Silence is golden
Euan kept quiet about dad’s cancer to keep Hannah on her way to glory
Swimming champ Hannah Miley has revealed fiance Euan Duff didn’t see her for eight months so she was not distracted going for gold at Glasgow 2014.
Euan moved to Dumfriesshire to help his dad with his cancer fight, so that Hannah could stay focused on her training.
The couple are celebrating their engagement after almost five years together. Euan got down on bended knee at Edinburgh Zoo’s panda enclosure in August.
And 400m individual medley star Hannah says she realised Euan was the one when he sacrificed not seeing her for nearly a year to help her triumph.
The 28-year- old said: “I didn’t see Euan for eight months before Glasgow 2014. His dad was really unwell so he was based in Annan to be with his family and help.
“I think he felt, leading into the Games, that it was quite a lot of pressure for me and he wanted to make sure he gave me space so I wasn’ t distracted.
“His dad’s really good now. He had to go through a bone marrow transplant not long after the Commonwealth Games and the second transplant was a success. “Being apart insulated me from what Euan was going through with his dad. I think all he wanted to do was tell me. But he kept it to himself to make sure it didn’t add any stress. “When we got to speak about it afterwards, it was very, very hard for him. I appreciate it and I’m amazed he was able to do that for me.” Hannah, who is going for a recordbreaking third straight Commonwealth gold in Australia next year, added: “I was away quite a bit at training camps. “And trying to arrange for weekends when we were both free was kind of tricky. So in the end we decided to just wait till the Commonwealth Games were over.
“I didn’t know how hard it was for him until we chatted about it afterwards and then he opened up. He’s a really special guy.”
Life is now going swimmingly for the pair after they moved in together.
Hannah – speaking at her sponsor Arena’s swimwear event in Manchester – insists there will not be any wedding bells until she retires from competing, which may not be till after the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
She said: “There’s no date set yet. We want to plan a wedding when there’s no swimming on the horizon because I don’t want my swimming to be distracted or disrupted.
“Planning a wedding would be a fun challenge to have after swimming. But we need to save money too.”
Hannah, from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, also revealed she wants to start a family.
She said: “Kids are definitely something I want. I’d like to think I’d be a good mum and Euan will definitely be a good dad. But we’re just taking it one step at a time.”
Euan will have to get used to more time apart as Hannah gears up for Gold Coast 2018 in Queensland.
She added: “No other Scottish athlete has won three straight Commonwealth Games medals before. I’ll just give it my all.”
I’m amazed he did it for me. He’s so special