“I am doing my best,” he said, about coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am in a better position than most people because I am able to swim a little bit here and there and I am still able to work out. I am not sheltered at home. It has been a bit of a struggle. It hasn’t been easy for everybody.”
He credits his coach, Ray Looze, for helping him and a few of his Indiana University teammates (Lilly King and Annie Lazor) find a one-lane pool to train in. “We have legal permission to do so, as long as we don’t stop anywhere before going there. It has been good. Swimming in a one-lane pool is really interesting,” he said.
On the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games, he said, “It was the right thing to do. A lot of swimmers were devastated when it happened, but ultimately, we know that it would. Now, it gives us all another year to get stronger and faster. I will be prepared more mentally. In a way, we are all happy that they didn’t cancel the Olympic Games entirely.”
This past December, Miller triumphed in the men’s 200 meter breaststroke final at the 2019 Toyota U.S. Open, where he won with a time of 2:09.67, is a U.S. Open meet record. “That was a fun meet,” he admitted.
Miller, who competed and served as Vice-Captain of the DC Trident in the inaugural International Swimming League season, also opened up about the ISL solidarity program. “I just posted a video about the ISL about its upcoming season,” he said. “I am really happy that the ISL is taking a stance in supporting the athletes with this stipend leading into the Olympic Games. I am pretty happy about that.”
A two-time Olympic medalist swimmer, Miller had great words about Josh Davis and his Breakout Swim Clinic. “I love working with Josh Davis. He’s the best. He runs the best swimming clinics in the world, hands down. He has it down to a science. He is always energetic, fun, and inspirational. Josh has been a big inspiration to me. I love Josh, he does a lot for swimmers. I went to one of his clinics when I was 10 or 11 years old so to be on the other side and doing swim clinics with him is really full circle and it is really cool,” he said.
Recently, Miller did a podcast with Kelly Palace and Maria Parker of “Champion’s Mojo.” “They did a cool podcast. That was a fun one,” he admitted.
Being a huge film buff, he shared that he watched the miniseries Tiger King on Netflix. “I feel like everybody on the planet has been watching Tiger King. It was one hell of a series. It was so interesting and totally crazy,” he said.
For his loyal fans, Miller concluded, “The hardest thing to do is to self-motivate, especially when you feel like you don’t have anything else going on. I’m the type of person that needs to feel like I’m making progress and I need to be doing something every day. If I can’t swim or work out, I need to be doing something around the house. Just trying to stay productive is the key to getting through this. You need to have goals for yourself for things that you want to do.”
To learn more about Olympic and world champion swimmer Cody Miller, follow him on Instagram and on Twitter.
