Geoff Huegill

Geoff Huegill

Personal information
Full name	Geoffrey Andrew Huegill
Nickname(s)	Skippy, Skip
Nationality	Australia
Born	4 March 1979 (1979-03-04) Gove, Northern Territory, Australia
Height	188cm (6ft 2in)
Weight	95 kilograms (210 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 in Gove, Northern Territory), nicknamed Skippy and Skip, is an Australian butterfly swimmer. He is a multiple Olympic, World, Pan Pacific and Commonwealth Games medallist, and a previous world record holder in the 50m Butterfly.

Personal life

Huegill was born to a Caucasian Australian father and a Thai mother.^{[citation needed]}in 1979. Geoff is also a known supporter of the Brisbane Broncos.^{[citation needed]}

OVERVIEW

Geoff Huegill: Established as one of the World's great Butterfly competitors and a tour de force for Australian swimming.

– Dual Olympic Silver and Bronze Medallist. – Five times World Champion. – Eight times World Record Holder. – Seven times Commonwealth Gold Medallist. – Fourteen Australian National titles.

Now the comeback king of Australian Swimming!

Geoff has gone from hero in the early 2000 period to zero by 2008 and back to hero through extraordinary determination and gut-wrenching effort culminating in an astonishing gold rush (10 gold) in 2010!

Swimming Career

Huegill has been part of Australian swim Team from 1997–2004 & 2010, where he has won 28 international medals.

EIGHT years after he won his last Commonwealth title, Geoff Huegill did it all for himself and his country in Delhi 2010. It also came six years after any male Australian swimmer last won an individual Olympic or Commonwealth Games gold medal.

It's statistically true that the man they call Skippy swam the best race of his life in the 100m butterfly final. His time, 51.69sec, was easily the fastest he has ever swum and astonishingly places him, at 31, second in the world this year behind the greatest swimmer of all time, American Michael Phelps.

4 gold in 2011.

2011 FINA Swimming World Cups – Europe 3 Gold – 50m (SC) Butterfly – Stockholm, Moscow, Berlin Bronze – 100m Butterfly - Stockholm

2011 FINA World Championships – Shanghai Silver – 4×100m Medley Relay Bronze – 50m Butterfly

2011 Australian National Championships – Sydney Gold – 100m Butterfly Silver – 50m Butterfly

2010 Commonwealth Games – Delhi Gold – 100m Butterfly Gold – 4×100m Medley Relay Silver – 50m Butterfly

2010 Australian National Championships – Sydney Gold – 50m Butterfly

1998 World Aquatics Championships

He picked up his first World Championship Gold in 1998 World Championships Perth, swimming for the 4x100 Medley B team, as well as collecting Bronze in the 100m Butterfly.

2000 Summer Olympics

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Huegill qualified fastest for the 100m butterfly final, with a time of 51.96. However he swam a touch slower in the final, settling for bronze in a time of 52.22. He collected a silver in the 4x100m Medley Relay on the final night with an Australian record of 3:35.27, his butterfly split of 51.33 was the fastest 100m fly split.

2001 & 2003 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Huegill captured bronze in the 100m butterfly and gold in the 50 m butterfly with a time of 23.76 s, breaking the world record in the semi-finals. He collected gold in the 4x100m Medley Relay on the final night.

At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Huegill placed fourth in the 50 m butterfly with a time of 23.76 s and thirteenth in the 100 m butterfly with a time of 53.13 s.

2004 Summer Olympics

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Huegill placed eighth in the 100 m butterfly with a time of 52.56 s.

Retirement

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

Comeback

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Read the book

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 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.

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 Childrens Charity.

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

External links

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

• Geoff Huegill at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Paul Khoury

Cleo Bachelor of the Year 2003

Succeeded by Andrew G

Records
Preceded by Denis Pankratov	World Record Holder Men's 50 Butterfly 14 May 2000 – 2 July 2003	Succeeded by Matt Welsh
Preceded by Mark Foster	World Record Holder Men's 50 Butterfly (25m) 18 December 2001 – 10 October 2004	Succeeded by Ian Crocker