Success in swimming was once a matter of life or death for Australian Geoff Huegill but he now sees sporting achievement as just a bonus.
Geoff Huegill. PHOTO: KORBUA LAORUJIJINDA
In his second spell as a competitive swimmer, Huegill, whose mother is Thai, realises that there are other things in life and his new desire is to be an inspiration for younger people.
A butterfly specialist, Huegill has won several medals at the Olympics, world championships and Commonwealth Games.
He started swimming when he was three or four years old as his parents wanted him to be able to protect himself because they lived in Gove Peninsula.
He began swimming competitively after hearing that the 2000 Olympics would be held in Sydney.
"You naturally want to represent your country when the Olympics are coming to your country, your own backyard," Huegill told a group of Thai and Malaysian journalists in a recent interview in Sydney.
He was part of Australia's swimming team from 1997-2004 and was expected to make a splash in Sydney. However, he managed just one silver (4x100 medley) and a bronze (100m butterfly).
The former Australia's Cleo Bachelor of the Year lived up to expectation as a favourite in the 100m butterfly when he was the fastest in the heat yet he failed to repeat the feat in the final.
Huegill was empty-handed at the 2004 Athens Olympics and formally retired after his unsuccessful bid to qualify for his national side at the 2005 and 2006 Australian Championships.
Following his retirement, he struggled with alcohol abuse and a love of junk food which led to him piling on 45kgs.
He admitted in his book Be Your Best, which was released last year, that he abused party drugs and had considered suicide.
In an interview last year, he said that 16 years of intense swimming had left him with no idea of the real world.
"The swimming world is a pretty sheltered world," he said. "I had to learn pretty fast what the real world was like."
He added: "During the dark periods of my life, from about 2005 to 2007, I experimented with many different things. But I guess that's a story that's in my past."
Huegill credits his wife Sarah Hills, a publicist who he met in 2007, as the inspiration for turning his life around.
He announced his comeback to competitive swimming in 2008 as he wanted to improve his health and bring some pride back to a sport in Australia which has recently struggled to produce new champions.
Huegill's remarkable comeback was capped off by two golds and one silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
In the Sydney interview, Huegill, who now works at a bank, admitted he had made some mistakes and wanted to be a good example to the next generation.
"I want to be an inspiration for other people," he said.
"When I was younger, success was everything and your world would collapse if you failed. Now winning a medal for me is just a bonus."
Unfortunatedly, he failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics but he will try to secure a berth at the 2013 world championships and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He said age was no barrier for swimmers, citing American Dana Torres who won three silvers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics aged 41.
"If you want to be successful, you have to first beat a 33-year-old," he said with a broad smile.
Huegill has visited Thailand six times and plans to come to the kingdom again to see his mother Kanthong Summart in Chaiyaphum after the London Olympics.
"I want my mom to see my four-year-old kid," said Huegill, who married Sarah last year.