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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Inverurie, SCO |
| Higher education | Sport Studies - Robert Gordon University: Aberdeen, SCO |
General Interest | |
| Injuries | In October 2020 she underwent shoulder surgery due to a rotator cuff tear. She had been swimming with the injury for around two years, but the tear was not diagnosed until 2020. (Instagram profile, 02 Nov 2020, 02 Dec 2020; swimswam.com, 04 Nov 2020) In September 2018 she underwent surgery after doctors found she had an extra ligament in her ankle. She had suffered from pain in her ankle for two years prior to the operation. (bbc.co.uk, 07 Nov 2018) In June 2013 she broke her hand reaching for the wall during a race. (metro.co.uk, 24 Jul 2013) She has suffered shoulder, knee and finger injuries during her career. (britishswimming.org, 02 Aug 2018; Athlete, 31 Jul 2008) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | "I love the racing and it's going to sound weird but I love the buzz you get once you finish a tough set. It's such a different sport that I like that difference and setting myself apart from normal people. I love how you work and race as an individual but you're still part of a team and the support you get from your team is amazing." |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | US swimmers Brooke Bennett and Misty Hyman. (bestswimcentre.com, 23 Dec 2010; teamgb.com, 16 Dec 2012) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | Her father first taught her to swim in Aviemore, Scotland, at age three. "I learned to swim in Aviemore and my first club was Garioch ASC. It was the local club where I lived in Inverurie, and I took part in council lessons in the same pool the club trained in and so I joined from there. I wasn't a fan of the deep end of the pool. When you're little it's quite daunting. I eventually overcame that fear though." |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Coach |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | Smiley Miley, Hammy (Instagram profile, 07 Aug 2018; scotsman.com, 07 Oct 2017; telegraph.co.uk, 01 Jan 2012) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "I'm not the biggest, I'm not the strongest, but I will be the hardest working athlete I can be." (Twitter profile, 08 Aug 2018) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Other information | RETIREMENT She announced her retirement from competitive swimming in December 2021. "While this is difficult to write, I've made the big decision to announce my retirement from swimming, competitively at least. It's a sport that I will always love and whilst I will be hanging up my racing suit, my goggles will remain in my hand. Reflecting on my career, I look back with pride and a smile as I feel like I've achieved everything I possibly could over the last 17 years of racing." (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 01 Dec 2021) RIO HEARTACHE She narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal in the 400m individual medley at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. In 2019 she said it had taken her two years to come to terms with the disappointment. "I came fourth by 15 hundredths of a second. It was a brutal race. But I reflect back on it now with a lot more pride. My life goal is being on that Olympic podium. To not get that, I was in this state of, 'This is all unfair, what's the point?' All that hard work and training up to that point to then not get it. I came to the realisation that sport for me is more than just a materialistic item. It has given me a lot of appreciation to what I define my career as and the type of athlete that I am. Just because I didn't have a medal, it wasn't the end of the world. So that was kind of a big turning point. But again, it took me two years to kind of figure that out." (thenational.scot, 24 Nov 2019) OTHER ACTIVITIES She offers one-to-one coaching, club talks, and land training sessions including pilates. (Facebook page, 02 May 2021) |
| Famous relatives | Her younger brothers Alastair and Joseph have both represented Great Britain in swimming, and both competed at the 2017 Mare Nostrum event in Barcelona, Spain. Her father Patrick Miley competed as a triathlete when he was in the army, and has coached swimming at elite level. (scottishswimming.com, 26 Jan 2017; telegraph.co.uk, 01 Jan 2012; SportsDeskOnline, 05 May 2021) |
| Awards and honours | In 2019 she was named one of Scotland's top 10 sportswomen of the decade by Scottish newspaper The National. (thenational.scot, 29 Dec 2019) In August 2017 she carried the Queen's Baton through Edinburgh, Scotland, ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. (thescottishsun.co.uk, 27 Aug 2017) In September 2014 she received the JY Coutts Award from Scottish Swimming for outstanding services to the sport in Scotland. (swimswam.com, 13 Sep 2014) |
| Most influential person in career | Her family, particularly her father. "I would not be swimming if it were not for him and I would simply not be as good a swimmer if he was not my coach." (bestcentresports.com, 19 Dec 2019; scottishswimming.com, 01 Jan 2018, 12 Oct 2017) |
| Hobbies | Reading, listening to music, watching movies, playing sudoku, spending time with her dog. (britishswimming.org, 02 Aug 2018; thescottishsun.co.uk, 01 Apr 2018; fitrwoman.com, 01 Mar 2020) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Representing Great Britain at three editions of the Olympic Games, winning silver in the 400m individual medley at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, and winning gold in the same event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. (britishswimming.org, 02 Aug 2018) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Family | Partner Euan Duff |