ESTEC Triathlon Club History

The ESTEC Triathlon Club (ETC) was funded in 1985 and within its first two decades of life it organised several Triathlon competitions in cooperation with the townships of Noordwijk and Katwijk. The organisational challenges became then too demanding for safety and security regulations, which the ETC could no longer cope with. Still, its athletes found their ways to compete and to excel in many races in the Netherland and abroad.

ETC members had their names in triathlon races as well as in running, cycling, swimming events along with the logo of the ETC and that of ESA.

In 2004, the ETC took part for the first time as a team to the historical Dam-to-Dam running event, a 10 mile race between Amsterdam and Zaandam. It classified 21st, amongst almost 200 teams, showing the quality of its athletes.

In 2012 the ETC had to say sadly good bye to Kevin Bennet, its founder, who passed away too soon at the age of 64, just few years after his retirement from ESA. Incidentally, at the end of that year the club, that counted only 28 members by then, started a new cycle of activities, such as swimming classes, cross country events, cycling stages around Europe, attracting more and more members and extending interest in families and children. In just five years the memberships’ count is fourfold higher, allowing the ETC athletes to profit of a wide gamut of activities, initiatives, and sport events.

In August 2013, Piers Jiggens, Alejandro Santiago and Rik Slingerland took part in the full “Iron Man” Triathlon in Zurich, enlivening again amongst the ETC members the desire to compete for the most challenging and extreme races.

Nowadays, the ETC triathletes enter and strive to marathons, cycling stages, ultra-trails, open water swim contests and, of course, triathlon races whenever the chances are given.