Humility at the Heart of Swimming Success

To be the best you can be in a sport requires unwavering dedication and drive for excellence. This quest for sporting success often doesn’t go hand in hand with being humble. Those athletes who do possess the power of humility are often highly revered – think Ash Barty, Ian Thorpe, and Cathy Freeman. Our own Year 10 swimming sensation Inez Miller seems to be cut from the same cloth and her swimming career trajectory is on a missile-like rise.

She’s delivering some incredible performances but doesn’t draw attention to her achievements. In fact, quite the opposite. After winning the 100m Freestyle and the 50m Backstroke at the IGSSA Swimming Carnival in March, the PLC community was amazed to learn she attended Olympic trials last year. Inez then went on to win six medals at the Australian Age Swimming Championships in Adelaide in April. She took home Gold in the girls 15U 400m Freestyle, Silver in the 800m Freestyle, Bronze in the 100m Backstroke, Gold in the 16u 4x50m Medley Relay, Bronze in the 4x50m State Relay, and Bronze in the 4x100m Medley Club Relay!

But when asked about her swimming success, Inez is not forthcoming with her achievements. Instead, she shines the light on her teammates, credits her swim team and those who help her along the way. Her humility and gratitude makes her all the more endearing and inspiring.

“I really enjoy the social aspect of swimming. The relays are something that I truly enjoy because the girls you swim with are always behind you and supporting you,” Inez said. When asked what advice she would give to young swimmers, Inez said, “I think I would tell them to value the advice people give and to take it to heart.”

“Rock up to training with the right intent and hold yourself accountable. If you did a bad swim or test, how you walk away from that is so important. Be able to walk away with the mindset of here’s what I did wrong, here’s how I fix it and don’t emotionally attach yourself to it.”