Nappies and baby bibs will go in alongside bike helmets and running shoes when triathlete Andrea Hansen packs her bags for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Andrea Hansen finishes second in the 2022 Oceania Triathlon Cup race in Mount Maunganui.
Photo: Photosport
Just 15 months after giving birth to daughter Flossie, Hansen (nee Hewitt) was one of six selected in New Zealand’s triathlon team for Birmingham on Wednesday.
And it was easy to believe the 40-year-old when she said thoughts of competing again never slipped from her mind.
Just two weeks after the arrival of her daughter early last year, the three-time Olympian was back in the water swimming.
Runs with the pram soon followed, while young Flossie was also happy to nod off to the noise of mum’s bike whirring away on the indoor wind trainer.
Fast-forward 15 months and Hansen has been named for her fourth Commonwealth Games.
“After having a baby I knew I wanted to get fit again, that was just the goal at the beginning.
“Not knowing how that was going to go, it worked out really well and I got pretty fit, pretty fast.
“I went for it and went to the qualifying races and here I am.”
Two seconds and a third in those Oceania Cup qualifying races in New Plymouth, Mt Maunganui and Taupo proved Hansen remained more than competitive.
But she admitted there was more to do ahead of the Games in July.
“Definitely still improving, so the form is coming back.
“I was surprised with my races up North, so definitely still doing pretty well.
“I’m racing in two-and-a-half weeks in Leeds (on the World Series). I’ll show on the world stage there what I can do.
Someone who knew all about doing that was Triathlon NZ general manager of performance Hamish Carter.
Andrea Hansen, left, on the bike during the 2022 Oceania Triathlon Cup event in Mount Maunganui.
Photo: Photosport
The 2004 Olympic gold medallist said knowing how determined Hansen was, he was not surprised at her selection.
“A number of athletes when they come back from having a baby seem to be stronger and triathlon is an endurance sport.
“But also, she had to come back and really perform to make the team and she did.
“That’s her experience of being able to produce good performances when it matters.”
A quality increasingly being shown by Hayden Wilde, the headline name in the six-strong New Zealand triathlon Commonwealth Games team.
Since heading back overseas, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist had won the Arena Games in Singapore and finished a close second at the World Series event in Yokohama.
Both have included good battles with the silver medallist from Tokyo, Alex Yee.
Wilde said he was looking forward to another big match-up with his British rival in Birmingham.
“Alex and I would normally come out of the water pretty close to each other and we’ll probably work together pretty hard on the bike to bridge the gap up to the front guys.
“We’re both same age, still young and learning lots, so it’s going to be exciting to have another individual shootout.”
Hansen also planned to be standing on the podium.
Already a two-time Commonwealth medallist, the self-described mum of the New Zealand team said being a mum for real hadn’t changed her competitive aspirations.
“I’m a different now.
“I definitely still want to be in that mixed relay team and go for a medal.
“My goal is to get a medal [in the relay] and do the best I can in the individual race.”
Tokyo Olympians Tayler Reid, Ainsley Thorpe and Nicole van der Kaay, and Commonwealth Games debutant Dylan McCullough rounded out the six-strong New Zealand team for Birmingham.
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