Brooke’s Look at Day Three Australian Swimming Championships

A dose of teenage enthusiasm and a rush of blood cost Yolane Kukla her second Australian title on night three of the Australian Swimming Championships on a night which saw Geoff Huegill go from the "Biggest Loser" to the "Biggest Winner."

It was obvious that "Yo Yo" jumped the gun in the 100m freestyle final which saw her touch the wall first. As soon as the gun went I thought "oh no" she's broken.

She's an amazing little athlete who has so much power in those 14-year-old legs and so much get up and go that she couldn't wait to get in that water.

Little Yolane may have lost an Australian championship but you get the feeling that come the Pan Pacs and her next chance to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in the 100m, then she will grab that third spot that is up for grabs for Delhi.

She has the ability and the mental toughness to bounce back and win gold when the Aussie team heads to the Games and don't be surprised if she returns home a hero.

And you know the great thing about swimming is the amazing camaraderie that comes out of the pool.

It was so nice to see Beijing Olympic golden girl Bronte Barratt comfort Yolane when she realised she had lost her chance to win gold – it is something that comes naturally to swimmers.

The girls will continue to comfort her and I'm sure she will be jumping out of her skin, (but no too fast though) when she takes on Cate Campbell in the 50 later in the week.

Now to Geoff "Skippy" Huegill – one of the most popular figures on the Australian Swim Team – "Skippy" you rock!

To come back in 12 months and show the world what you can do to get your life back and your body back on track is extraordinary.

"Skippy" decided to get his life in order admitting he was heading for a heart attack and dieting and hard training under NSWIS coach Grant Stoelwinder saw him shed around 45 kilograms.

For mine Huegill's win in the 50m butterfly in the worlds fastest time this year, was the swim of the night.

I was lucky enough to be on several teams with "Skippy" – including the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and the 2004 Athens Olympics.

And if has been an inspiration to the nation who have followed his story, he will certainly be an inspiration to the swim team, who have relied so heavily on Grant Hackett over the last decade.

I'm not sure if Leigh Nugent will recommend that his team has a team captain to replace Hackett but Geoff Huegill (c) seems to have a good look about it. You could not have a more inspirational leader.

We have been working together as ambassadors for Austswim who are the Australian council for swimming and water safety in Australia and he is so passionate about swimming at all levels and it was wonderful to see him achieve his dream of representing Australia again.

Here is my look at night three:

Men's 50m Butterfly

Tonight Geoff Huegill won his 15th Australian title in the men's 50m butterfly in a time of 23.46 defeating NSWIS training partner Andrew Lauterstein (23.82) and Mitchell Patterson (23.89) to qualify for his third Games.

In an age of reality television, the modern day Cinderella story of "The Biggest Loser" reached its pinnacle.

Huegill, the Sydney 2000 Olympic bronze medallist in the 100m butterfly and winner of the 50m butterfly at the 2001 World Championships and 2002 Commonwealth Games went from The "Biggest Loser" to the "Biggest Winner" at Sydney Olympic Park.

Huegill retired from the sport after 2004 to travel overseas and started enjoying the finer things in life without any exercise.

It didn't take long for Huegill to put on close to an extra 45kg and his excess weight gain motivated him to get back in the pool to regain his fitness.

In 2007 Huegill began his comeback and has done the hard work to regain peak fitness in the quest to gain a position back on the Australian team.

"I'm back in the water for a legitimate reason this time… and I'm swimming for my future," Huegill revealed.

"To get up and go through the process every day is something I have done in the past so when I stepped into this arena again I knew the challenges that I had to face, if it meant that I had to go to every training and every weight session it's as simple as that."

At his heaviest Huegill weighed in at 138kg (303lbs); tonight he raced at 93kg (204lbs) and he looked fantastic.

His time of 23.46 ranks him as the fastest 50m butterflier in the world in 2010.

"It's awesome, I can't believe it, I'm speechless, I got back in the pool to get fit and I swim because I love to swim," he said.

"Anything is possible I wanted to prove to the rest of Australia that if you put your mind to anything you can achieve what ever you want to do," said an excited Huegill after the race.

Women's 100m freestyle

Teenager Yolane Kukla, the winner of the 50m butterfly at the Australian championships renowned for a fast reaction time was a bit too excited tonight and started before the gun.

Kukla went on to win the final but was immediately disqualified under the no false start rule.

"I think I broke", she said to Bronte Barratt immediately after the race.

The top three positions after Kukla's disqualification went to Olympians Emily Seebohm (54.70) ahead of Alicia Coutts (54.86) and Alice Mills (55.32).

Clearly disappointed Kukla was left with little time to turn herself around in time for her 100m butterfly semi final in which she finished a promising sixth qualifying her for the final with a time of 1.00.31.

Women's 100m Backstroke

After her surprise win in the 100m freestyle Olympian Emily Seebohm (59.21) won her second gold medal of the night in the women's 100m backstroke ahead of fellow 2008 Olympic team members Belinda Hocking (1.00.11) and Sophie Edington (1.01.20) and a rare double.

Men's 100m Breaststroke

The current world record holder and world champion Brenton Rickard (1.00.19) started strongly and went through the 50m mark at 28.46 holding off a late challenge from Christian Sprenger (1.00.91) with Nicholas Schafer (1.02.40) in third position. Rickard won his sixth consecutive gold medal in the 100m breaststroke and will now focus on winning the 50m and 200m breaststroke this week.

Women's 200m Breaststroke

Triple Olympian Leisel Jones 2.23.44 (31.97, 1.08.35 (36.38), 1.45.29 (36.94), 2.23.44 (38.16) won her 21st Australian title in the 200m breaststroke, an event that even she admitted she wasn't training for. Jones finished ahead of her training partner Sarah Katsoulis (2.25.35) with Tessa Wallace (2.28.67) finishing third.

Men's 200m backstroke

Winner of the 50m backstroke at these championships Hayden Stoeckel 1.58.04 (27.08, 56.05 (28.97),1.26.15 (30.10), 1.58.04 (31.89) dominated the event leading from start to finish.

The 2008 Olympic bronze medallist in the 100m backstroke won his fourth Australian title ahead of Olympian Ashley Delaney (1.58.56) and Braiden Camm (2.00.51).

In other semi final results sprint king Eamon Sullivan qualified fastest for the final of the men's 100m freestyle in a time of 49.35 and Stephanie Rice (58.55) also qualified in the top position for the women's 100m butterfly final.

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