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Source: Reuters
Geoff Huegill has made a remarkable return to the Australian swim team for the Commonwealth Games by losing 46kgs.
The Sydney Olympic medallist's weight ballooned to 138kg following the 2004 Athens Olympics and he now says he wants to return from Delhi with a gold medal.
Huegill (23.46sec) will compete at his first major international meet in six years after taking out the 50m butterfly in style at Sydney Olympic Park, with a time just two hundredths of a second slower then his old world record set in 2001.
The 31-year-old, now a muscular 93kg, rated the experience on par with competing at the Sydney Games in 2000.
"It's been a dream come true," Huegill said.
"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."
Huegill rated 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 India.
"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," he said.
"I'm happy to put that out there now. 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."
Emily Seebohm demonstrated her growing stature in Australian swimming by becoming the first female in forty years to win the 100m backstroke-freestyle double.
But she had luck on her side in the freestyle after Yolane Kukla backed up her win in the 50m butterfly by being disqualified after leading the field home.
Kukla got too much of the jump on the field in the two-lap race, her false start leading to the DQ quickly replacing the No.1 and time of 54.50 seconds next to her name on the scoreboard.
She was visibly upset with the result and needed to be comforted by Bronte Barratt in the neighbouring lane.
However she rebounded just 20 minutes later to qualify for Friday night's final of the 100m butterfly, holding her nerve to be the fastest off the blocks in the semi-final.
Kukla's resilience in the 100m butterfly showed that she is not easily floored, an important trait for any multi-event swimmer.
With Kukla rubbed out and Cate Campbell having bombed out in the semi-finals, Seebohm (54.70s) became the unlikely champion.
Seebohm later took out her pet event, the 100m backstroke in 59.21s, for a rare double on the night.
"I was a little bit shocked about the freestyle," Seebohm said.
Leisel Jones (2:23.45) showed she was still unstoppable at domestic level by producing a convincing win in the 200m breaststroke while Eamon Sullivan (49.35) warmed up for Friday night's 100m freestyle final by topping the times in the semi-finals.
World champion Brenton Rickard (1:00.19) showed a change of coach hasn't slowed him down, taking out the 100m breaststroke ahead of Christian Sprenger (1:00.91).
Hayden Stoeckel (1:58.04) claimed the men's 200m backstroke title.
