Geoff Huegill
World champion swimmer who defied the odds
Geoff Huegill is one of Australia’s most inspirational athletes and one of the world’s greatest Butterfly competitors.
Having achieved Olympic status, he stumbled, got back up again, and rose to become one of the world’s greatest swimmers, winning medals at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and also the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai. In doing so, he fulfilled his personal goals and established himself as a powerful role model for people around the world.
Regarded as one of Australia’s biggest personalities in the swimming world, Geoff is as impressive on stage as he is in the pool, Geoff shares his powerful insights, imparting his knowledge to executives, managers and staff by sharing the skill and disciplines he’s learnt from elite sport and shows how they can be applied to any business.
Geoff connects with audiences on any level and provides valuable lessons for people from all walks of life – whether they’re setting personal or professional goals.
More about Geoff Huegill:
Geoff Huegill’s swimming career is certainly impressive: he has won dual silver and bronze Olympic medals, he is a five-time World Champion, eight-time World Record holder, seven-time Commonwealth Gold medalist and holder of fourteen Australian National titles.
Yet it was his return to form in 2010 that has been by far the most impressive to date. Having won the Commonwealth 4x100m medley relay gold in 2002 with fellow swimmer Ian Thorpe, and competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Geoff Huegill left the pool behind and ballooned in weight.
Then he went from overweight and out of shape to the top of his game at an age when most elite athletes are retired. At 31, he lost an incredible 49kg, retrained his body and mind – and went on to achieve his fastest times in the pool and become the second-fastest butterfly swimmer in the world. The time Geoff achieved for the 100m butterfly final – 51.69sec – was easily the fastest he has ever swum and placed him second in the world behind the greatest swimmer of all time, American Michael Phelps.
Today, Geoff is an Athlete-Entrepreneur and co-director of many companies. He holds ambassadorships with Black Dog Institute, Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, MS – Qld, Sir David Martin, Foundation and Variety – The Children’s Charity. He is also the author of Be Your Best.
Geoff Huegill has the persuasive power of someone who has overcome all the obstacles and succeeded at being his best. He talks about focusing the mind, body and spirit to be best you can be and imparts valuable messages about code of conduct, personal values and resilience.
Geoff Huegill talks about:
In control – Sport and business run parallel; as a corporate athlete, how do we take control of our emotions and put strategies in place so we are not overwhelmed with the expectations and pressures that life throws at us on a daily basis?
Energised – In times of stress we all turn to things that give us comfort. For some it’s food, for others it’s alcohol, shopping or gambling. Geoff talks about what we eat and how we move on a daily basis balances our stress levels and also the importance of recovery.
Inspired – What is good work/life balance? How do we achieve that in a world where we’re forever ‘connected’ to the Internet? These workshops are designed to help us look at living a more ‘wholistic, well-balanced life’. What are we aiming for in life? Most importantly, what are the things we use to do before ‘life’ got in the way?
Choices – Life is all about choices; most days we make good choices, but what do we do when the ramifications of a poor choice change our world? What happens to your train of thought, how do you remain upbeat at a time when your world is falling apart around you and how do you go from being reactive to being proactive?
Be Your Best – Geoff shares his life story from the early stages of swimming to world domination and Olympic success, the struggles of transition from sport and having to fight back, from transforming his life and losing 45 kg to step back onto the blocks and successfully race again on the world stage.
Accept it, Own it, Conquer it. Sport, Business and life – It’s better to live a life of design then a life of default. Geoff, the founder of Huegill Bodytech, a luxe lifestyle brand of supplements and sporting apparel, shares his strategies for success.