Guest feature by Cassandra Murnieks
SYDNEY, Australia, January 21. AFTER the 2004 Olympics, Australian swimmer Geoff Huegill retired from the sport, thinking he would never set foot into a pool again. The 31-year-old lost passion for the sport, put on 45 kgs from a diet of pizza, beer and wine and battled depression.
"There were lots of reasons for me retiring," Huegill said. "I had spent 16 years in the pool, which is about 38,000 kms in the water, and I wanted to do something different."
In 2008, the swimmer was keen to get himself fit and reignite his passion for competitive swimming once again. To get himself back into the competitive mindset, Huegill first rid of the depression that plagued his mind for so long.
"I had to find the good within myself first and then surround myself by good people," Huegill said. "When I started exercising again, I also felt better mentally. It took time though, it wasn't something I could just flick the switch on."
The second focus for Huegill was to get his weight under control.
"Losing the weight came down to changing my lifestyle," Huegill said. "My fiancee, Sara, and I stay home more these days and eat home cooked meals. I have a sweet tooth, so was always tucking into muffins or banana cake. I just had to find a substitute."
Fast forward 2.5 years and the Australian swimmer was standing on the blocks in Delhi for the Commonwealth Games. Huegill brands the last year as being "amazing."
The year started with him winning gold at the Victorian State Championships in January and then backed it up with another in February with the NSW State Championships. He then headed to the Pan Pacs in California where he swam a personal best in the 50m butterfly (23.27) and his times in the 100m butterfly (52.32) were the best he has swam in 10 years. He also took part in the World Short Course Championships in Dubai.
Huegill's hard work paid off when he secured the final position for the Commonwealth Games team. The swimmer was hoping to continue training right up to when the Australian team flew out for a pre-Commonwealth Games camp in Kuala Lumpur, when he was struck down with a stomach virus.
"I was violently ill before flying out. My roommate Ashley (Callus) had the same virus. I didn't get to train much, but caught up on my sleep." Huegill said.
Huegill's first event was the 50m butterfly but he wasn't entirely happy with his performance in the heats or the semifinal.
"It all happened so quickly. There was a race and a job to do," Huegill said. "My heats and the semifinal had me turning sloppily on the wall, but it turned around for the final. My coach, Grant Stoelwinder, told me to keep it simple. I had a plan which I kept on my phone. It started with a flat dive, control the first two strokes, start to accelerate and drive forward with the crown of the head."
Huegill won silver in the 50m butterfly final by a mere two hundredths of a second behind Kenyan Jason Dunford. Huegill's next event was the 100m butterfly, where he found the turnaround to be difficult.
"I only had five hours sleep after the 50 final. The hardest thing to deal with was the turnaround between heats and finals in Delhi."
The Commonwealth Games in Delhi will be remembered for a lot of reasons. Copping criticism from participating nations in regards to safety, hygiene and venues, athletes were left wondering if it was worth risking their life.
"Athletes did have doubts about going. When [Australian discus thrower] Dani Samuels pulled out, the media went crazy. But, someone had to stand up and say that we were going. The only thing to stop me going was the Australian government in deeming it to be unsafe to go," Huegill said. "With Delhi getting everything done in time, it was out of my hands. The accommodation was fine, and we just had to ensure that hygiene was higher than normal. My job was to be there and race."
Huegill will be making a run at the 2012 Olympics in London.
"This is a decision that I've spent a lot of time thinking about, but one that I'm 100 percent behind," Huegill told Swimming Australia. "There are no guarantees to gaining Olympic selection, and I know the road ahead is going to be a tough one, but I've enjoyed the journey so much already, it only seems right to keep giving it a crack for the next 18 months."
When asked if the idea of racing against American Michael Phelps was tempting, he said "Of course it is. But on the day, anyone can beat Michael. He is beatable."
In being one of the senior members of the team, Huegill relates that the men's team is looking very strong leading into the Olympics. He also said "The team is a close-knit bunch and reminds me of the team from the late 90's."