It’s been one hell of a ride, says retiring Miley
HANNAH MILEY said she felt she had achieved everything she possibly could after confirming her retirement from swimming at the age of 32.
It closes a career that brought the Scot one world and three European titles, plus golds at the Commonwealth Games of Delhi and Glasgow in her favoured 400 metres individual medley.
Only one absence from her hit list remains unticked: from the Olympic Games, with Miley coming sixth at Beijing 2008, fifth at London 2012, and then the heartbreak of Rio 2016 when she sat in third with the finish line in sight, only to lose out to Spain’s Mireia Belmonte by 13-hundredths of a second.
Shoulder surgery last year effectively put paid to her chances of a fourth Games in Tokyo and now she has shut the door to one last hurrah at the 2022 Commonwealths.
“I’ve made the big decision to announce my retirement from swimming – competitively at least,” she said. “It’s a sport that I will always love and, while I will be hanging up my racing suit, my goggles will remain in my hand.
“I remember being an eightyear-old swimmer desperate to go to the pool. Twenty-four years later, that feeling hasn’t changed. Three Olympic Games, double Commonwealth champion, world and European champion, European record holder. To stand on the podium and listen to the national anthem for both Great Britain and Team Scotland is indescribable. It’s been one hell of a ride.”
Miley – still the British record holder in the 400IM and with seven Scottish bests – will conclude a successful partnership with her father and coach Patrick who guided her from starting in their local 25m pool in Inverurie to a modern set-up in Aberdeen. Together they ventured to all of the sport’s greatest stages on the back of his ferocious and unconventional attention to detail.
She added: “I’ve met and worked with so many wonderful people and would like to thank them all for their time and support. You all know who you are. There is one person that I need to thank, my dad. His ingenious ability to think outside the box and groundbreaking analysis has taken my family – aka Team Miley – on the most incredible journey.”
Miley, who had kept a daily log book of her training sessions since she was 12, attested to the mental peaks and troughs that came from pushing herself on a daily basis, but she said: “Ultimately, I continue on with the sport because I love it and I enjoy it.”
British Swimming’s performance director Chris Spice said: “Hannah has been a fantastic, long-serving ambassador for British Swimming, with World and European medals to her name, as well as appearances in finals at three successive Olympic Games. On top of that, she was a fantastic leader and a role model for younger athletes too. We wish her all the best for the future and whatever she goes on to do next.”