Scott Andrew Miller (born 21 February 1975) is an Australian convicted drug dealer and former butterfly swimmer who competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, winning a silver and bronze medal.

Career

Early years

Coached by Barry Prime, the Manly-born swimmer emerged onto the international scene as a 19-year-old at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

in Victoria, British Columbia, where he won the 100 m butterfly and the 4×100 m medley relay. In 1995, he became the World Short Course champion in the 200 m butterfly, and established himself as a contender for the 1996 Olympics. While competing at the Pan Pacific Championships in Atlanta that year, he was jailed for a night after intervening in a fight outside a nightclub. He was later cleared of wrongdoing.

1996 Olympics

At the

in Atlanta, Miller was the fastest qualifier for the 100 m butterfly final, setting a new Olympic record of 52.89s in his heat, raising Australian hopes of a first gold at these Olympics. However, Denis Pankratov, representing Russia, who had reserved a rather controversial technique for the final, had other ideas. Pankratov employed the "submarine" technique of underwater swimming, which involved diving into the water and dolphin kicking underwater for as long as possible (as swimmers can swim underwater quicker than they can swim at the surface). At the time, it was illegal for breaststrokers and backstrokers to stay underwater for more than 25 m after the dive, but this did not apply to butterfly. Pankratov glided underwater for 35 m and surfaced well clear, reaching the 50 m mark with a lead of roughly 1 m. Despite Miller's determined run home, he touched in 52.53 s to claim the silver medal, 0.36 s behind Pankratov, who broke the nine-year-old world record in 52.27 s. After the race, Australian head coach Don Talbot was full of praise for Miller's efforts – "I haven't seen a swimmer come back as hard as Miller did. I've got to hand it to him." Miller also claimed a second medal; he combined with Michael Klim, Steven Dewick and Phil Rogers to claim bronze in the 4×100 m medley relay.

Return to Australia

Miller had a difficult time upon his return to Australia. He was dismissed from the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

for repeatedly missing training sessions, and spent 1997 on the sidelines due to injury. Miller reappeared in the headlines in late 1997 when he tested positive to

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and was suspended by

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

for two months in 1998, despite his protestations. On his return from suspension, he had been surpassed by Klim and Geoff Huegill and was unable to gain selection for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He later made another comeback after the Sydney Olympics, but did not make any further impressions. In 2004, a horse named Krayzelburg which Miller part-owned with other swimming identities won the Sydney Entertainment Centre Trophy.

Personal life

He was briefly married to television personality, Charlotte Dawson, from 1999 to 2000.

Drug dealer

Miller was charged on 16 April 2008 after police seized a commercial pill press, drugs and cash in a raid on a storage facility in Brookvale, New South Wales, on Sydney's northern beaches. They also found capsicum spray and

steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...

, a loaded revolver, tablets believed to be ecstasy, powder believed to be

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

and $240,000 cash. Miller was charged with possessing a prescribed restricted substance and possessing an offensive weapon. He was released on bail to appear at Manly Local Court on 7 May 2008. Miller subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 100 hours of community work and a two-year good behaviour bond. On 18 June 2013, Miller was arrested a second time after a police search at a

Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

property allegedly uncovered

and $17,000 in cash. He was given a one-year suspended jail sentence. Miller was arrested on 16 February 2021 during a police sting after investigations into a $2 million methamphetamine haul that was allegedly concealed inside candles. It was widely reported on 16 February 2021 that Miller was arrested at his waterfront home in Rozelle, NSW along with Wayne Allan Johnson, who was detained at a home in Balmain, NSW in relation to a criminal syndicate linked to the distribution of methylamphetamine. Police seized what is alleged to be the drug 'ICE' with an estimated street value of $3 million which was hidden in candles, about 1 kg of heroin with a street value of $250,000, more than $75,000 in cash, mobile phones, documents, encrypted electronic devices and smaller amounts of prohibited drugs. He was charged with two counts of supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, dealing with the proceeds of crime and directing a criminal group. In November 2022, Miller was sentenced to a jail term of five years and six months, with a non-parole period of three years.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Scott 1975 births Living people Australian male butterfly swimmers Sportsmen from New South Wales Swimmers from Sydney Olympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Australian Institute of Sport swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games swimmers for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Australian drug traffickers Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Australian sportspeople convicted of crimes Australian people convicted of drug offences Sportspeople convicted of crimes