Andrea Hewitt


Andrea Hewitt is a New Zealand triathlete who placed third at the 2009 ITU Triathlon World Championships and competed at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Hewitt was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1982. She lived together with the French triathlete Laurent Vidal, who was also her coach and fiancé, in Sète on the Mediterranean from May to December, and for the rest of the year she returned to Christchurch until his death on 10 November 2015 from a heart attack. At the University of Canterbury in New Zealand she completed a Bachelor in Commerce and Economics. Andrea Hewitt's sisters are successful sportswomen as well. Tina, her elder sister, won the New Zealand Championship in Surf Life Saving, and Sara is part of the water polo National Team.

Athletic career

Hewitt's early athletic career was as a competitive pool swimmer and a surf life saver. She was a well known swimmer when at the beginning of 2005, at the age of 22, she decided to convert to triathlon and straight away won the bronze medal at the New Zealand U23 Championships and was admitted to the National Team. In autumn 2005, after having been into triathlon for not more than half a year, Hewitt won the U23 World Championships in Gamagori. In 2006, she took part in the first World Cup of her life, placing third in Mooloolaba. In 2007, she won her first World Cup race in Kitzbühel and began taking part in the prestigious French Club Championship Series Lyonnaise des Eaux. In 2008, she placed 8th in the Olympic Games.
In 2009, Hewitt took part in seven out of eight competitions of the Dextro Energy World Championship Series and won three medals: gold in Madrid, silver in Yokohama and bronze in Kitzbühel, in the overall ranking she placed third.
At the beginning of the 2010 season Hewitt won the Oceania Championships and then achieved six top ten positions at the Elite Cup in Hy-Vee and at five of the six World Championship Series triathlons. In the World Championship Rankings 2010, Hewitt was number sixth. In France, Hewitt again represented Beauvais in the Lyonnaise des Eaux circuit and again played the decisive role. At Dunkirk and at Tourangeaux she won the gold medal, at the Grand Final of the Lyonnaise circuit in La Baule she won silver. Hewitt did not take part at Beauvais and Paris, where Hollie Avil was the best triathlete of her club. Thus in 2010 again Beauvais owes its first place in the overall ranking of the French Club Championship to Andrea Hewitt and Hollie Avil, Anja Dittmer, and Vickie Holland. At La Baule there were no French triathletes among the three triathlètes classants l'équipe of Beauvais at all.
From 2007 to 2010, Hewitt took part in 15 French Club Championship triathlons and won 7 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals, so she may be considered the dominant figure in French triathlon as well.
In 2011, Hewitt won the World Championship Series Grand Final in Beijing, China and placed second in the overall championship rankings.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Hewitt finished 6th. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games Hewitt finished in 4th place in the women's individual event, and was part of the New Zealand team that finished 5th in the mixed relay event. She represented—alongside Nicky Samuels—New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics in triathlon and came seventh.

ITU results

In the seven years from 2005 to 2011, Hewitt took part in 58 individual ITU competitions and achieved 48 top ten positions, among which 21 medals. Unless indicated otherwise, the events are triathlons and belong to the Elite category.
DateCompetitionPlaceRank
2005-07-03Asian ChampionshipSingapore3
2005-09-10U23 World ChampionshipsGamagori1
2005-11-13World CupNew Plymouth21
2005-12-03European CupEilat2
2006-02-19Oceania CupHobart5
2006-03-18Commonwealth GamesMelbourne3
2006-03-26World CupMooloolaba3
2006-06-04World CupMadrid2
2006-07-01Premium European CupKitzbühel3
2006-07-30BG World CupSalford3
2006-08-20European CupGenevaDNF
2006-09-03World ChampionshipsLausanne10
2006-09-10BG World CupHamburg45
2006-09-24BG World CupBeijing7
2006-11-12BG World CupNew Plymouth10
2007-03-04Oceania ChampionshipsGeelong4
2007-03-25BG World CupMooloolaba6
2007-03-31Oceania CupWellington4
2007-04-15BG World CupIshigaki7
2007-06-03BG World CupMadrid2
2007-07-22BG World CupKitzbühel1
2007-09-15BG World CupBeijing14
2008-03-09Oceania ChampionshipsWellington4
2008-03-30BG World CupMooloolaba14
2008-04-06BG World CupNew Plymouth10
2008-05-25BG World CupMadrid20
2008-06-08BG World ChampionshipsVancouver25
2008-07-20BG World CupKitzbühel4
2008-08-18Olympic GamesBeijing8
2008-09-27BG World CupLorient9
2008-10-26BG World CupHuatulco6
2009-04-05Oceania CupNew Plymouth4
2009-05-02Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesTongyeong39
2009-05-31Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesMadrid1
2009-06-21Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesWashington DC6
2009-06-27Elite CupDes Moines6
2009-07-12Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesKitzbühel3
2009-08-15Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesLondon9
2009-08-22Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesYokohama2
2009-09-13Dextro Energy World Championship Series, Grand FinalGold Coast8
2010-03-13Oceania ChampionshipsWellington1
2010-04-11Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesSydney2
2010-05-08Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesSeoul5
2010-06-12Elite CupDes Moines5
2010-07-17Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesHamburg6
2010-07-24Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesLondon4
2010-08-15Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesKitzbühel3
2010-09-12Dextro Energy World Championship Series, Grand FinalBudapest22
2011-03-12Oceania ChampionshipsWellington6
2011-04-09Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesSydney3
2011-06-05Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesMadrid4
2011-06-19Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesKitzbühel11
2011-07-16Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesHamburg4
2011-08-06Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesLondon6
2011-08-19Elite Sprint Triathlon World ChampionshipsLausanne3
2011-09-11Dextro Energy World Championship Series, Grand FinalBeijing1
2011-09-19Dextro Energy World Championship SeriesYokohama1
2011-11-20Triathlon World CupAuckland1

Honours

In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hewitt was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to triathlon.