[7][8][9] Huegill came out of retirement in 2008 and shed 45 kilograms of weight to fight his way back to competition and was declared a national hero when he won gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games in the 100 metre butterfly.

[16] In July 2013, he was awarded an honorary masters degree in sports science with high class honors from Central Queensland University.

The same year, at the age of 17, he broke the first of his many world records as part of a FINA sanctioned medley relay time trial in Melbourne, Australia.

[20] The following year he secured his spot on the Australian team to compete at the 1997 FINA World Short Course Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden and came home with a gold and silver medal.

[21][11] In 1999, Huegill won a silver medal in the 100 meters butterfly at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships long course event in Sydney, Australia.

[4] At the 2000 Australian Championships in Sydney which doubled as the Olympic qualifying trials, Huegill broke the 50 meters butterfly world record swimming a time of 23.60 seconds.

He still went on to secure his place on the Australian team for the Athens Olympic Games and raced in the 100 meters butterfly.

[6] At the age of 25, he amicably parted with longtime coach Ken Wood and moved to Sydney to live with his model girlfriend, Nikki Giteau.

[6] At the trials for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Huegill performed poorly, failed to make the team and announced his retirement from the sport.

He shed a total of 45 kilograms and won gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games in the 100 meters butterfly.

In 2010, Huegill joined the celebrity crew on board Anthony Bell's 30 metre maxi yacht, Investec Loyal.

It covers all levels including; water safety, learn to swim, junior development, adult programs, squads as well as competition preparation and executive performance coaching.

[39] On 26 April 2014, Huegill and his wife Sara Hills were guests at The Australian Turf Club’s Autumn Racing Carnival.

They attended an event hosted by Moët & Chandon in The Stables, an exclusive lounge in the member's area of Randwick Racecourse.

[40] Police patrolling the area were directed to a suite in the grandstand by security personnel after CCTV footage showed the couple venturing into a disabled toilet.

In 2012, after his second retirement from swimming, Huegill transitioned into an internal role at Commonwealth Bank in the corporate financial services team.

[46] Throughout his career Huegill has worked with a variety of brands through sponsorship and ambassador partnerships including; Swisse, Red Bull, Commonwealth Bank, Speedo, Foxtel, Subaru, Gatorade, Audi, Biotherm, Telstra, Thai Airways, SleepMaker, Australian Grapes, Fitness First, Bartercard.

[49][50] He has held ambassador positions with Swimming Australia, AusAID, Sydney Children’s Hospital, and the Loyal Foundation.

[60][61] In 2024 during an appearance on SBS Insight Huegill told host Kumi Taguchi that he was diagnosed with ADHD which lead him to "venture down this path of neurodiversity" to make better sense of his condition because human performance has been a big part of his life from "both the physiology and psychology side."