SKIPPP AND MEGSY AN INSPIRATION TO A NATION

October 9: Inspiration comes in various forms and on the Australian swim team it comes in bucketloads. Ian Hanson looks at two special cases after another golden night in the pool.

Geoff Huegill and Meagen Nay are just two stories to emerge from the Delhi Commonwealth Game that have both inspired and touched us all.

The much documented fight back by Huegill to lose 40kg is something all Australians can relate to, the effort it takes to get off our backsides to look after our well being.

Huegill had made his life swimming butterfly two individual Commonwealth Games gold medals in 1998 and 2002; a world record and a world championship; Olympic bronze and two Games appearances.

But in the two years following his extraordinary comeback from 'chubby chump' to 'chiseled champ' as Mark Chester so aptly put it on Fox Sports the other day, Huegill has crushed any demons that may have invaded the large shadow that threatened his life.

To see the larger than life Huegill, his mother Jum and his entire support crew come together to prepare this amazing metamorphosis, makes you want to take up butterfly swimming for life.

Huegill knew what he had to do in the pool last night if he wanted the icing on his blueberry muffin and he and coach Grant Stoelwinder executed their plan perfectly.

The result was a gold medal swim in an amazing  personal best time of 51.69 seconds and it was achieved without any assistance of a performance enhancing suit.

At the height of his powers Huegill won Commonwealth Games gold in n 1998 in 52.81 and repeated the dose in 2002 in 52.36 and in between clocked his career best of 51.96 to finish with bronze behind Lars Frolander of Sweden and our own Michael Klim at the Sydney Olympics.

Now, although he won't admit it just yet, a third Olympics beckons in London in 2012, easy to say and easy to write but it will take another monumental effort for 'Skippy' but if anyone can do it Mr Inspiration can.

Make you want to give beer and pizza away forever.

Right along side him will be the girl with those icey blue eyes, Meagan Nay, who has returned to the pool with the power of her late father, Olympian and Commonwealth Games champion Robbie and her late brother Amos very much helping her through.

Meagen left the World Championships last year in Rome following the loss of Amos in a car accident and she did so after a courageous swim in the heats of the 4x100m freestyle relay.

After a poolside prayer to both her dad and her brother and with her mum Karen, two sisters and step-dad Peter Milburn cheering on from the grandstand, Meagen rose to the occasion to add gold medal number two with a perfectly timed 200m backstroke gold. (After her anchor leg in the 4x200m).

Trailing at the turn, Meagen kept her cool and touched the wall a Commonwealth Games champion, leaving tears in many people's eyes, even coach Michael Bohl who has been through all the pain and heartache with his young charge.

A young lady both father and brother would have been so proud of and a young lady the Nation can look to again for amazing inspiration of overcoming adversary that many of us just can't begin to imagine.

Aussie spirit and inner strength and willpower is something very special...at times you wish you could bottle it.