Valley Tri Club's relay team breaks Queensland record at Mooloolaba — and they're just getting started

Valley Triathlon Club's mixed relay team clocked a combined time of 3 hours, 41 minutes and 22 seconds at last weekend's Sunshine Coast Triathlon Festival in Mooloolaba, breaking the Queensland club relay record that had stood since 2019. The result puts the Bowen Hills-based outfit on the Triathlon Australia national selection radar ahead of the Australian Club Championships scheduled for October in Wollongong.

The timing matters. Australian sport is processing a rough 48 hours — the Socceroos went out on penalties to Egypt in the World Cup last 32 overnight, leaving the country casting around for something to feel good about. Brisbane's endurance community is more than happy to step into that space. Valley Tri has quietly built one of the most competitive club environments in the country over the past three years, and Saturday's performance in Mooloolaba was the moment it announced itself at scale.

The club trains out of two primary locations: the 50-metre outdoor pool at Chandler's Brisbane Aquatic Centre and the road loop through Nudgee and along Kedron Brook Bikeway that coaches have used since the club relocated its cycling sessions north of the CBD in 2023. Saturday's relay squad — comprising a swimmer, cyclist and runner drawn from the club's elite development squad — averaged a 1:24-per-100-metre swim split, a 38.6 km/h average on the 40-kilometre bike leg, and finished the 10-kilometre run in 31 minutes flat. Those are numbers that hold up against any club field in the country.

A club built on infrastructure, not luck

Valley Tri has grown its senior membership from 210 registered athletes in January 2024 to just over 390 as of June this year, according to figures the club posted to its member portal last month. That growth tracks with a broader boom in endurance sport across South-East Queensland — Parkrun participation at New Farm Park alone is up 22 percent year-on-year, and entries for the 2026 Brisbane Marathon, set for August 30, sold out in under six hours when they opened in February.

The club's head coach attributes much of the relay squad's development to the Saturday morning brick sessions at Nudgee, where athletes ride 60 kilometres before immediately transitioning to a 15-kilometre run along the northern foreshore. Those sessions cost members nothing beyond the $340 annual club fee, which also covers access to coached swim sessions at Chandler on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:30 a.m. That fee is, by Queensland Triathlon Series standards, competitive — most comparable Brisbane clubs charge between $380 and $420 annually.

The relay format itself has become a draw for athletes who want competitive racing without the full individual distance commitment. Valley Tri fielded four relay teams at Mooloolaba, and two of the others finished inside the top ten in their respective age categories. The club's junior development program, run in partnership with Brisbane City Council's Active and Healthy initiative, has also fed a pipeline of under-23 athletes into the senior squads — three of the relay squad members are 24 or younger.

What comes next for Valley Tri

The club's October target at Wollongong's Australian Club Championships will require a top-three relay finish to secure national ranking points. Triathlon Australia's selection criteria for the 2027 World Club Championships — to be held in Málaga, Spain — include club rankings from the October event, so the stakes at Wollongong are genuine.

Between now and then, Valley Tri athletes will compete at the Brisbane Triathlon Series event at Kawana Waters on August 9 and the Gold Coast Endurance Festival on September 14. Coaches plan to use those races as qualifying markers for final relay team selection.

For Brisbanites curious enough to watch or join, Valley Tri holds an open training day at the Chandler Aquatic Centre on the first Saturday of each month — the next one falls on August 1. Entry is free, and the club's membership portal opens a new intake window on July 14. The record book has been updated. The work starts again Monday morning at 5:30 a.m.