UPDATE 1-Swimming-Australian trio more motivated after time off

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By Greg Stutchbury

SHANGHAI, July 22 (Reuters) - Taking a break from competitive swimming has helped Geoff Huegill, Leisel Jones and Stephanie Rice rediscover their motivation, the Australian trio said on Friday.

The 32-year-old Huegill's return to the competitive arena after several years away has been the most extraordinary as he battled to shed more than 40kgs after his weight ballooned to almost 140kgs.

"For me it's actually quite exciting again. I was sitting down... the other day and worked out my last world championships was in 2003 (in Barcelona). That's quite a gap," the butterfly specialist told reporters.

"Being 32 now, one of the things that has kept me motivated to get out of bed every day and go training is that I love racing.

"For me, I get goosebumps thinking about (it). That's where I come alive. To go out there and execute and do it to the best of your ability, those are the reasons why I want to do it."

Huegill, who had concentrated on preparing a post-swimming career during his retirement, said his main focus was ensuring he would be a contender at next year's London Olympics.

"My ultimate goal is going to be to step up behind the blocks in London next year and I'm going to use this meet to practice my starts, practice the skills and do whatever is required.

"For all of us here, it's the last opportunity to really flex our muscles before we go back to the drawing board and put our plans and strategies into place to hopefully bring back a medal."

RECORDS COULD FALL

Huegill also said records could be broken Shanghai, despite the fact swimmers are no longer allowed to use polyurethane suits that dominated the headlines in Rome in 2009.

Swimmers wearing the suits, which aided bouyancy and helped reduce resistance, broke 43 world records in Rome though the suits were outlawed from Jan. 1, 2010 and no-one has broken a long-course world record since.

"A few athletes have touched upon the fact that some world records will be broken (and) I think if there is definitely a place where we can set some new benchmarks, it will be at this meet," added Huegill.

"You always see the world championships the year before an Olympics are very fast."

Head coach Leigh Nugent was a critic of the suits when they were in use and repeated his criticism on Friday, two days before the pool competition begins.

"I was pretty disillusioned in 2009," he said. "The people who were setting the world records weren't being credited with the performance. It was the suit.

"And the people's records who were being broken were being discredited and it has wiped out a lot of our history.

"We would be coming to a meet like this now and there have been some records that were there for 14-15 years, which showed how good these people were back then. And now they're gone."

Huegill's former training partner Jones took a year off after the Beijing Olympics and said it had helped change her attitude towards swimming and her life.

"I think the best thing I did was take a year's break from international competitions," she said.

"It kept me fresh... and I think if anyone was considering retiring or giving it (swimming) away completely then maybe they can look at what I did and say maybe its the best option.

"I think it really helped me as an athlete and it helped me gain some perspective."

SECOND ON THE LADDER

Jones said she was now also relishing the fact she was no longer the person to beat, with Rebecca Soni of the United States the top-ranked women's breaststroker.

"This is the first year I've been able to experience being second on the ladder and it's quite nice.

"I've found not having a target on my back and targetting someone else in training has helped me perform better every day because I know the level I have to step up to."

Triple Olympic champion Stephanie Rice, who won both individual medleys and was a member of the 4x200m freestyle relay team at Beijing, had a less than auspicious 2009 and missed most of 2010 with a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Rice said she had not been very motivated in 2009, when she won just silver in the 200 medley and bronze in the 400 medley at the Rome championships.

"After 2008 and coming off such a high (at Beijing), I wasn't too motivated and hitting the pinnacle (it) was sort of harder to reset goals and be motivated for racing again.

"2009 was an off year and 2010 having surgery was disappointing but now I feel like I have my training back on track and I am motivated more.

"I'm really looking forward to racing which I haven't for a while." (Editing by John O'Brien and Peter Rutherford; To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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