Geoff Huegill Opens Up About Drug Use And Partying While Retired

Below is an extract from Geoff Huegill's new book Be Your Best. It shines a light on the oft-overlooked struggle that elite athletes face when they go from being one of the best in the world in their chosen sport, to being just another person trying to make a living.


"I made the final in Athens on talent alone, and people were justifiably upset with me. I just didn't know where to go at the time. I carried a fear of failure that prevented me from giving my all. It had been too hard to refocus after Sydney, and I was only going through the motions in the lead-up to Athens.

Competitive swimming was still in my blood, but I was clearly losing motivation and was completely unable to make the transition to a productive life outside the pool.

Pretty soon after Athens everything seemed to fall apart, and that next year, 2005, would be a total waste of time.

If I was going to stay in swimming and move from Queensland, the only two coaches I wanted to work with were Grant Stoelwinder and Jim Fowlie, but neither of them was available . . . this added to my uncertainty, but I decided to come down to Sydney anyway.

In Sydney, there was a lot of partying going on and swimming wasn’t my main priority. I’d train for two or three weeks, often with the guys at Sydney University, then I’d have a month off. I couldn’t go on like that. The writing was on the wall and I finally called it quits . . . I was 26.

Thoughts from Commonwealth Games Swimming - Day Three

The home nations couldn't build upon yesterday's success as Australia dominated. Six Golds for the Aussies tonight, one for England, one for South Africa and one for Kenya. In short, the rest of the Commonwealth got pumped. On a day like today you need to tip your hat (preferably whilst listening to Men At Work). Results Here (Tip - To get the results in easy to read spreadsheet form, go to the Reports column on the right hand side and select Event Related -> Results).

. Both Aussie 4 x 200m relays dominated as expected. However, for all those who wondered what would have happened if Britain swam as a team... here's your answer:-


Women

Australia
Kylie Palmer - 1:58.51
Blair Evans - 1:57.47
Bronte Barratt - 1:58.33
Meagen Nay - 1:59.40
Final time - 7:53.71

Britain's fastest 4
Jo Jackson - 1:59.06
Rebecca Adlington - 1:59.68
Jazmin Carlin - 1:59.39
Sasha Matthews - 1:59.08
Final time - 7:57.21

On paper, a British team would have just pipped New Zealand for silver, but would have still been a long back of Australia.

Men

Australia
Thomas Fraser Holmes - 1:47.04 (Great swim. Would have won the individual 200m Free by an astonishing 0.84 seconds... also the fastest leg of the entire event despite going first)
Nick Ffrost - 1:48.68
Ryan Napoleon - 1:47.05
Kenrick Monk - 1:47.52
Total Time - 7:10.29

Britain
Andrew Hunter - 1:48.32
David Carry - 1:48.00
Robbie Renwick - 1:47.38
Robert Bale - 1:48.12 (led off the relay in 1:48.72, I've taken off 0.6 for the takeover)
Total Time - 7:11.82

This would have been a closer race with Bale's inclusion, but a second and a half is still a comfortable margin of victory. This is all virtual and doesn't take into account race conditions, but whichever way you look at it, the Aussies were dominant.

. Top swim from James Goddard tonight. 1:55.58 is a great time and puts Goddard ahead of Aaron Peirsol and Michael Phelps this year. However, it also puts Ryan Lochte's 1:54.12 into perspective. Delving back into the virtual world, Goddard would have been several metres behind Lochte had they been in the same race.

. Congratulations to Jason Dunford for winning Kenya's first ever swimming Gold medal. Yes he is a product of English and American training, but it a fantastic acheivement all the same. You hope its received well back in Kenya and inspires a generation of youngsters to have a go at swimming.

I'm pleased for Dunford but would have loved to see Geoff Huegill win gold to cap what is already an incredible comeback. I don't think the sport of swimming has ever seen a comeback like this one. The guy lost 45-50kg. Now that is a movie, waiting to be made...

. We've had three days of competition and I think its fair to say that the swimming has been slower than expected. This is the main meet of the year, but many swimmers are failing to beat their seasons bests from untapered meets. It will be very interesting to see what filters through once the meet is finished but at this point I'm putting it down to one, or a combination, of these factors:-

Delhi Belly - A lot of cases of stomach upsets emerging. At a major meet any type of sickness can be disastrous. The physical effects are clear enough, but mentally too it puts you 'off your game'. Such a shame to train all year for a competition, with funding levels riding on it in the case of the British swimmers, and not be able to perform at your best because of sickness.

4am wake ups and 40 minute bus rides to and from the pool - If there is ever a sub-species of human that are used to waking up early, it is Homo Aquaticus (swimmers), however, not when they are competing. Its a tough ask to wake up that early, swim heats and then get back up for finals.

Slow Pool - Whether you believe it or not, swimmers believe in slow and fast pools. Sometimes there is a science behind it (depth of water, deck level pools etc.), other times a pool just won't feel right. If any swimmers have it in their heads that the Delhi pool is slow, performance will drop.

. If the pool is slow... how can you explain Alicia Coutt's 2:09.70 200m IM and Goddards 1:55.58 200m Back?

. Final point. Aussie turns. Better than all other nations competing in Delhi.

Maybe I will start a new feature....

SpeedEndurance World Rankings for Starts & Turns

1. USA
2. Australia
3. Japan
4. France
5. Rest of the world

Commonwealth Games 2010 - Come Out and Play

Commonwealth Games update

Bit of drama, nothing too serious:-

Ongoing security fears - Gun attack on a tourist bus in Delhi last Sunday & outbreak of dengue fever in the city
State of the athlete's village UPDATE - BBC Photos Here- Reports of stray dogs, faeces, stagnant water, unhygienic bathrooms, employees urinating openly in public areas.
Footbridge to get to the main stadium has collapsed - 23 workers injured

From BBC News

1. Athletes' village - Indian media reports only 18 of 34 towers are completed
2. Yamuna River - flooded in worst monsoon rain for 30 years, leaving pools attracting mosquitoes
3. Nehru Stadium - part of false ceiling collapsed in weightlifting area
4. Bridge leading to the Nehru Stadium - collapsed on Tuesday
5. Jama Masjid Mosque - Two tourists injured in shooting near mosque, Indian Mujahideen threatens more attacks
6. Shivaji Stadium - no longer to be used as a venue because it was not going to be ready in time
7. Yamuna Sports Complex - roof damaged by heavy rain in July

It's best to think positive... like 2010's comeback swimmer of the year.

Geoff Huegill's reaction to Delhi's problems:

 “As long as there’s water in my lane, I’m set to go”

Australian Championships - Day 3 Finals

Men's 200 LC Meter Backstroke Final

Hayden Stoeckel won his second event of the meet taking the Men's 200m Back. Stoeckel (1:58.04) beat last year's winner Ashley Delaney (1:58.56)into second. Braiden Camm, 19, took third in 2:00.51. Stoeckel will try to complete the clean sweep of the Backstroke events with the 100 Back heats starting tomorrow.

The 200m Back and 200m Fly (minus Nick D'Arcy) were the only men's events Australia didn't have someone make the top 16 at last year's worlds at Rome. Stoeckel's time puts him 2nd in the world this year, behind Ryosuke Irie's stunning 1:55.11 in February.

Women's 100 LC Meter Freestyle Final

Revelation of the meet, Yolane Kukla, touched first in the 100m Free with a quick time of 54.50... only to be disqualified for a false start. The victory ended up going to Emily Seebohm with a time of 54.70 with Alicia Coutts second in 54.86. Alice Mills (55.32) and Angela Bainbridge (55.40) took the relay spots, however with Kukla already on the team she should be able to get on the relay. It remains to be seen if Cate Campbell can still make the team to Delhi to give her a chance to make the relay team.

Men's 100 LC Meter Freestyle Semi-Final

After a blazing 49.06 in the heats this morning, Eamon Sullivan followed it up with a 49.35 in tonight's semis. The time was good enough to put him fastest into the final tomorrow. James Magnussen, 18, who starred in Macquarie Uni's relay win earlier in the competition took second in 49.54. Matthew Abood qualified third fastest with 49.59.

Last year's semi finalist from Rome in this event, Matt Targett, missed out on the final. Targett finished 14th in 50.77.

Women's 100 LC Meter Butterfly Semi-Final

Stephanie Rice leads the field ahead of a final stacked with talent. Rice clocked 58.55, good enough for third in the world this year. Jessicah Schipper (58.85) and Felicity Galvez (59.06) rounded out the top three qualifiers. Also qualifying for the final was Yolane Kukla, 14, who had earlier won and then been disqualified from the 100m Free final. She did well to get over the physical and mental exertions to qualify for the final 6th in 1:00.31. Marieke Guehrer (1:00.68) will line-up next to Kukla in lane 8 for tomorrow's final.

Women's 200 LC Meter Breaststroke Final

Leisel Jones put in a usual dominating performance in the 200m Breast. Jones led from reaction time to the end of the race winning in a time of 2:23.45. Sarah Katsoulis was second in a strong 2:25.35 with Tessa Wallace, 16, third in 2:28.67.

Jones' time puts her second in the world this year behind Rebecca Soni's 2:22.91 from the Austin Grand Prix. Interestingly the splits show two very different approaches to the race, Jones went out nearly 2 seconds faster than Soni on the first 50m, Soni then took 0.5 seconds from Jones on the second 50m. Both women's splits were almost identical on the third 50m before Soni brought the race home 1.95 seconds quicker on the final 50m.

Soni r:+0.77 33.84 - 1:09.70 (35.86) - 1:46.70 (37.00) - 2:22.91 (36.21)
Jones r:+0.73 31.97 - 1:08.35 (36.38) - 1:45.29 (36.94) - 2:23.45 (38.16)

Soni vs Jones will be a tremendous race at Pan Pacs.

Men's 50 LC Meter Butterfly Final

Geoff Huegill completed one of swimming's most remarkable comebacks with victory in the 50m Fly. After retiring from swimming Huegill's weight rocketed up to 138kg. It was then that he announced his two aims. Get under 100kg and qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Weighing in at 93kg tonight he acheived his second aim. His winning time of 23.46 is the fastest in the world by a clear 0.25 seconds and is only 0.02 seconds slower than his world record from 2001. Given the speed Huegill has right now, he has to be favourite for the Commonwealth Games later this year. Huegill said after the race, "Without a doubt I reckon it's better than making my first ever team. The emotions I feel today are well and truly on par to when I stood up behind the blocks at the Sydney Olympics," added Huegill, who won bronze in Sydney in the 100 butterfly."

Andrew Lauterstein (23.82) and Mitch Patterson (23.89) took a distant second and third.

Women's 100 LC Meter Backstroke Final

Emily Seebohm continued an impressive night of swimming by breaking her own textile best standard in the 100 Back. Seebohm took first in 59.21, a 0.04 improvement on her mark from the NSW Championships in February.

Belinda Hocking took second in 1:00.11, a long way behing Seebohm, but still good enough for third in the world this year. Sophie Edington took third in 1:01.20.

Seebohm has been one of swimming's stars of 2010. At just 17 there is still a lot to come from her. She will have some intriguing duels this year taking on England's Gemma Spofforth and Elizabeth Simmonds at the Commonwealth Games and USA's Natalie Coughlin at the Pan Pacs.

Men's 100 LC Meter Breaststroke Final

Brenton Rickard became the first man in 2010 to get close to breaking the 1:00 barrier. Rickard took the title in 1:00.19 with Christian Sprenger second in 1:00.91. Both men moved into first and second on the world ranking list this year. Nicholas Schafer, 18, was third in 1:02.40.

Rickard looks like he's hit the ground running after a great World Championships last year. He will get his toughest test at Pan Pacs this year when he lines up against Kosuke Kitajima and Eric Shanteau amongst others.

Fast Times Downunder Part II - New non-tech suit fastest time for Seebohm!

The NSW State Open Championships continued to produce some excellent swims on day 2 of the 3 day meet.

Emily Seebohm impressed in both heats and finals dipping below the 1:00 mark both times. Her heat time was an impressive 59.89, but she backed this up with an incredible 59.25 in the final. In what I hope to be a Speed Endurance exclusive, I can reveal that Seebohm's 59.25 has broken Natalie Coughlin's previous WR of 59.44 set at the World Champs in 2007. The significance of Coughlin's mark is that this was the last WR in the Women's 100m back to be set in the non-techsuit era, making Seebohm the fastest women ever in the 100m Back wearing a 100% textile suit. Still just 17 years of age, Seebohm is one of swimming's brightest talents. A potentially epic duel awaits in the 100m Back at the Commonwealth Games later this year between Seebohm and current WR holder and World Champion Gemma Spofforth.

Notable performances came from Tae Hwan Park, winning his 3rd event at the meet with 1:46.98 in the 200m Free, Geoff Huegill going 2nd in the world rankings this year with 23.83 in the 50m Fly and an impressive 2:26.14 from Leisel Jones in the 200m Breast.

Other winners from day 2 were Therese Alshammar (50m Free - 24.98),Felicity Galvez (100m Fly - 58.73), Leith Brodie (200m IM), Brenton Rickard (100m Breast - 1:02.01), Bronte Barratt(400m Free - 4:09.28) and Daniel Arnamnart (200m Back - 2:01.75).