“The trigold programme was fantastic and I don’t regret for one minute what I did at the start, but, looking back, the whole programme was just far too intense and fast-track for the capabilities of where I was at.
“It started off great, everything was new and exciting and I was receiving funding. It was everybody’s dream, being a full-time athlete, but as soon as the injuries started… I was brought into the scheme as an Olympic hopeful for 2012 and that dream started slipping further and further away.
“You end up on a spiral and it’s so hard to get yourself out of it. I remember one session I had a shoulder problem, so I was struggling to swim, a foot problem, so I was struggling to run, and a back problem, so I was struggling to bike! It just spiralled out of control and I thought enough was enough.
“After a few months’ break I realised I hadn’t achieved what I wanted to and I was in this sport to try to go to an Olympics. In a way it’s made me stronger because I’m more determined to prove to myself what I can do.”
Hewison did make to it to London 2012 but only as a spectator, watching as triathlon took over Hyde Park. “It was gut-wrenching,” she admitted, “but it was an amazing experience.”
The 2016 Rio Games is now the target, with the Commonwealth Games along the way, but to get to either she will have to impress in this year’s World Series, starting on Saturday.
She has yet to meet British Triathlon’s new performance director and new head coach,, external and will do so for the first time in Auckland.
“The idea is we’re hoping to get onto funding this year but I have to get certain criteria, which will include top 20 in the world, if I want to get lottery funding,” said Hewison.
“So that’s the goal we’re working towards. We work with them, and I’ve got no problems with them, it’s just the money side of it as I have to support myself at the moment, which is quite difficult, but we’re getting there.”
The pressure is on, and Hewison has spent much of the build-up working on her swim – “the weak link”.
“Working with Darren and looking at the progress I’ve made in the last three months, I’m really excited to see where I actually sit in terms of the other girls.
“I’m not going to know that until the first few races, and there are a lot of things that I’ve not done before – having a mass start of 70 women and being in a race as prestigious as the World Series. I’ll gain a lot of experience at the start of the year, but I’m really looking forward to it.
“By the end of the year we’re hoping to be in really good shape and competing for some podium positions.”