Geoff Huegill

Geoffrey Andrew Huegill (born 4 March 1979) is an Australian swimmer and dual Olympian who won seventy-two international medals, including two medals in Olympics and six world champion titles, throughout his career.

He held eight world records, including 50 metres butterfly.

Huegill was born on 4 March 1979 in Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory.

His mother, Kanthong Jum Summart, is from Chaiyaphum, Thailand while his father, Ronald Huegill, was a miner.

Huegill grew up in Mackay and has an older brother, Graeme.

Huegill attended Southern Cross Catholic College in Scarborough, Queensland.

In 1996, Huegill burst onto the international stage at the Mare Nostrum tour.

The same year, at the age of 17, he broke the first of his many world records as part of a FINA sanctioned medley relay time trial in Melbourne, Australia.

The following year he secured his spot on the Australian team to compete at the 1997 FINA World Short Course Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden and came home with a gold and silver medal.

In 1998, Huegill competed at his first commonwealth games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He won two gold medals in the 100 meters butterfly and 4x100 meters Medley relay.

In 1999, Huegill won a silver medal in the 100 meters butterfly at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships long course event in Sydney, Australia.

Huegill has been recognised as technically the best butterflier and was the dominant butterfly champion during the early 2000s.

Affectionately known as 'Skippy', he is the nation's favourite comeback kid.

At the 2000 Australian Championships in Sydney which doubled as the Olympic qualifying trials, Huegill broke the 50 meters butterfly world record swimming a time of 23.60 seconds.

At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 Huegill broke the olympic record in the 100 meters butterfly semi-final with a time of 51.96 seconds and was the fastest qualifier leading into the finals.

He placed third in the final scoring bronze with a time of 52.22 seconds.

Huegill also won a silver medal in the 4x100 meters medley relay.

In 2001, at the FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan the 50 meters butterfly was introduced as an inaugural event and Huegill beat his previous world record time and won gold in a time of 23.44 seconds.

He also won a gold medal in the 4x100 meters medley relay and a bronze medal in the 100 meters butterfly.

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom, Huegill won gold in all three of his events, the 50 meters butterfly, the 100 meters butterfly and the 4x100 meters medley relay.

In 2002, Huegill went on to win another two gold medals in the 50 meters butterfly and 100 meters butterfly and a silver medal in the 4x100 meters medley relay at the FINA World Championships short course event in Moscow, Russia.

At the 2003 FINA World Championships long course event in Barcelona, Spain Huegill finished fourth in the 50 meters butterfly and failed to make the final of the 100 meters butterfly.

Huegill has since reflected that by 2004 he was struggling with motivation for swimming and depression.

He still went on to secure his place on the Australian team for the Athens Olympic Games and raced in the 100 meters butterfly.

He qualified for the final but finished in 8th place overall.

In 2004, after the Athens Olympics, Huegill took a four months break to refocus his priorities.

Meanwhile, he started to develop interest in things outside of swimming.

At the age of 25, he amicably parted with longtime coach Ken Wood and moved to Sydney to live with his model girlfriend, Nikki Giteau.

While based in Sydney, Huegill became a regular part of the social scene and was often seen present at Sydney night spots.

Later, he tried to make a comeback under a new coach, Steve Alderman, at University of Sydney.

At the trials for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Huegill performed poorly, failed to make the team and announced his retirement from the sport.

Huegill came out of retirement in 2008 and shed 45 kilograms of weight to fight his way back to competition and was declared a national hero when he won gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games in the 100 metre butterfly.

He won the race in 51.69 seconds and broke the Commonwealth games record and his own ten-year-old personal best time.

In November 2008, weighing in at 138 kilograms, Huegill decided to come back and compete in international swimming competitions.

In 2010, he was voted Australian Sport Performer of the Year.

In July 2013, he was awarded an honorary masters degree in sports science with high class honors from Central Queensland University.

Huegill started swimming in Mackay and showed talent from an early age.

He joined coach Ken Wood’s squad on invitation, at the age of 11.

After the death of his father due to a heart attack, Geoff started to live with his coach permanently.