It was a career-changing move for the multi-talented sportmans, however Jack Hutchins remains adamant his decision to walk away from the pool for the red-and-gold Guernsey will pay dividends at the end of his playing career.  

But it wasn’t an easy choice for the former elite junior swimmer, who says his love of being in the water still runs deep.

 “I always seemed to love being in the water, I was always happy in the water and I think that showed in my swimming,” Hutchins said.

While Hutchins was more than a handy junior footballer, representing Victoria Metro at the U16’s and U18’s National Championships, it was his ability in the pool which saw him catapult to fame around Mansfield as a local sporting star.

“Footy and swimming were always conjoined; I always seemed to do swimming in the summer and footy in the winter.

“I started swimming in Mansfield at the local swimming club, they had a little 30m pool so I would swim for a bit of fun,” said Hutchins.

“In year 9 I began to take it more seriously, training with the Haileybury Swimming Club and went to a few State and National titles.”

Despite conceding that a decision between his two sporting loves was inevitable, Hutchins always remained focused on taking his multi-talents to the elite levels.

 “There were stages where people kept saying I was going to have to choose between swimming and football sooner or later, but I think what worked best for me was that I enjoyed trying to do both for as long as I could at a high level,” Hutchins said.

But a month after swimming alongside Olympian Eamon Sullivan in the 50m freestyle at the National Championship in a trial for the World Swimming titles in Rome, Hutchins boarded the 16-hour flight to South Africa with the AIS-AFL Academy squad. It was to be his first introduction to elite football and the first time he would cross paths with Gold Coast SUNS senior coach Guy McKenna and General Manager - Football Operations, Marcus Ashcroft, whilst on the international tour.

“At the end of Year 12, Scott Clayton came up to me and said we’re offering you a contract up on the Gold Coast, and I couldn’t really say no, but right up until that moment I was doing both,” Hutchins said.

The 191cm key defender had a dream start to his AFL career, making his debut match against Port Adelaide in the side’ historic first win at AAMI Stadium, and says the magical moment of taking part in the match will always be a memory he will cherish and look back upon when he hangs up the boots at the end of his playing career.

“My debut match was our first win, and to play in your first game and with it being the first win in the club’s history is something that can never be taken away from me,” said Hutchins.

“So I’ll cherish that for a long time.”

It’s been a roller-coaster journey for the 11-game defender, who has experienced his fair share of set-backs since his memorable debut in 2011.

“In some weeks I’m playing up in the seniors and then some weeks I’m playing down in the reserves,” Hutchins said.

“It can be frustrating at times because you want to be in the seniors the whole time… but that’s part of life and football – you have to keep at it and stick with it.”