Dean Hewitt

Fast Facts

Sport: Curling
Event: Mixed Doubles Team
Olympic History: Beijing 2022
Highlights: Representing Australia at Beijing 2022, 1st - Beijing 2022 final qualification tournament (Dec 2021)
Coach: Perry Marshall
Year Born: 1994
State Born: Victoria

About Dean

Dean Hewitt grew up in Melbourne in a family where curling was part of everyday life. He first stepped onto the ice as a child, encouraged by his Canadian‑born mother, Lynn, and his father, Steve, who represented Australia when curling was a demonstration sport at the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics. Dean later studied exercise physiology at Deakin University and has balanced his professional training with a career as an exercise physiologist. 

Before teaming with Queenslander Tahli Gill, Dean partnered with his mum at the 2017 and 2018 World Mixed Doubles Championships, an early signal of the family’s strong connection to the sport. In 2018 he phoned Gill with a bold idea to target the next Olympic cycle; by the northern spring of 2019 the pair had made a global statement, finishing fourth at the World Mixed Doubles Championship in Stavanger, the best world championship result by any Australian curling team to that point. They backed it up with silver at the 2019 Winter Games New Zealand and another silver at the Sutherland Mixed Doubles Curling Classic in Saskatoon. 

The pandemic halted their 2020 world championship plans, but Dean and Tahli returned in 2021. At the World Mixed Doubles in Aberdeen they finished 13th, highlighted by a stirring 8–5 win over Canada. The defining moment of their campaign came later that year at the Olympic Qualification Event in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, where they defeated Korea 6–5 to secure Australia’s first ever Olympic quota place in curling. 

Beijing 2022 marked Australia’s Olympic curling debut and delivered the full emotional range of sport. Four of the pair’s first five matches were one‑point defeats, before a dramatic late clearance allowed Gill to return to competition following coronavirus testing concerns. They then beat the PyeongChang 2018 gold and silver medallists from Canada and Switzerland to close out their tournament, finishing 10th overall with two wins from nine games. 

The seasons that followed were about resilience and refinement. In 2023 they placed eighth at the World Mixed Doubles in Gangneung, narrowly missing the playoffs, and in 2024 they slipped to 15th at the Worlds in Östersund. Across this period they kept Australia’s domestic benchmark high, winning national mixed doubles titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025 in Naseby, New Zealand. Training demands often took Dean overseas for extended blocks, a necessity in a country without dedicated curling sheets, and something he has spoken about while based in Canada during northern winters.  

In May 2025 Dean and Tahli delivered a landmark breakthrough, winning Australia’s first world championship medal with bronze at the World Mixed Doubles in Fredericton, Canada. They topped their group with an 8–1 round‑robin record, then defeated Estonia 9–2 in the bronze medal game. Despite the podium, Australia missed direct qualification for Milano Cortina 2026 by a single ranking point, setting up a final bid at the Olympic Qualification Event in Kelowna, Canada, in December 2025.  

Away from results sheets, Dean’s approach reflects why curling has kept him since childhood: “curlers are family,” he says, a community whose camaraderie on and off the ice has shaped his journey. He continues to advocate for dedicated curling ice in Australia and splits his year between Melbourne and overseas training hubs, determined to keep lifting Australian curling’s ceiling. With international medals now in his pocket and another Olympic dream in sight, Dean’s trajectory remains constant. He is a true builder of solid performances, a creator of new pathways and holds a belief in the next generation.