I’ve been a Cody Miller fan for a long time, which comes from a deep respect for his commitment to the sport as a pro, and because I’m intimately aware of how much time, energy, and mastery it takes to produce his YouTube channel, CodyMillerAdventures. I know, for years, Cody has been working two full-time jobs.
Signing onto to the Enhanced Games was a curveball, but not wholly unexpected when I thought it through, which is partly why I asked him to come on the podcast.
For the record: SwimSwam has no commercial or financial affiliation with the Enhanced Games. We are covering it journalistically. That will make some people uncomfortable. But discomfort isn’t a disqualifier when the moment is this consequential. The Enhanced Games represent a historic inflection point in sport. This isn’t a vanity league with a single benefactor. It’s backed by Peter Thiel, founder of Palantir, and by 1776 Capital, the venture fund associated with Donald Trump Jr.. Add a credible path toward going public, and you begin to understand the scale of capital, influence, and ambition behind this project. That context matters.
In the podcast, Cody sheds real light on the financial side of the league without disclosing his personal contract terms (though I did just ask him to to just give it up). Instead, he frames the deal in practical, lived terms, comparing it to what his Olympic journey paid, demanded, and cost him. It’s not theoretical. Cody talks honestly about incentives, risk, and reality.
He also answers the hardest question head-on: How do you explain this decision to kids who look up to you? No ducking that one. Cody airs it out.
One question I pressed was personal. Part of the Enhanced Games messaging leans on the line that they’re “honest about performance-enhancing drugs,” which carries the subtext that traditional Olympians are not, that they’re all quietly cheating. As someone who mortgaged his life to become an Olympian, that framing hits a nerve. Cody responded, citing anonymous survey research suggesting that a meaningful minority of elite athletes admit to doping. He shared the sources, and I’m linking them here for transparency, not endorsement.
- 2011 BBC-reported survey suggests roughly 30% admitted to doping at a World Championships event.
- 2025 Telegraph report found that 1 in 5 athletes admitted doping at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
- 2024 U.S. Athlete Doping Prevalence Study estimated 6.5% to 9.2% admitted to using at least one prohibited substance.
I don’t like those numbers. I don’t like those studies. But Cody provided, and I’m sharing here based on his podcast answer.
One smaller but telling moment: neither of us actually knew the Enhanced Games’ age limit. Cody thought it was 21. I thought it was 25. We were both wrong. Based on current public information, the minimum age appears to be 18 (unless the league corrects that).
The podcast runs an hour and two minutes. We covered a lot of ground, economics, ethics, messaging, personal cost, and the future of sport. If there are questions you wish I’d asked Cody, drop them in the comments.
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This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website.
Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
Lots of respect for Mel. But did anyone else feel like he softballed Cody with this interview? I remember about two months ago during a SwimSwam breakdown, Mel described the Enhanced Games as “odious.” But you wouldn’t know that from the tone of this interview. Idk, maybe Mel’s opinions have changed?
I recognize he did express some criticism of Enhanced and did ask a few questions that challenged Cody. But I was expecting more personally.
Tell me you’re washed up with no other skills to support yourself without telling me me you’re washed up with no other skills to support yourself
Just a quick ? With appearance $ up front… can these eg athletes just go through the motions without “doping” and make a mockery of the games ?
I wish the top level swimmers got paid more but they don’t.
In life not every job pays what you want it to. Same goes for making swimming your profession. If it’s not paying the bills, you might want to look at another profession.
It’s tough to say but that’s the truth.
I feel bad for Cody. He’s been misled. This is essentially career suicide as far as swimming goes. My guess is his video/social content lost followers. He can’t do clinics anymore — what club/organization would bring him in to talk to young swimmers? He can’t possibly be a coach anymore… He can’t do broadcasts for Olympic/Olympic related events… And so on.
It all seems a little short-sighted. He burned down a lot of potentially good future opportunities for something that likely won’t be around in another couple of years. Maybe he didn’t want to do all this stuff down the line anyway, and that’s fine. Or maybe the EG will be a thing. I hope the short term gains are… Read more »
Correct on all counts. The downrange ramifications are not good. Maybe he really needs the money? But it seems like he’s casting his lot with the “here and now” vice the “forever”. Wishing him well.
He is an adult, and made an adult decision.
For this decision, he should be stripped of his Olympic medals, along with his national and international titles, and perhaps also asked to remove his Olympic rings tattoos. Clearly a shining ambassador for the sport of swimming. I have already had both of my children unsubscribe from his YouTube channel, as this is obviously the kind of role model young athletes should avoid.
He should not be stripped of anything he did before this. And being asked to remove his Olympic rings tattoo is beyond silly and not going to happen, though I’m sure they can say something about the rings being displayed on his body at an EG competition. Might have to put a cover on them.
I don’t like the way Cody is spinning this, but what he did in 2016 has nothing to do with what he is doing now. The only thing that should strip him of his 2016 Olympics medals is if he were found to have been cheating back then.
The longevity argument definitely went out the window when they added Hafthor Björnsson world record attempt in deadlift to the show. The amount of gear that man will be blasting for the attempt and the strain the preparation for that lift puts on the human body is anything but healthy
I am so sorry that swimming world has gotten to this. Mel was fair and facilitated a conversation that has at least in my case left a bad taste in my mouth, with no words exchanged that convince me this is anything other than a bad omen and terrible idea.
Cody is worth 2 million dollars.
NIL is killing sports.
Still I watch.
And have so much respect for people like Caeleb, Shields and Phelps for making it real.
I loved swimming because of my dear comrads I lived in the pool with.
I’m a recovering addict and the idea an ex Olympian and others are on the blocks potentially under the influence of… Read more »