Geoff Huegill

Geoff Huegill

Personal information
Full name	Geoffrey Andrew Huegill[1]
Nickname(s)	Skippy,[2][3] Skip
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1979-03-04) 4 March 1979 Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
Height	188cm (6ft 2in) [4]
Weight	95 kilograms (209 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Butterfly
Club	SOPAC Swimming Club
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for  Australia Olympic Games Silver 2000 Sydney 4x100 m medley Bronze 2000 Sydney 100 m butterfly World Championships (LC) Gold 2001 Fukuoka 50 m butterfly Gold 2001 Fukuoka 4x100 m medley Gold 1998 Perth 4x100 m medley Silver 2011 Shanghai 4×100 m medley Bronze 1998 Perth 100 m butterfly Bronze 2001 Fukuoka 100 m butterfly Bronze 2011 Shanghai 50 m butterfly Pan Pacific Championships Silver 1999 Sydney 100 m butterfly Silver 2002 Yokohama 100 m butterfly Silver 2002 Yokohama 4x100 m medley Bronze 2010 Irvine 4x100 m medley Commonwealth Games Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 100 m butterfly Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x100 m medley Gold 2002 Manchester 50 m butterfly Gold 2002 Manchester 100 m butterfly Gold 2002 Manchester 4x100 m medley Gold 2010 Delhi 4x100 m medley Gold 2010 Delhi 100 m butterfly Silver 2010 Delhi 50 m butterfly Goodwill Games Gold 2001 Brisbane 50 m butterfly Gold 2001 Brisbane 4×100 m medley Silver 2001 Brisbane 100 m butterfly World Championships (SC) Gold 1997 Gothenburg 4x100 m medley Gold 2002 Moscow 50 m butterfly Gold 2002 Moscow 100 m butterfly Silver 1997 Gothenburg 100 m butterfly Silver 2002 Moscow 4x100 m medley

Geoffrey Andrew Huegill (born 4 March 1979), nicknamed Skippy, is an Australian butterfly swimmer who won silver in the 4 × 100–metre medley relay and bronze in the 100 m butterfly at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He held the long course world record in the 50 metre butterfly from 2000 to 2003.

Personal life

Geoff was born to an Australian father and a Thai mother in 1979.^[5]

Retirement

Huegill attempted to qualify for the Australian team at the 2005 & 2006 Australian Championships, however he was unsuccessful. After retiring from competitive swimming, he went on a downward spiral taking drugs, and suffering severe depression. In 2007, he met publicist Sara Hills, who Huegill credits with turning his life around. They married in 2011 and conceived their first child unexpectedly on their honeymoon. Their daughter, Mila, was born in January, 2012.

Comeback

On 12 November 2008, Huegill announced his comeback to competitive swimming. Having had major battles with his weight since quitting the sport following the 2004 Athens Olympics. He said he had lost more than 40 kilograms (coming from 138 kg) for his comeback and would train for the 50 and 100 butterfly with the aim of competing at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. He sparked attention of the Australian sports media by qualifying for the finals in the 50m and 100m Butterfly at the 2009 Telstra Australian Championships (being interviewed after every swim). He built more momentum in August 2009 at the Australian Short Course Championships, capturing his first national medal in 5 years.

2010 brought enormous improvements, clocking 23.44 in the 50m butterfly to win the Australian title, just 0.02s off his old world record from 2001. His 100 fly was 53.09 finishing 5th. In a post-swim interview he claimed to be a lean 93 kg. At the 2010 Pan Pacs he clocked 23.27 in the heats of the 50 fly but was not able to back up that form in the finals, finishing just outside the medals. His 100 fly was 52.21, his 2nd fastest time ever, faster than his bronze medal swim in Sydney almost 10 years before. He picked up a bronze medal in the Medley Relay. At the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games he won gold medals in the 4x100m medley and the 100m butterfly breaking a ten year-old personal best when winning in 51.69s (Commonwealth games record). He was narrowly beaten by 0.02s in the 50m butterfly by the Kenyan Jason Dunford in a time of 23.37. Huegill swam at the 2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), no medals were achieved however he did earn his name back into the record list with an Australian record the 4x100m Medley relay.

Potential 3rd Olympics

During a media conference at the Bondi Icebergs pool on 21 January 2011, Huegill announced his intention to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately he narrowly missed out on the team coming in fifth in the 100m Butterfly finals at the Australian Swimming Championships 2012 in Adelaide South Australia with 52.50 seconds.

Out of the Pool

• Be Your Best: Hunt For Gold. Geoff's life and times and transformational story in a powerful TV documentary for FOXTEL on the Bio Channel Feb, 2012.

• Geoff Huegill: Be Your Best new book now in stores by Random House.

• Ambassadorships: Black Dog Institute, Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation, MS - Qld, Sir David Martin Foundation, Variety - The Children's Charity.

• Sponsorships with Commonwealth Bank Australia, News Ltd, Swisse, FOXTEL, Speedo, SAL, NSWIS, Fitness First, L'Oreal – Biotherm, Gatorade.

References

External links

• Official Geoff Huegill Website
• Geoff Huegill at fina.org
• Geoff Huegill at Swimming Australia

• Geoff Huegill at the Internet Movie Database