Weight loser is a big, inspirational winner already

The Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi are 198 days away but it has already started sparking inspirational tales. The story of Geoff Huegill is one such. On Thursday, he qualified for Delhi 2010 when he won the men's 50m butterfly in 23.46 seconds at the Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney.

So what, you may ask.

Huegill won 50m butterfly gold in the same event in Manchester in 2002 but put on so much weight after retiring from the sport at the end of the Athens Olympics in 2004. In fact, he tipped the scales at 138kg. Now 31 years old, he waged public battle against weight, shed 45kg over the last year and a half and has celebrated an emotional comeback.

His time was just two-hundredths of a second slower than his old world record set in 2001. The 31-year-old rated the win was on par with competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. “It's been a dream come true,” Huegill told reporters after he beat his younger training partners to make a stunning return to Australia's Swim Team. “Without a doubt I reckon it's better than making my first ever team.

“To come back from the position I was in, it's something I definitely don't take for granted. It's been well and truly worth all the pain. The emotions I feel today are well and truly on par with the way I felt 10 years ago when I stood behind the blocks at the Sydney Olympics.

He rates himself at only 85-90 per cent fitness, and sent a clear warning to former South African world record holder Roland Schoeman about his intentions in Delhi. “I love racing Roland and he's definitely going to be the man to beat, so it's going to be good to see how he goes now without his supersuit,” he said.

“(A time of) 23.44 is a pretty good world standard time at the moment, so my sights will definitely be coming away with a medal if not gold. I'm happy to put that out there now,” Huegill said.