Background
He married in 1997 and has three children Harry, Georgia and Charlie with wife Symantha. The couple received condolences from a number of people in sports broadcasting after suffering "three heartbreaking miscarriages before having their third child [Charlie], and Symantha underwent radical surgery [in 2007] to combat severe migraines." Symantha has since recovered her health.
Career
He began swimming regularly at age eight as part of his rehabilitation from a serious leg injury (after running through a plate glass window). At age 13 his potential became obvious, and with coach John Carew guiding him he won his first national medal in 1989 and a Commonwealth medal by 1990.
Perkins has always presented a clean-cut, well-spoken image to the public, similar in many ways to Ian Thorpe. Since his retirement, he has occasionally worked in the broadcast media. He is a current board member of Swimming Australia.