My London League Experience & Why You Should Do It Too!

I joined Ful-on Tri when I moved to SW6 in May 2025. I knew I wanted to join a local triathlon club – I was still new to the sport and so I was hoping to gain confidence (on the bike in particular!), train regularly and make friends locally.

One of the unexpected benefits of joining the club was the opportunity to race in a variety of events such as the London League.

The London League is a series of short races which take place across London each year. Generally hosted by local tri clubs they can be aquathlons (swim-run) duathlons (run-bike-run) and triathlons! You have the opportunity to score points across the league in your age category and contribute to an overall club score. These are great small, inexpensive events to try if it’s your first year in triathlon or your tenth! Find out more here: https://www.britishtriathlon.org/london/london-leagues/senior-series
The full calendar of 2026 races will be announced very soon!

I saw the races listed on the Ful-on Tri website and entered the ones I knew I could attend; they were all aquathlons (swim then run – very much suited to my strengths) . However, as I hadn’t raced an aquathlon before, I was a bit nervous and unsure what to expect – I messaged the “London League” legend Rob Argles before my first one and I got bounds of reassurance back that I would be fine! [ed. Rob pretty much runs the London League and is in charge of all the final scores! Plus if you are first FoT-er you are in for a curly whirly treat.]

The first London League I attended was actually the club champs at Eton Dorney family sprint triathlon on the 20th July. This was a genuine family event for me: my older brother also did the event, and my parents were front row supporters from the side line!

We were in the same wave, so here’s a photo of us on the start line before we entered the water. I remember thinking it was a real privilege to race with my brother as well as my new triathlon club.

Despite the rainy weather, we had a brilliant day and it meant the world to me that my parents were also there to cheer us on and meet my new friends from the group!
The rain didn’t hamper our FoT spirits and in true triathlon style we devoured a lot of homemade cakes from the multiple talented bakers in the club (I’m not in this category but I will always endeavour to bring Percy Pigs along for everyone!).

The second was at the end of July at Brockwell Lido. I was joined by a lovely group from the club who begrudgingly also got up ridiculously early on a Sunday morning to race, and here I met another London League legend Euan. And I won a coveted Curly Whirly!!

It was a tough swim due to amount of people in the water at the same time, but a great run around Brockwell Park with A LOT of crowd support from the hosts, Windrush Triathlon Club. The Ful-on Tri contingent topped off the race the best way possible – with a coffee and delicious Greek pastry (using the elite knowledge of Kostas!); all in all a very lovely morning!

The final aquathlon ended up being my favourite one – for many reasons including the location – London Fields, an iconic lido and one that I was so happy to get the chance to swim in!

Again the organisers of the event were a delight to interact with throughout the morning and it was a small but mighty turn out from Ful-on Tri – Kostas, Euan and I.

I loved the crowd support at this race – even dog walkers and park joggers cheered us on for the 5km after the swim which definitely helped boost me round.

To cap off a brilliant morning, I was thrilled to win the London League Age Group trophy – my first trophy since my secondary school sports day back in 2010!

Euan and Kostas also won their age group so it was a cause for all around celebration!

A huge thank you to Rob Argles for heading to all the races and for running the London League!!!

I loved the experience and would recommend to anyone wanting to get stuck into something a bit different, fun and challenging!