Palo Verde’s lineup led by junior who’s pursuing Olympics

Officially, Cody Miller finished 76th out of 84 swimmers, which might not sound like much. But consider this:

Those results came at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., last summer. And Miller was all of 16 years old at the time.

“It really hit me after,” Miller said. “I was like, 'Oh, damn, I just did something not many people have ever done.’ “

Miller, now a junior at Palo Verde, knew he had no shot at actually making the team that was set to travel to Beijing. His time of 2 minutes, 8.43 seconds in the 200-meter individual medley was more than 13 seconds behind the world record set in the final by Michael Phelps — yes, that Michael Phelps.

Instead, for Miller it was more about soaking in the experience with an eye toward the 2012 Olympics. He competed in front of more than 13,000 people at the Qwest Center Omaha and against some of the world’s top swimmers.

“I’ve swam against Olympians before, but never at a meet of that kind of magnitude,” Miller said. “No one thought I would make it. I believed I could do it and I kept pushing myself. Hard work pays off.”

While making the Olympic trials was the highlight of the year for Miller, he also finished sixth in the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Senior National Championships in December. A week later, Miller’s powerful kick help ed him set two 15-16-year-old national age group records at the Short Course Junior National Championships in Austin, Texas.

His winning time of 54.38 seconds in the 100-meter breaststroke broke the mark of 54.70 set in 1999 by two-time Olympian and former world record holder Brendan Hansen. In the 200 breaststroke, Miller won in 1:56.46, which smashed Paul Kornfeld’s standard of 1:58.14 from 2004. Kornfeld went on to Stanford and is the defending NCAA champion in the 100- and 200-yard breast.

“I was shooting for the time area, but I wasn’t necessarily shooting for the records,” said Miller, who turned 17 in January. “Those are two major, major records.”

Miller’s feats have not been lost on his teammates, either, many of whom compete on the same club team.

“We’re all working and dedicated the same as he is,” Palo Verde junior Gianni Sesto said. “For him to make it to the level he did makes me think if I work as hard as him, maybe I will get there some day.

“It’s not often you see a 16-year-old go to the Olympic trials. It definitely caught my eye.”

With Miller part of a loaded roster, the defending state champion Panthers are the clear favorites to repeat. Miller won the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM at state last year. Junior Jay Sirat won the state title in the 100 freestyle and was second in the 50 freestyle, while senior Jake Priest (fourth in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly) and Sesto (second in the 500 freestyle, third in the 200 freestyle) also return.

In addition, the Panthers have state qualifiers back in junior Robbie Hill (sixth in the 50 freestyle) and junior Andrew Chin (seventh in the 100 backstroke).

“We know people are going to throw it at us,” said Panthers coach Bob Nicholson, whose squad is so deep he had to conduct a swim-off in practice earlier this week to determine part of his lineup for Saturday’s meet.

“I think our swimmers are up to the task. They’re a little more seasoned. They know the process of having that level of a team.”

Added Priest: “We’re a pretty close-knit team. We’re definitely looking toward the relays.”

Palo Verde won two of the three relays at state a year ago and returns all but one member of those teams. Boulder City owns all three state relay records. The 200 and 400 freestyle relay marks have stood since 2003, and the Eagles, led by Bret Lundgaard and Doug Broadbent, set the 200 medley relay record in 2004.

“I think we’re more focused on the state records that need to be broken,” Sesto said. “It’s time to see some new names up there.”