Swimming great Geoff Huegill goes public with shock diagnosis as he reveals why his marriage to wife Sara fell apart after their cocaine bust at the races

Geoff Huegill has revealed how being diagnosed with ADHD changed his life after a turbulent decade saw him make headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The swimming champion, 45, and his ex-wife, publicist Sara Hills, were infamously busted with a small quantity of cocaine at Royal Randwick Racecourse in 2014.

Both pleaded guilty to drug possession and were handed six-month good behaviour bonds.

While they avoided convictions, the scandal was the beginning of the end for the couple, who share two daughters, Gigi and Mila. They announced their split in 2018.

Reflecting on his turbulent decade, Huegill revealed on SBS's Insight on Tuesday he hit rock bottom following the cocaine incident and decided to get sober.

'Venturing down a path of sobriety was one of the best things I did,' he said on the program, which highlighted the subject of 'second chances'.

The former athlete said this new approach to life put him on the path to 'getting a diagnosis... of ADHD'.

Having the validation of a diagnosis allowed Huegill to fully understand himself and some of the mistakes he had made in the past.

He said he always knew he was 'unique' in some way because of his dedication to elite swimming, but one of the challenges of retirement was realising that while he was very successful in some areas of his life, he had fallen short in others.

And being diagnosed with ADHD helped him 'make official' what he already knew.

'The wave of emotions I had to go through after the diagnosis... It was the fact of, "Why didn't I look at this earlier?" because it's definitely one of the best decisions I've made in my whole life,' he said.

Huegill revealed the cocaine incident put a huge strain on his marriage to Sara.

'I lost sponsors. I lost job opportunities. I was building businesses - I had to close all of those businesses,' he said.

'Even though I wasn't given a criminal conviction, it was still death by media.'

Of his relationship with Sara, Huegill added: 'Unfortunately, I lost that marriage. There were many other factors as to why that marriage didn't work.

'It's not until your life is put in the spotlight that people deal with pressure in certain ways - and that's the hard part.

'What I realised, at the end of the day, is that I can only control what I can control.' 

Following their divorce, Sara reverted to her maiden name, Hills, and relocated to Tasmania.

Huegill began dating lawyer Roxy Toll in 2019 and the couple welcomed their first son Rafe in 2021. 

The couple, who now live in Singapore, welcomed their second child in 2023.