Geoff Huegill to face court over cocaine charge
Australian is third swim star caught up in controversy as he and his wife are arrested
Former Olympic swimmer Geoff Huegill has been charged with cocaine possession, reports said yesterday, becoming the latest Australian swimming star to suffer controversy outside the pool.
The two-time Olympic medallist and his wife were reportedly found with the illegal drug during a police raid on a horseracing event in Sydney on Saturday.
New South Wales state police said a 35-year-old man and his wife were charged after being found "allegedly in possession of a small quantity of a white powder believed to be cocaine", without naming them.
[Huegill] looked nervous and refused to be searched and kept asking for a lawyer
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Telegraph newspapers cited witnesses who said the couple were escorted from the races by police.
Huegill "looked nervous and refused to be searched and kept asking for a lawyer", a racecourse employee told The Herald.
The 35-year-old is the latest high-profile former swimmer facing unwanted time in the spotlight, after fellow Olympians Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett both recently entered rehab.
Thorpe sought help for depression after a mixture of painkillers and anti-depressants left him disoriented on a Sydney street, while Hackett needed help for an addiction to sleeping pills.