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Interview with Cody Miller: Olympic gold medalist, World Champion (Includes interview)

At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Miller won the gold medal in the 4 x 100 meter medley, as well as the bronze medal in the Men’s 100 meter breaststroke. “That’s the pinnacle of our sport,” he said. “To be a part of that gold medal winning relay was pretty awesome.”

With his third place win in the 100 meter breaststroke, Miller set the American record, with a time of 58.87 seconds.

A Montana native, Miller won the gold medal at the Men’s 4 x 100 meter medley relay at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. “That was pretty awesome. That was probably one of the beset meets I’ve ever been to. The city of Budapest was pretty amazing. It was just a nice experience,” he said. “Coming back from the Olympics, it is kind of tough, after you’ve achieve your lifelong goal and dream, and finding that motivation again. It takes time to process and re-learning your goals, since you are not exactly doing it for the same reasons anymore. To qualify for the United States team is one of the hardest things to do in our sport. Period. It is so deep and competitive. Team USA is just so good.”

On his daily motivations, he said, “My whole goal used to be making the Olympics. Right now, it is a lifestyle that I enjoy.” “The biggest reason why I am still swimming is because I like it, and I like my lifestyle. I train with the college team here in Indiana. Ultimately, it is fun, and I’m fortunate enough to be able to do it.”

Regarding his plans for the future, Miller said, “I plan on swimming for as long as I still enjoy diving into the pool, and enjoy the lifestyle. Honestly, it can be a drag. I wake up at 5 a.m. every morning, and right now, I honestly don’t mind doing it. I plan on swimming through 2020, and obviously the goal would be to make the Olympics again. It is so competitive. Even if I don’t make the Olympics again, and if I am still ranked well enough in the world, that I am able to financially support myself and my family, then I’m going to keep doing it. The plan is to keep swimming.”

2017 World Champion Cody Miller

2017 World Champion Cody Miller
Courtesy of Cody Miller

Digital transformation of swimming

“Technology has had a huge impact on the sport of swimming, particularly with underwater footage and video technology. Here in Indiana, especially for our breaststroke groups, we have these little man-made stations that have underwater cameras equipped to hook on to the wall in the middle of the lane, and that camera is connected to a TV that we have on a rolling station, that you roll and lock into place in front of the lane, and we have it set so that it is live streaming what is going on in the lane, and and we put it on a 10 second delay, like a TiVo technology. Essentially what happens, is I can swim 50 yards and when I come into the wall, I can look up at the TV and I can watch myself swim that last 25 yards that I swam instantly. I do that in most of my workouts, 60 percent of my workouts, especially when I am going fast, and when I am going race pace,” he explained. “I am definitely a visual learner, so being able to watch myself is a major improvement and a big benefit to me, and that holds true for the whole sport of swimming in general.”

Advice for Aspiring Swimmers

Miller’s advice for aspiring swimmers is as follows: “The number one thing is make sure you are having fun. The reason I still swim is not because I’m an Olympian, but because I’m enjoying this and I’m having fun with my friends. That’s the most important thing. Also, don’t give up and don’t see failure as a failure. If you’re going to fail, you are going to fail multiple times, but true failure is when you quit and you give up. If you fail and you get up and keep trying, it only has to work once. You need to use failure as a stepping stone, and understand that it’s a process and it takes a lot of time.”

Miller talks about meeting Michael Phelps for the first time

One of his proudest moments was sharing the gold medal with Michael Phelps (in the 4 x 100 medley) on his final Olympic relay race before his retirement from swimming. “That meant a lot! The first time I ever met Michael Phelps was when I was 15 years old. I was a pretty decent swimmer and I was leaving a meet in Washington D.C. and I was flying home to Las Vegas, where I grew up. Michael happened to be on the same flight as me, going to Las Vegas for a convention. I boarded the plane and I was in the very back of a plane and the flight attendant came up to me and asked me if I am ‘Mr. Miller’ and I said ‘yes.’ She told me that Mr. Phelps upgraded my ticket, and allowed me to sit with him in first class. I worshiped this guy. I had a poster of him on my wall, and I got to sit with him on this five hour flight home. The fact that he did that for me was really awesome,” he recalled.

Miller continued, “Literally a decade after that first meeting with Michael Phelps, I won an Olympic gold medal with him, which I never thought would ever happen. That was pretty cool.”

Success

“The word success means trying your best every single day, and never letting failure stop you from continuing to try to achieve that goal. If you never truly quit and you put everything into it,” he said. “If you do everything in your power to achieve a dream, then regardless of the outcome, I consider that success. I consider it sheer willingness and drive.”

For his fans, he concluded, “I very much appreciate the support.”

To learn more about Olympic gold medalist swimmer and 2017 World Champion Cody Miller, check out his official Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 20,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

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