{"id":421044,"date":"2026-05-10T16:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T16:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/421044\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T16:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T16:16:23","slug":"australian-olympian-scott-miller-on-prison-addiction-and-returning-to-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/421044\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Olympian Scott Miller on prison, addiction and returning to the water"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a time not long ago when Scott Miller wanted nothing more than to be back in prison, sweeping the floor of a gym.<\/p>\n

When the former Olympic swimmer was granted parole in June 2024, after serving more than three years at two regional prisons in NSW for drug-related offences, life wasn\u2019t what it used to be.<\/p>\n

Freedom, he soon discovered, was harder to navigate than prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen your case has been thrown through the media, you just think there\u2019s a million eyes on you and you\u2019re being judged,\u201d Miller says. \u201cYou\u2019re just really paralysed with fear when you get out.<\/p>\n

\"OlympianOlympian Scott Miller departs Waverley Local Court in 2013. Wolter Peeters<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was harder to get adjusted back into the community after prison than it was going in. It\u2019s a really weird feeling, and I wasn\u2019t in there that long. I imagine it\u2019d be worse the longer you\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being out for three months wishing I was back in there. I can\u2019t tell you how hard life is when you get out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller is speaking publicly for the first time in more than a decade, since an emotional 60 Minutes episode in 2014 in which he was confronted about his fall from grace.<\/p>\n

There is a reason why Miller is ready to talk. The sport that made him famous is now helping rebuild his life.<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old is happier than ever and lucky to be alive.<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, Miller overdosed and ended up on life support in a Manly hospital. His once-glamorous life had collapsed into addiction and chaos after his swimming career ended.<\/p>\n

There are uncomfortable realities that Miller has to live with. He is a convicted drug trafficker, former ice addict and former escort agency owner.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Miller, an Olympic medallist, poses for a portrait at the Narrabeen Rock Pools on Saturday.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

Three decades ago, Miller was also one of Australian sport\u2019s biggest names \u2013 a teammate to Kieren Perkins and Susie O\u2019Neill, crowned Cleo\u2019s Bachelor of the Year in 1997, and for a time living at the Newtown home of his mentor, Alan Jones.<\/p>\n

\"AustralianAustralian swimmer Scott Miller during his time as an athlete. Tim Clayton<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not walking around proud as punch,\u201d Miller says. \u201cI still feel a lot of shame around what\u2019s happened and what I\u2019ve done in my life, but you can\u2019t let it cripple you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between 2004 and 2025, Miller could not bring himself to swim a single lap.<\/p>\n

For at least 1214 of those days, between 2021 and 2024, he was unable to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no pools in prison,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Swimming had become a source of pain for Miller. This was the man who won a silver medal in the 100m butterfly at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, an Australian hero of his time.<\/p>\n

Miller finished just behind Russia\u2019s Denis Pankratov, who infamously swam underwater for most of the opening lap, using a tactic that is now outlawed.<\/p>\n

Those 26 hundredths of a second that separated gold and silver \u2013 about the time it takes to blink \u2013 had an enormous and devastating impact on Miller\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealand swimmer Paul Kent consoles Australia\u2019s Scott Miller after he finished second in the men\u2019s 100m butterfly at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.Craig Golding<\/p>\n

So when Miller arrived alone at the Andrew \u201cBoy\u201d Charlton Aquatic Centre in Manly last October \u2013 three kilometres from the hospital where doctors saved his life in 2006 \u2013 and hauled himself back into the water, even he did not know how it would feel.<\/p>\n

Miller swam about 500 metres \u2013 nothing compared with the kilometres upon kilometres he once churned out per session at his peak. It felt good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to feel what it was like to be alive again and back in the pool,\u201d Miller says. \u201cOnce I dived in and swam for the first time, it was therapeutic and I enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had so much time to think while I was in there [in prison]. I was hoping to be out at age 50, and I got out at 49. You want to reset and start again \u2026 like turning back time.\u201d<\/p>\n

After trying to track Miller down, he rings from an unknown number. He speaks candidly, cracking the odd joke, revealing that a comeback of sorts began in his prison cell.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Miller (centre), who was once Australia\u2019s fastest butterfly swimmer, was sentenced to a jail term of five years and six months, with a non-parole period of three years.NSW Police, AP<\/p>\n

Miller was arrested in 2021 at his waterfront Sydney home in Rozelle and later pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine, supplying a commercial quantity of heroin and participating in a criminal group.<\/p>\n

Court documents revealed Miller met with a man who placed a bag of candles containing $2 million worth of ice in his car.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to go out there and face the music,\u201d Miller says. \u201cThis is the way it was. Here I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October last year, 16 months after being released from prison, Miller purchased a pair of swimming goggles for the first time in years. In a previous life, a sponsor would have sorted him out.<\/p>\n

In the grips of his addiction and a partying lifestyle, following the black line of a pool had become Miller\u2019s idea of hell. He had not swum since and remembers the date clearly: February 11, 2004.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Miller, Glen Boss and John Marshall at the races in 1996. Kylie Melinda<\/p>\n

His silver medal in Atlanta haunted him, and missing qualification for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, through injury, only deepened it.<\/p>\n

Had Miller touched the wall ahead of Pankratov, the trajectory of his life may have been vastly different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to swim. I didn\u2019t like the feeling. It was painful and I used to get really anxious,\u201d Miller says.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo then do it again after so many years and ease that pain, the next time it wasn\u2019t as hard to get to the pool. I wanted to learn why this was so hard for me. I kept confronting it and breaking it down, wanting it to go away, and it did. The enjoyment of the sport came back slowly over about six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Miller found himself back in lane four.<\/p>\n

Miller broke the 100m butterfly Olympic record 30 years ago in lane four of the Atlanta pool during a preliminary heat.<\/p>\n

With short grey hair and the Olympic rings still tattooed on his chest, Miller stood behind the blocks for the men\u2019s 50m butterfly event at the Masters Swimming Australia National Championships.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Miller at the Masters Swimming Australia National Championships in Brisbane. <\/p>\n

Masters swimming attracts everyone from Olympians still chasing fast times to retirees looking to stay fit and social.<\/p>\n

Those in attendance knew Miller\u2019s race was significant. He dived in and emerged a national record holder in the men\u2019s 50 to 54 year category.<\/p>\n

His time of 25.41 was well below the previous national record of 26.03, but outside the world record of 24.96. Although Miller didn\u2019t touch the wall first, the competitor who beat him, Ashton Baumann, was much younger and in a different age category.<\/p>\n

Miller has registered with the Warringah Masters Swimming Club on Sydney\u2019s northern beaches and trains three times a week in the pool.<\/p>\n

The Monday, Wednesday and Friday sessions give him structure and routine.<\/p>\n

\"NowNow and then. Miller (above) at last week\u2019s championships, compared with 1996. Facebook<\/p>\n

His close friend Chris Fydler, part of Australia\u2019s gold medal-winning 4x100m freestyle relay team in Sydney 2000, watched him swim in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really tell many people about it and didn\u2019t know if I was going to do it,\u201d Miller says. \u201cI thought I\u2019d like to do a 50 butterfly at 50 just to see how fast I could go. I wasn\u2019t doing a lot of swimming, but I was improving. I thought, \u2018This is weird, I wonder how fast I could swim?\u2019 I definitely know I can swim a lot faster.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the whole experience and warming up and putting on your \u2018jammers\u2019 [was new again]. I forgot how tight they were.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was great to have a mate [Fydler] there. When you have friends from sport at that level, it\u2019s a different kind of friendship. It makes you realise what\u2019s real and what\u2019s not in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in prison, Miller completed a degree in building construction management and trained whenever he could, losing 26 kilograms. On pool deck, the physical signs of that work were obvious, with veins protruding prominently from his arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople ask me what prison was like,\u201d Miller says. \u201cThink of the Australian Institute of Sport [in Canberra] but with no women or pools.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Miller leaves Silverwater correction facility in 2013 after being granted bail. Brendan Esposito<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in reasonable shape out of prison helped. I fit in pretty well with an institutionalised environment. I became a gym sweeper in my last few years, so I was in the gym a lot in prison. I got to train all day. I made the most of my time in there and got pretty fit and lean. I was doing weights, rowing and on the assault bike. I went in at 125kg and came out at 99kg.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller says he\u2019s a \u201clot calmer and more relaxed\u201d than the man who entered prison. He is his elderly mother\u2019s carer and has a job with Alcohol and Drug Awareness Australia, flying to Melbourne three times a month to give talks to young tradies about the consequences of bad decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m completely honest when I speak to them and don\u2019t make any excuses,\u201d Miller says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI let them know how quickly bad choices can be dressed as solutions. You\u2019ve really got to have contingencies in place in life and not put all your eggs in one basket. Reflecting on my life, I did a lot of that, and I think it didn\u2019t set me up well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are organisations that support the transition from sport into normal life. They weren\u2019t around. You need to get ready for that before it\u2019s all over. It\u2019s the hardest thing I\u2019ve done in my life for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Miller of Australia shows his disappointment after finishing second at the Atlanta Olympics.AP<\/p>\n

More than a decade after his emotional television confession \u2013 \u201cI am a drug-taker\u201d \u2013 failed to halt his spiral, Miller says this comeback is different. Those close to him believe he is a different person and fun to be around.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like this is his happy place,\u201d says Masters Swimming Australia president Jane Noake. \u201cIt\u2019s part of getting his life back together. If you hadn\u2019t known the history, you wouldn\u2019t have known the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very popular on pool deck. I haven\u2019t heard any negative feedback. Anything that\u2019s gone on before is irrelevant to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller adds: \u201cI haven\u2019t had many negative comments, at least to my face. Everyone\u2019s been pretty nice and accepting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to put swimming down. I\u2019m enjoying it. I\u2019m just going to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Miller.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a time not long ago when Scott Miller wanted nothing more than to be back in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-421044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}