Triathlete Andrea Hewitt has shown her readiness for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with a strong outing at the ITU Hamburg WTS race this morning, finishing 4th in a stacked field over the sprint distance.
Hewitt was the best of the New Zealanders on a day that highlighted the varied stages of 'rest' that the Kiwis are at in the lead up to Glasgow in under two weeks, with Tony Dodds racing strongly for 10th place in the men's race. Nicky Samuels was 18th, Kate McIlroy 26th and Ryan Sissons 20th on a day of high octane racing from some of the best fields assembled so far this year.
Hewitt described her day.
"I just wanted to have a good swim, if it was a small group I would have worked a little bit more but it ended up being quite a big group. In transition (off the bike) I think I was about 10th but got caught behind a couple of girls coming out of transition and I lost a bit of time out of the start so I had to chase Jodie (Stimpson) the whole way with Kirsten up front.
"The start of the second lap was really hard, there is a little downhill bit that is when Gwen attacked and I couldn't go with her so had to be happy with 4th today. I was trying to chase the whole way, I had no one in front of me so I was running and trying to catch up as fast as I could, I managed to get on at 2.5k but just wasn't quick enough."
Hewitt spoke of the disruption to her programme with fiancée and Coach Laurent Vidal suffering a heart attack some weeks ago.
"I had two weeks in France with Laurent at the end of April, I was at the hospital twice a day every day. During that time nothing was structured, it was difficult but that is past us now. This gives me confidence for Glasgow, I had a good swim, right up in the middle with that front group."
Meanwhile Tony Dodds was the best of the Kiwis in 10th place (live timing did not reflect this as Dodds lost his timing chip during the race), mixing it up with the best in the world throughout the bike in particular and getting involved in a little 'chat' at the front of the race. The Wanaka-based athlete is never short of a word and shared a few today.
"There was a lot of chatter going on the bike, usually it is Alistair but he yells at you and no one really yells back, I did this time and I am not sure if he liked me too much. They are all fast and I am just trying to do my best every time, I did and held my form. I am pretty pleased with that, ten days and we are into Commonwealth Games so it is all looking pretty good."
Dodds is not underestimating the task in Glasgow however.
"I am a little more confident, it is just hard though, it is full on, such different racing, you can't underestimate it, it is world class. I'm confident and yet scared - the Brownlees are just going to drill it in Glasgow, there won't be that many guys and I am going to have to do some work so it will be even harder."
Dodds exited the water inside the top 20 but rode strongly, varying between doing some work and resting, before running strongly amongst the top ten throughout, only just being outsprinted by Mario Mola (ESP) in the final finishing chute.
New Zealand will now be represented tomorrow morning NZT in the ITU World Mixed Team Relay Championships, with Tom Davison, Sam Ward, Sophie Corbidge and Simone Ackermann flying the flag for the Kiwis.
ITU World Triathlon Series Hamburg
Sprint Distance: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
Elite Women
1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 0:56:54
2. Emma Jackson (AUS) 0:57:00
3. Kirsten Sweetland (CAN) 0:57:00
4. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 0:57:11
5. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 0:57:15
Plus NZers
18 Nicky Samuels (NZL) 0:58:04
26 Kate McIlroy (NZL) 0:58:42
Elite Men
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 0:51:43
2. Vincent Luis (FRA) 0:51:45
3. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 0:51:48
4. Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) 0:52:00
5. Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) 0:52:12
Plus NZers
10 Tony Dodds (NZL) time TBC
20 Ryan Sissons (NZL) 0:53:02
