food, it’s there’. 

Will Warringah remain the King of the Hills? Will one of the other hungry foxes (Balmoral, BRATS) want to climb the hill? Does anyone really understand this analogy?

Who will be announced victorious when we name the winner at the presentation / afterparty?  You'll have to wait and see!

For those who haven’t had a chance, check out the wrap up video from 2021.

To enter: 2022 NSW Club Championships (triathlon.org.au)