Disclaimer: BlueSeventy Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The BlueSeventy Swim is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
If there’s one American swimmer who has been absolutely on fire for the past nine months, it’s breaststroker Cody Miller.
The Indiana grad and Badger Swim Club pro has been USA Swimming’s most unbeatable breaststroker since his first national title win last August.
In that race, the underdog Miller got under a minute for the first time in his career, using a stellar back half to move from 4th to 1st, overcoming 50 breast American record-breaker Brendan McHugh and short course American record-holder Kevin Cordes.
Since then, it’s been a stream of nearly-uninterrupted dominance for Miller. A silver and a bronze medal in the medley relays at Short Course Worlds. A breaststroke sweep of the Oklahoma City Pro Am, complete with a new American record in the 50. Another trip below a minute at the Orlando Pro Swim Series. Yet another win in the 100 at Charlotte.
And last weekend, the crowning achievement of the season so far: a new lifetime-best in the 100 breast, and the best time an American has put up since Brendan Hansen‘s Olympic swim in 2012.
The time was a 59.51, four tenths faster than Miller went in winning nationals last summer.
But the interesting piece about that swim isn’t the time Miller went, but how he got there.
Miller was devastatingly efficient, swimming with one of the lowest stroke counts you’ll see in any elite breaststrokers in the world right now. The 23-year-old took 16 strokes on the first 50 and just 20 in the back-half.
That’s an extremely low number, and it shows through in the race video, where Miller is noticeably longer and more relaxed than the rest of the pool while still building a lead in the early goings. That low stroke count allows the Badger swimmer to be fresh and dangerous near the end of the race, where he seems to increase his lead exponentially.
That’s not a one-time occurrence for Miller. In fact, looking back at video of his previous sub-minute swims, Miller had the exact same stroke count as his 2014 national championship, and he was actually even longer at the Orlando Pro Swim Series, taking 15 down and 19 back.
Peaty (above) compared to Miller (below) on their pullouts off the turn in the 100 breast. The red line on both photos represents the 15-meter mark.
Compare those numbers to Great Britain’s Adam Peaty, the recent world record-setter and the world’s best breaststroker. Peaty is on the other extreme of the spectrum, taking 20 strokes on the way out and a rapid-fire 26 on his return length. (You can watch video of Peaty’s race here).
What’s interesting is to see two different breaststrokers playing to their own strengths. Miller’s low stroke count is partially a function of his underwaters, which have long been a strong point. Peaty (at least in his world record swim) tends to come up earlier, maximizing his speed on top of the water, which is unmatched. You can check this out visually in the screenshots from the right – the angles are obviously askew, but comparing Peaty’s world record to Miller’s lifetime-best does show a noticeable difference in underwater distance.
At the same time, Miller elects to be long and efficient in his opening 50, storing up energy to accelerate into his finish – he looks much like a 200 breaststroker swimming down to the 100. Peaty, meanwhile, makes his stroke all about raw power, turning over quickly and jumping out to a big lead and open water. The Brit appears to ride right on the razor’s edge of spinning through his stroke cycles at the end of the race, but has enough momentum banked up to keep surging forward.
One of the running rivalries internationally is the looming medley relay showdown between the Americans and the British. The event has been the U.S.’s to lose for years now, but a devastating front-half from the British makes them among the most serious contenders in years, led by Peaty’s otherworldly dominance.
But the rise of Cody Miller gives the Americans a new potential hope. Though Kevin Cordes has traditionally manned the spot (and had a great split at Pan Pacs last summer), he’s been plagued by inconsistency so far in his young career, and has also been very quiet all year long, while Miller has flashed dominance nearly every time he’s competed.
If it does turn out to be Miller on the American medley relay in Kazan, the U.S. will hope his cool efficiency is enough to limit the damage Peaty can do on the relay, leaving the red, white and blue within striking distance with their clearly-dominant flyers and freestylers.
Either way, Miller is suddenly the front-runner among what is a deep class of American breaststrokers, setting up a battle for Olympic roster spots that should be nothing if not entertaining.
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Maybe I’m missing something here, but when is CHEATING EVER OK !
I was at a meet where I watched a swimmer make a Jr National Cut in Breaststroke – Cheating the whole way. 2 dolphin kicks off the wall and every other breast kick had a huge dolphin down kick. At the end of his swim there was a huge celebration and congratulations by his coaches and team-mates. I turned to the coach next to me and asked him if he saw what I did. He replied that some coaches actually tell their swimmers to cheat because chances are it won’t get called !
I am hoping that for the integrity of the Sport, FINA will use… Read more »
In the most recent Arena PSS meet in Santa Clara, Miller was dqed in the 50m Breast on Sunday morning. Does any one know why? Miller had swum and won both 100m and 200m in the same meet.
What’s the opinion of swimswam’s breaststroke guru Jared Anderson about Miller’s dolphin kicks and overall about breaststrokers or IMers who try to play with the rules?
As one of the best US breaststrokers, have you already cheated at a GP meet or at Nationals without being disqualified? And have you already had the feeling in your career of knowing before a race that you swim next to cheaters?
If you don’t respond, I’m gonna consider soon there’s a breaststroke sect where breaststrokers from all over the world protect each other. 😆 😆 😆 😆
Ha! Good questions, Bobo.
I think the biggest problem for all breaststrokers is that the inconsistent enforcement of the rules creates so much gray area as to what’s legal and what’s not. Personally, I don’t think the dolphin kick is enough of an advantage to outweigh the risk of a DQ (which would be devastating at Trials or Nationals), so I try to stay much closer to the “letter of the law” regarding pullouts. I’m more in the Peaty school of breaststroker, anyway, where I’d rather get to the surface and swim than try to spend a lot of time and distance underwater.
You might not be too far off with your “sect of breaststrokers” comment, though – we’re all… Read more »
It’s discouraging to see the inconsistency in enforcement of the breaststroke rules at almost every level. It makes me wonder, if it’s so hard to enforce consistently anyway, then why is breast, which is already by far the slowest stroke already, also the only stroke that doesn’t allow underwater side dolphin kicks to the 15 meter mark?
in defense of the officials (i am not an official), it is hard sometimes to see the dolphin action in the middle of the pool from above. not sure why FINA won’t use the underwater camera they experimented with a couple years ago to keep the integrity of the sport?
his interview with jeff comings on the morning swim show a few years ago after big 10s shows mr millers attitude (or lack thereof) regarding multiple dolphin kicks. when jeff pointed out that he dq his medley, the response was (and i admit i am not quoting the full statement because i am not a fan of fillers), “[t]here’s a lot of dolphin kicking going on in breaststroke…i took a risk on that relay and got dqed and i wasnt the only guy doing it.” he then says he was wrong and wasnt going to do it again, yet we see at ncaas a month later he gets dqed in lane 1 (official right over him) for dolphin kicks and… Read more »
Also, sometimes swimmers and coaches get carried away on DPS and counting their strokes. Adam Peaty and Daniel Gyurta, the two best breastrokers in the Universe right now, aren’t too concerned about how many strokes they are taking. There is more to swimming fast breastroke than taking as few strokes as possible. Same for the women, Hardy and Ruta, both have a lot of tempo in a 100 breastroke. Not saying this is the only way, but if not leg dominant, one shouldn’t try and ride their kick too long!!!
The underwater footage USA Swimming sent out to National team coaches and swimmers, you can tell he has a downward motion at the end of each stroke/kick. Really obvious from below the surface. He has been dq multiple times in college for similar.
There is something fishy about Miller and i hope either he fixes it or either he gets DQ in Kazan for multiple dolphin kicks . That’s it !