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Two thirds of triathlon participants hold no licence. A club is not required to take part, but it is often the best way to improve. Here is how to decide, and how to find yours.
Find a club near meIn France, about 200,000 people hold a triathlon licence, for 500,000 to 700,000 who practise. On a race start line, two participants out of three belong to no club: they train alone, with friends, or with whatever sessions they can find.
That is neither a problem nor a fate. Some have no club nearby, others cannot make the slots, others want to try triathlon before committing. This page is for them, and for those who hesitate.
Four things you find nowhere else, which justify the fee.
Structured sessions, a season-long progression, an eye on your swim technique or your bike position. This is what saves the most time, especially in the water.
The FFTRI licence, issued by the club, gives access to races without a day pass and covers insurance. From three or four races a year, it costs less than the passes.
Regular teammates, a jersey, shared trips to races, relays on Sunday. The club builds the consistency that solo sport does not.
A pool lane at a fixed time, an athletics track, sometimes a group turbo session in winter. Access you do not get alone.
There are more than 900 affiliated clubs in France. The right club is not the biggest or the most decorated: it is the one whose sessions you will attend all season. Four criteria, in this order.
A club thirty minutes away: you go in September and stop in November. Look first at those within a quarter of an hour of home or work. The TriMates directory sorts them by distance.
Check the swim session times, the sport where the club matters most. If they always clash with your meetings or the kids' bath time, you will not swim.
Some clubs aim at competition and long distance, others welcome beginners and first Sprints. Both are legitimate, as long as you pick the one that suits you.
Almost every club offers one or two trial sessions at the start of the season, sometimes all year. It is the only real test. On TriMates, clubs can announce their open sessions: you see them on the map like any other session.
TriMates is not a club and does not replace yours. It is the map of everything run, ridden and swum near you: sessions between amateurs, clubs' open sessions and races.
Without a club, you find partners for the Sunday long ride, an open-water session in summer, a brick before your first race. And when you want structure, every affiliated club has its page: its TriMates members, its open sessions, the races it organises.
With a club, TriMates covers the rest of the week: days without a session, holidays, the July-August break, races far from home. Many licensed athletes declare their club to find their teammates more easily.
The club directory is open to everyone. A free account is enough to see the sessions near you.