Team members that take the racing seriously. Not themselves.

Founded and led by two former professionals who still line up beside you, from your first sprint to your first Ironman.

Meet the founders Team races

0

Athletes
worldwide

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Team
races

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IRONMAN TriClub
global trophies

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Racing together
since

The founders

Founder-led.
And on the
course with you.

Our team is run by two former professional triathletes who still line up in the same age group fields alongside our team. Same challenges, same juggle, same stoke.

Co-founder

Alise Selsmark

Former pro · Racing W40-44

Alise raced her way from triathlon newbie at 29, to professional athlete at 32, debuting as a pro at IRONMAN 70.3 Mandurah with a 5th place in 4:22, followed by a debut Ironman 4th place at IRONMAN New Zealand in 9:42. A former national-level swimmer and accredited Triathlon Australia coach, she has spent her career backing athletes at every stage, not just the fast ones. These days you'll find her racing W40-44, right alongside the members she coaches.

Co-founder

Callum Millward

Former pro · Racing M40-44

Callum spent two decades as a professional triathlete: chasing Olympic selection out of New Zealand, racing the European circuits, lining up at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona three times as a pro, and collecting 15 professional podiums across the 70.3 and IRONMAN distances. In 2018 he and Alise founded the Cartel to open that world up to everyone, not just the athletes with a start number and a sponsor.

W40-44 & M40-44 Alise and Callum race the same age-group fields as the members, not from the sidelines.

Kona ×3 · 15 pro podiums Two decades of professional racing between them, now pointed entirely at the team.

Actually reachable One email gets you a founder, not a support ticket and a reference number.

We've lived every stage of this sport. Newbie, age-grouper, the start line at Kona. We wanted a team where all of those people belonged in the same group chat.

Alise & Callum, Co-founders, 2018

Life in the Cartel

Show up
anywhere.

A social meet up before race day. Someone shouting your name at 30km when you're hurting. A finish line photo with new friends. This is the part of the team that isn't quantifiable by results, yet we all love.

From Cairns to Chattanooga Sprint to full distance Every finish counts the same

IRONMAN TriClub Global Rankings

World
champions.

Four global trophies in four years, including the 2021 Division III world title. Every one of them earned by members racing in team kit, all over the world.

IRONMAN TriClub Global Rankings, 2nd place Division II, 2020 — 2020

2nd place
Division II

IRONMAN TriClub Global Rankings, World Champion Division III, 2021 — 2021

World Champion
Division III

IRONMAN TriClub Global Rankings, 2nd place Division I, 2022 — 2022

2nd place
Division I

IRONMAN TriClub Global Rankings, 2nd place Division II, 2023 — 2023

2nd place
Division II

Selection

Not everyone
gets in.

Applications open once a year and we read every single one. We're not selecting for speed. There's no qualifying time and there never will be. We're selecting for the people who make the team better to be part of.

01

One window

Applications open August 24 and close September 7. Miss it and the next intake is a year away, so if you find us late, get in touch anyway and we'll see what we can do.

02

Read by hand

Every application is read by Alise and Callum. Not scored by a form, not filtered by a finish time. If you know a current member, ask them to refer you.

03

Chosen on fit

We select for the culture, because the culture is the heart of the team. A first timer and a Kona qualifier are as valued as each other, when you're a team player.

Every day, not just race day

The chat
never sleeps.

Much of your team membership value doesn't happen at a race. It happens in the group chat at 5am when someone's nervous about a session, or at 11pm when someone the other side of the world just finished their first Ironman.

Cupcake Chat

The team's own group of 650 athletes, awake in every time zone. Ask anything: kit, courses, nutrition, nerves. Someone who's done it will answer.

Live videos

Regular live sessions with the founders and guests (coaches, sponsors and professionals) so you can ask the questions yourself.

Athlete spotlights

Every week a member goes front and centre. Not the fastest one. The one with the story worth telling that week.

Race week shoutouts

Racing this weekend? The whole team knows. Plus the weekend training pictures that turn 650 strangers into people you recognise on a start line.

Cupcake Chat is hosted in a private Facebook group, members only.

78% of members rate the online community the most important part of membership, ahead of the kit, the meetups and the sponsor discounts. Mid-year survey, 516 responses.

Membership

One intake.
Once a year.

Membership runs September to September. Applications open for two weeks each August, and we read every one. We don't accept everyone who applies, because a positive culture is what this team is built on.

12-month membership

$270 AUD / year

USD $190 · CAD $250 · NZD $290

Aug 24 Applications open
Sep 7 Applications close
Sep 10 Team is announced
Jan 2027 Team packs ship

What's included

Private team chat, the part members rate highest, every day of the year
Race week meetups and captain support at targeted team events
Live catch-ups, athlete spotlights and weekend race round-ups
Team pack: team tee, hat, cycling spares wallet, swim cap and decal
$50 credit towards team kit
10–40% off some of the best brands in triathlon, year round
VIP pricing on Cartel Coaching

Limited edition team kit, made for the big ones like World Champs

Team races

We bring
the vibes.

Fourteen targeted races each year where the Cartel turn up in force. We bring the support, the captains, the social catch ups and the noise.

The loudest 100 metres of your day Team tent on course at events. Captains, supporters and whoever finishes early, all here to shout and high five you.

Australia9 races

New Zealand2 races

United States3 races

More to come. We're actively growing the North American calendar, and where the tent lands next depends on where members are racing. Tell us your 2027 races in the chat and we'll build around them.

14

Targeted team races

3

Countries

100%

Support, every one

Racing somewhere that isn't on the map? Most of the team is. Post it in the chat and someone will be on that start line, or has raced that course, or will be awake at 4am tracking you from the other side of the world. Members race across North America, Europe, Asia and New Zealand every weekend. The fourteen races above are simply where we gather the most of us in one place.

Every distance

Your first
sprint. Your
first Ironman.

There's no minimum distance and no qualifying time. Race what you want to race, and you'll find a teammate at the start of all of them.

Sprint

750m · 20km · 5km

Olympic

1.5km · 40km · 10km

70.3

1.9km · 90km · 21.1km

Ironman

3.8km · 180km · 42.2km

Who we are

Not a club.
A cartel.

A global triathlon team built on one idea: that you can chase a hard goal without losing the plot. We race everywhere, at every distance, at every level, and no cupcakes get left behind.

01

Authentic

In a sport where many athletes take themselves too seriously, we remember that we do this all for the love of it.

02

Camaraderie

A private team chat that never sleeps, designated meetups at races around the world, and a network built on lifting each other up.

03

All abilities

First triathlon or fifteenth Ironman, you'll find your people here. There is no minimum and never will be.

04

Performance

Dedicated support for athletes chasing World Championship qualification, without ever making it the price of entry.

A global team

650 athletes.
One group chat.

Half the team wakes up while the other half is finishing a long ride. Spin the globe. Wherever you're racing, the odds are good someone in kit is already there.

Drag to spin · pick a region

Led by example

Led from
the front

Triathlon still skews heavily male. Our answer isn't a campaign. It's Alise, on the start line.

Alise leads the way she always has: as a mother, as a business owner, and as a woman racing W40-44 who went from newbie to professional while working close to full-time. She isn't telling anyone it can be done around a full life. She's out there doing it, at the same races, in the same field, on the same weekend as everyone else on the team.

Former professional, debuted with 4th at IRONMAN New Zealand
Former national-level swimmer, and an accredited Triathlon Australia coach
Business owner and a mother, fitting the training around both
Still racing W40-44, at the same events as the team

From the team

In their
words

We asked the whole team mid-season. 98% said they were satisfied with their membership, 507 out of 516. This is what they said when we asked why.

No cupcakes left behind. 2025 was my first year as a cuppie and I absolutely loved it. The stand out was when I finished 8th to last at Tauranga Half and the team was there at the finish to cheer me on and made me feel like I had won the race.

Kimberley Richards

So friendly and helpful. As a beginner the team has been a great support for me.

Emma Erickson Thornton

Everyone is very friendly regardless of ability or body type.

Charmayne Johnstone

Such an open and welcoming community. Met so many friends after moving from Australia to Singapore and can't wait for more.

Jacob Pratt

I love the fact that pros and sloths can live in harmony. The egos are VERY minimal.

Damo Brown

As much as I hate catchphrases, the team is inclusive and I love that. All abilities and goals are celebrated.

Sean Spurdle

Community. I can go anywhere and have a friendly face greet me.

Lucas Hayden

I was new this year and at first didn't really engage. But then at Elsinore and Copenhagen people came up to me because I wore the cap and t-shirt and just started talking to me. It was amazing.

Alison Heather

Cartel Coaching

Elite coaching.
For every athlete.

Our own coaching arm, built on the same idea as the team: you won't do it alone, and that's the whole point. Race-build plans from sprint to Ironman in TrainingPeaks, weekly live calls with the coaching team, an education library and a private community, with as much or as little one to one attention as you want.

Tim BrazierHead Coach. Olympic-level coach, IRONMAN University certified, based in Wanaka.
Cal MillwardFormer professional. 16 professional podiums and multiple 70.3 wins.
Em WatsonCommunity Lead. Self-taught age-grouper who raced her way to Kona.

Explore Cartel Coaching

Tim BrazierHead Coach

Cal MillwardCo-founder & Coach

Em WatsonCommunity Lead

Don't miss the window

Be first
through the door

Applications open once a year and places are limited. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the 2027 intake goes live.

No spam. Just the intake announcement and the occasional team update.

Questions

Everything you're
about to ask

How the intake works, what it costs, whether you have to buy the kit, whether you have to be fast. (You don't.)

Read the FAQ

Team members that take the racing seriously. Not themselves.

Founder-led.And on thecourse with you.

Alise Selsmark

Callum Millward

Show upanywhere.

Worldchampions.

Not everyonegets in.