Geoff: I'm the first to put my hand up and say that I make a lot of mistakes. I had no idea though what he was like behind the headlines. One of the things that I've learned within myself is that my whole life was all about pain, pain from.

Geoff: Parents separating, pain from my father passing away and watching him pass away, the pain of having to channel my emotions and energy into doing something that I did very, very well.

Kumi: What struck me was how polite and humble Geoff was and how honest, and he was up for a chat.

Kumi: It's so good to see you.

Geoff: Yeah, and you too.

Kumi: You were born in Nhulunbuy, this is a small peninsula town in the Northern Territory. Your mum is Thai, your dad was a FIFO miner. How did they meet?

Geoff: So my mum grew up in rural Thailand and she was a chef. So she had a cooking cart, being the eldest daughter of three daughters, one of her responsibilities at that particular stage of life was being one of the main financiers of the family and to help out as much as possible. So she had a love for cooking, had a passion for cooking, and listening to her story of how she started off and then raising a little pig and then growing this pig and then selling it off to be able to buy a food cart to then be able to take it from rural Thailand down to Bangkok, and I believe my father was with one of his mates and,

Geoff: They were having some time off and relaxing and met my mum, and basically she just cooked for him and fed him for the whole time. He was literally in Bangkok, which was quite amazing. So, you talk about by chance of how do you get this opportunity to not only just be on this planet, but this opportunity to do things you do. It's quite a unique story. It's quite different, and obviously everyone has their own unique story, but quite a spin out.

Kumi: You've spoken about values a lot Geoff, and one of the things that really struck me when you were in the Insight studio was, I felt this real sense of humility, like you treated everyone there with such,

Kumi: Generosity and care and support, and I remember thinking, oh, there's a lot more to this guy than I know from what I've read. Where have those aspects of your personality come from?

Geoff: I believe I've got my work ethic from my mum, to tell you the truth. There's no, from my mum and from my dad, but also too from the key influential people that have been in my life, like my swimming coach, one of my first swimming coaches who I got to live with after my father passed away. I've always been a,

Geoff: Big believer that things happen in life for a reason. For me, if my father didn't pass away, I don't know whether or not I would have had the determination to be able to stick through the hard challenges of just fighting to get to the Olympics. And Ken, my former coach, he, what people don't realise is he put a swimmer on every Australian team from 1976 to 2016.

Geoff: So for 40 years, he created this environment and there was method to his madness. One of the best things that he taught me is always be good to the people you pass on the way up because they're going to be the first people you pass on the way back down. I learned pretty quick through my journey in sport that obviously everyone does have a story.

Geoff: You know, I remember going into my first Olympic Games and multiple Olympic gold medalists pulled me aside and told me this story, and the moral of the story is, it doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, or what you've done. When you step up to the final of the 100 metres butterfly, he said, I guarantee that everyone walks out of the food hall with food down the front of their shirt, right? So,

Geoff: Everyone trips over their own feet, and these are the people that are the best of the best, right? So he said, just go out there and do what you have to do. So, I've had some really, really good mentors or people that have influenced my life, and I've been very lucky throughout that journey so far. So yeah, I can't really complain.

Kumi: Just to backtrack, you were 12, I understand when your dad died of a heart attack. That's right. What do you remember about that day?

Geoff: It was hard. I remember coming home from training, it was a Tuesday night. My dad was already in bed. He wasn't feeling 100%. He literally just said to me, well, I said to him, because Ken had told me, my coach had told me that he was gonna send me off to my first a nationals. So I was really, really excited.

Geoff: About that and came home it just before my 13th birthday. And I remember just telling him while he was in bed and then had my dinner and went to bed and didn't think anything of it. And then during the middle of the night, he woke up and I heard him go into the bathroom and turn the shower on, and then he collapsed in the shower and I was up and, and obviously woke up the whole household and called the ambulance and, you know, I think when I reflect and and look back on it,

Geoff: It was the parts that were really hard were just how sudden everything changed. Like literally in the blink of an eye. It was like he's there and then he wasn't there.

Geoff: This is like 12 a.m. and by 6:30 in the morning, I got the news that he passed away and. Just a whole mix of emotions just run through you, right? Like, what now, and how did this happen and,

Geoff: Yeah, it's, it's a lot for a 12 year old to sort of take on board. And, uh, yeah, it took me, I, I didn't realise how long it actually took to, uh, deal with that situation. And as you can see or hear, it does still make me pretty emotional at times.

Kumi: Yeah, thanks for sharing that, Geoff, and sorry to bring that up. I'm so glad you got to tell him about.

Kumi: What you were about to do with your swimming, that you had that chat with him, but he knew.

Geoff: Funny you say that because I, I've never looked at it that way.

Kumi: Yeah, I feel like, oh what an amazing thing for your dad to know about you, about your son, you know, definitely.

Kumi: So Ken, would the man, your coach, your mentor who you went to live with, you suddenly living in a new home and still putting effort into your swimming, was that in a way, I don't know, like a kind of saviour in a way when everything was different and everything changed in an instant. You've got this thing that you can still rely on.

Geoff: When I reflect back at it, I was very lucky that I had my swimming and had my swimming club. I mean, God knows what would have happened if I wasn't in that environment, and if I wasn't in that club. You know, obviously I've got a tendency of wanting to have a good time and to, uh, you know, want to have a little bit of fun, um, without a doubt. But, uh, so I never know. I mean, that's a, it's a hypothetical. I tend not to look down these hypothetical questions, but,

Geoff: What I do appreciate, and this is why I'm a firm believer that things happen in life for a reason, cause not long after that, Sydney won the bid for the Olympics. It was about 6 months after. And then I knew at that stage, I was in the right environment. I had the right coach to be able to go from 8 nationals into Olympic medalists, being a champion.

Geoff: On the international scene and stage, and it was quite easy to put the roadmap together. And it's funny we touch upon this because I was back in Australia a couple of weeks ago, and I literally did this similar exercise with a bunch of up and coming children or athletes that are at that 1012, 14 years of age where,

Geoff: To look forward 8 years, if you're 12, that means you're gonna be 20 in the 2032 Olympics. Yes. So, when you look back on the stats and where things are, I think in swimming Australia, 90% of athletes have won their first international medal before the age of 21, and of that 90%.

Geoff: And 90% of them have been with the same coach since the age of 15. So, the stats don't lie. And so it's a bit of a spin out to reflect on it from that side, to have the opportunity to work with the younger generation of kids that are coming through to building roadmaps, building strategies, building plans on using sport for life after sport.

NEWS ANCHOR: Hugo and Slim, Klim and Huegill, Huegill's in front, Huegill, Klim, the touch, the touch, and there it is. Huegill wins by 100.

Kumi: You walked away from swimming after the 2004 Athens Olympics. You had a really public kind of battle with weight gain. I mean, God, everyone kind of commenting. It took another, I think, 60 years. You lost 40 kg, then you made an international swimming comeback at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. What was it like getting that chance again, that pressure in a way of that second chance and the public's expectations on you?

Geoff: For me it was, it was something that just seemed natural, right? I mean, I've always been a goal oriented person. It would be like, it's time to start taking care of my health, or start looking after myself and moving on a daily basis. And it's not like one day I woke up and had this epiphany of, oh, I'm just gonna get back into the pool again and hopefully swim on the international circuit. A lot of thought, a lot of planning, a lot of consulting and understanding what the journey was going to be like getting back into it again. I, I mean, I took a lot of time to think.

Geoff: About that, because one of the things I sort of realised was just how much pain I was going to be in from a physiological sort of sense, right? How much effort was required on a daily basis to push myself to get back to that level again. And once I made up my mind, that was something I actually wanted to do again, then it was all systems go, right? I, I went in 110%.

Kumi: One of the things I think about swimming are the endless laps, like this monotony.

Kumi: And repetition and I just don't think I could do that. Is there a particular mindset of a swimmer who can just get in that pool day in, day out?

Geoff: You've got to be a unique cat to want to put your head in a bucket and swim for 345 hours a day, and then when you're out of the pool, you're in the gym, pushing yourself to extremes. I think when you talk about the unique mindset of a swimmer, everyone's got their own goals and their purposes, or the reasons of why they actually do that. And I think for anyone, whether you want to be successful in a media career, successful in a sporting career, you have to understand what the purpose is.

Geoff: As to why you are going to put yourself through that physical and mental exhaustion and mental pain. So for me, it was, I had purpose. I, I understood exactly why I was getting into the water every single day. I understand the job and the task ahead of me. So to make that call, it was quite an easy thing to do.

Kumi: So you went well in Delhi, you walked away with gold and silver. That same year you were voted the 2010 Australian Sport Performer of the Year. Did you feel like it was a great comeback for all the doubters?

Geoff: Sort of, yeah, no, but, I think the biggest thing was just proving it to myself, and that was the most important thing, that all of the accolades and the celebrations and the things that came after, because I was doing it for myself, it didn't really faze me about those things. And it's not until you get a little bit older in life and you reflect on your career that you actually realise how big a task that was to actually execute 51.6 seconds at a particular moment in time.

Kumi: Let's fast forward 4 years, the tough year where you and your then ex-wife were charged with drug possession. I'm just so fascinated with what you remember about that day.

Geoff: Obviously, I was a little bit inebriated, had quite a few drinks and.

Geoff: I didn't think about anything, to tell you the truth. I didn't have any care or responsibility in the world. I was just living my life at that particular point in time. Obviously, once things started to get real, being that I got pulled aside by the police and taken into a room and questioned, that's when my mindset shifted really, really quick. It goes from being proactive into reactive, because I understood,

Geoff: And realised that things were gonna change and things were gonna change really, really quick. So, I think you're starting to get a bit of an idea into some of the wacky ways my mind works, but it was about having a bit of a plan and a strategy and a solution in terms of how we're going to deal with this, who are the people we need to contact, and then putting a plan in place to be able to get the results that we were looking for to.

Geoff: have no criminal conviction. Being a global frequent flyer and travelling a lot throughout my career, I understand the damages that it sets you back if you do actually have a criminal conviction. So, it just makes life a little bit harder, obviously. So, recognising and realising what needed to be done and how do we execute it, my mind just went straight into, um, problem solving.

Kumi: So much of your identity is still tied to being a swimmer. Have you had to separate part of your identity to that part of what you did?

Geoff: I've always tried to, but there's always the public perception.

Geoff: And every time I've tried to walk away from the sport, I actually still am really happy being in the water. Whether it's working with the next generation of kids that are coming through, or even working with a bunch of adults that are trying to swim the English Channel or do half Ironman triathlons, or even working with a bunch of.

Geoff: where we're doing teambuilding projects, I guess a lot of my experience comes back from being in the environments that I was in that swimming environments, but also to the environment of being an Olympian, so to speak. So, every time I try and escape it, to try and get away, it's been an education.

Geoff: Throughout my career, I look back and we talk about some of these challenging things that I've been through in my life. The only way that I've been able to get through it is because of all of the challenging things I've learned through sport. And I think when we talk about success, or most importantly, when we talk about people having confidence, right? Cause,

Geoff: Confidence and self-confidence and self-belief. Ultimately, these things are internal, right? So to be able to have more confidence, to be able to face the challenges or the hurdles of life, it's because you in particular have overcome those challenges and those hard moments and periods of life. So, I think if I reflect back onto 2014…

Geoff: In the arrest of 2014, I knew that I'd been through a lot of harder things, and this was only just going to be another blip in the radar. You know, I got the Olympic rings tattoo on my wrist when I was going into Athens Olympics in 2004. I didn't get it after the 2000 Olympics and,

Geoff: The reason why it holds a lot more significance is because the challenges of getting behind the blocks in 2004 were a lot harder than in 2000. Different mindsets, different approaches, different environment, different stages and phases of life, and,

Geoff: To me that challenge in itself meant a hell of a lot and obviously having a chance to represent my country at a home Olympics, and those are the successes that I've had or the challenges that I had to overcome, which helped me line up behind the blocks when I raced in 2010.

NEWS ANCHOR: What's 20 metres when you've conquered 40 kg. Geoff Huegill of Australia, Geoff Huegill of Australia goes in for the kill. A happy ending for Geoff Huegill, happily ever after it is, it's a Commonwealth Games record.

Kumi: You're now living in Singapore where you met your second wife, Roxanne. How did you guys meet?

Geoff: We met through friends, to tell you the truth. We were introduced, which is quite amazing, and look, within the 1st 90 seconds of meeting Roxy, I just realised that she was a different cat. And I said that to her straight away. It was like, well, hang on here, you're a different cat. And then literally, we just connected and gelled. We had so much in common, and it's been,

Geoff: Like everything, though, you have your ups and downs, but it's been a journey that I've really enjoyed.

Kumi: How would you react if any of your kids wanted to be an elite athlete?

Geoff: Obviously, I'm gonna support them in whatever it is they want to do, because that's what you do when you have children, I guess, or that's what I would do because that's what my parents did for me. So, the endless love and care and support and, and assistance, I think I would help them put their roadmap from A to B.

Geoff: Or A to Z and work out whatever it is that they want to do, but also be there for them and, and support them. Give them as much love and comfort and recognition for the things that they do want to do. And about 12 months ago, I had a call with my eldest daughter, Mila, and she rang me up and said, Hey, Dad, I love you, but I, I don't want to swim anymore. And I was like, Yeah, great. Well, that's the, you know, and, and at the time, I was obviously heartbroken because she's top 3 in Australia and

Geoff: You know, obviously state champion I she purely gifted and talented, and if she doesn't want to swim, then I can't force her to swim. You can't cage animals, right? People have to learn these things for themselves and I think what's very lucky though is she's still at an age where,

Geoff: If she wanted to pick it up, she can still do it, but she's obviously got to put a lot more work into it. But you, when you've got a surname of Hui and you're standing behind the blocks of anywhere in the pool, you're naturally gonna have a lot of eyeballs on you, and, and that in itself is a lot of pressure. If my children, as long as they do something, I mean, you can't sit around in the afternoon and do nothing. You either have to have an earn or learn mentality. So if you're not earning $1 you've got to be continuing your studies.

Geoff: So these are the things I try and share with my daughters and my sons, and we share with them is having direction, what's your plan? What's your strategy, how do we get there, and then the simple things of short, medium and long-term goals, because we all need purpose every single day of and reason to get out of bed. And that in itself can be a challenge for a lot of people depending on where they are at that particular stage and phase of life. When we look at things like mental health or just life challenges in itself, it's,

Geoff: It's quite easy to give up on the spark of life and get engaged in life, and everyone can have a million reasons why they don't want to participate or engage anymore. And I think for an individual, it's finding the purpose or the why. Why do you want to engage in this? What is the purpose, and why do you actually love what you do? As a friend told me the other day, there's a big difference obviously between love and like, right? Perfect analogy is, I like my wife, um, you know.

Geoff: You know, when someone actually says that to you, it's like, yeah, I like my wife. It's like, yeah, but liking something and loving something are two different things, right?

Geoff: And I do love my wife.

Kumi: Have there ever been moments, given that you lost your dad so young, but you had this wonderful mentor? Who do you look to or who do you imagine in terms of, that's how I'm gonna be as a dad? Like, how do you make those choices?

Geoff: It's pretty challenging. And look, I'm, I'm the first to put my hand up and say that I make a lot of mistakes on the go, because the hardest thing is being present.

Geoff: That's the first challenge. And then through those emotions or through those challenges at that particular point of time, obviously, there's a, everyone, every individual has certain things that trigger us, things that trigger us from our own childhood, things that, when we look back on our children and we, we reflect and we say, oh my gosh, I don't wanna be this type of parent, I don't wanna do this, and

Geoff: Through those triggers, obviously sets off a range of emotions, and then from the emotions, we can choose to have a reaction. I'm always constantly self-reflecting, understanding, trying to see things from a different time and a different point of view, recognising and realising that we're dealing with little individuals, things that were or may have been,

Geoff: Dealt with when I was growing up, obviously isn't acceptable today, you know, I can't just put my children in the pool and tell them to swim for 5 or 10 kilometres to just sort of get the energy out, right?

Kumi: No, you left like child services exactly.

Geoff: Right, you know, but you gotta be able to laugh about these things, but that, that being said, it's, it just means I've, I've got to continually grow, and you've just got to be kind with yourself. I think that's one of the other things as well is kindness to yourself, especially as a parent, because we don't deliberately go out there and try and,

Geoff: Rock the boat and make things hard. I mean, obviously there's a, there's a reason to why we have our values and our beliefs, but ultimately, at the end of the day, most people are doing the best that they can at those particular points of time, you know, so the forgiveness of yourself is also a big challenge. It's pretty hard. Parenting is one of the hardest things I've ever done, Kumi. I think when

Geoff: You get annoyed with someone and you're in the swimming pool, you can just get in the other lane and just swim, right? Or get out of the pool and come back later. There's just no off switch with kids, right? Like they're. And, and my boys as well, right? They're just one pace, and that's just full on, right? And boys are totally different. Boys are totally different to girls, right? Girls can just sit and just do craft and everything boys are like, they're just, my boys are just animals, right? I love them. They're just, they're just.

Geoff: They're just animals, right, they're just gonna tear the place apart, and they've got one speed and that's just full on, and I shake my head and it's just like, Jesus, is that life biting me on the arse again? Like, it's just like, wow, I've got I've gotta work out a way to deal with this.

Kumi: Life sounds pretty good for you though at the moment. Sounds like you're in a good spot.

Geoff: Look, Kumi, why be so serious, right? It's only a matter of life and death.

Kumi: That's right. Two options.

Geoff: Look, life is, life is in a good spot. It's in a good spot today, and that's all I can deal with. I can just deal with today. A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed, I finally sought treatment for my ADHD. That's been a big change in my life and my career, in particular, being able to be more present, not as, I don't want to say all over the shop, but easily distracted.

Geoff: Is a big thing as well, and, um, I'm going on this path of sobriety, right, so my aim is to not pick up a drink today, uh, because I've got too much work and things to do, but, uh, today for me has lasted almost 18 months, and that in itself has been a journey because,

Geoff: Especially when you look at trauma or challenges that in particularly I've been through in life, one of the things that I guess is dealing with emotional sobriety, right? So, stopping drinking was never an issue, you know, for me it was, is what do I need to do to not use my emotions to pick up a drink. Going on this journey, I think one of the things that I've learned within myself is that my whole life was all about pain, right? I was constantly in pain, pain from,

Geoff: Parents separating pain from my father passing away and watching him pass away, having to live in an environment that wasn't what I thought was going to be home. The pain of having to channel my emotions and energy into doing something that I did very, very well. And I was basically trained to be the best of the best, and that is ultimately, how do you deal with pain, and how do you manage pain and channel it in the right direction. And

Geoff: You know, obviously I've succeeded in that area of life, but it's not until I got a little bit older that I realised that, hey, I don't want to be in pain anymore. So, going on this path of emotional sobriety, I laugh, it's the, it's the eat, pray, love, Kumi, right, that part of life, right? I've I've obviously done a lot of eating if I put on 50 kilogrammes and had to lose it.

Geoff: Being a Cleo, former Cleo's most eligible bachelor, I've sort of knocked that part of my life out. But now it's like, obviously, the spiritual aspect of life, which is the most important thing to me, because I realised that as a role model and for my children, I need to be a better partner or a better, better coach or a better individual. I have to have, I need to be more centred with what's going on within me, and

Geoff: When you made the comment of, like, I seem to be in a, a good place or a happy place, it's, um, I mean, that can change pretty quick, but I've, I now have the tools to be able to deal with those challenges when they come up. So, just because I stopped drinking doesn't make my problems go away.

Kumi: Geoff, I could speak to you all day. Thanks, Geoff. Have a great day.

Geoff: You too. Thank you, Kumi.