Just Keep Swimming

Swimming is a sport most enjoy the world over, whether for fun or exercise, the immersion in water is something we consider vital in the hot Texas summer. For one Texas swimmer, the sport is something even more special.

Jan Miller, of Gatesville, has been swimming most of her life. She began swimming as most of us do, taking lessons as a child to equip herself with the required skills for the pastime. However, once a neighborhood boy challenged her to a swim race, swimming began to take a different meaning. Determined not to let the neighborhood boy beat her, she looked at her lessons with a more competitive eye. This lesson in determination paid off, not only because she beat her first adversary, but also because it incited a life of competitive swimming.

As a child, her swim coach immediately noticed her potential commenting on what a natural born swimmer she was. With the support of her mother, she joined a local swim club in her home state of California. Jan would go on to swim through high school, swimming for Sierra High School, in Whittier, California. It was during this time that Jan won her first All-American Award. Competitive swimmers are awarded an All-American Award when considered to be the best in the nation for that event.

Upon attending the 1966 Sierra High School athletic banquet, Jan received her first National All-American Award. She quickly realized she was the only girl in attendance. “All the boys didn’t understand what a girl was doing there,” Jan remarked. Girls were still not widely recognized as notable athletes during this time and there were no girls’ competitive swim sports available locally, marking Jan as a pioneer of sorts when it came to her athleticism in swimming.

To better understand the dilemma; a brief look at the history of competitive women’s swimming. The first two women’s swimming groups were the National Women’s Life-Saving League and the Women’s Swimming Association, established in 1911 and 1917, respectively. The two groups held small swim competitions, such as open water swimming to “rescue” a dummy in the water. The fight for women to compete in swimming events did not entirely revolve around the physical aspects of the sport, though.

Another challenge facing women at the time was what was considered “acceptable” clothing for women in public. They were required to be covered from head to toe in the water and were forced to wear stockings, a skirt and shoes into the water while swimming. The clothes worn at the time were often made of heavy wool, making it harder for women to swim fast.

In fact, although women were first allowed to compete in the 1912 Olympics, it wasn’t until the Olympics of 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium, that American women were eligible to compete in competitive swimming events. The only events women swam at the time were the 100m Free, 200m Free, and the 100m Free relay. Besides the lack of events, there was also a lack of lines, flag zones, timing systems and blocks. 1924 marked the first year that pools developed lane lines and lines on the bottom of the pool to keep swimmers from running into each other.

This year’s Olympics in Tokyo will mark the 100-year anniversary of women competing in Olympic swim meets. On this historic marker, women will finally gain equality in competitive swimming events. For the first time since competitive swimming was introduced to the Olympic games in 1896, women will be able to swim the 1500m Freestyle, finally creating equality between men and women in terms of competitive swimming events.

After trailblazing with an All-American award, Jan would go on to swim in the 1966 AAV Women’s Indoor Nationals at the Phillips 66 pool located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. To train for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Miller trained with the men’s swim team at the University of California-Irvine, where she made it to the final heat of the 100m butterfly. During this time, Miller was ranked top 20 in the world for her swimming.

After a hiatus and moving to Texas, Jan would swim only for exercise and with her own kids each summer. In 1997, she began training again at the Waco Family YMCA and made an appearance at Nationals in 1998. By 1999, she had set six national top 10 swim times! This appearance spawned a newfound competitive spirit that would last over 15 years. Miller went on to compete at the US Masters Swimming Nationals, FINA Masters World-Championships, World Senior Games, and Pan-American Games, earning more hardware and a total of 6 All-American swims.

The year Jan aged up in competitive classes, her husband, Alan, drove her and the family up to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to see if she could break the backstroke record. It had been storming and raining so much that the hotel pool was overflowing. “When we got to the pool for the meet, their indoor pool was also up. So when I did this backstroke start, my toes were on the gutter! I was excited, like ‘Now I will have the best start ever!’” Miller remembered. “My final time on the electronic timer beat the record, but [after] adding the human timers, I didn’t break the record. But I was close and it was fun!”

The summer of 2000 would turn out to be a monumental one for Jan. Miller swam five races and broke four records at her appearance at the Nationals meet that summer in Baltimore. She set two National records in both the 50m Backstroke and 100m Backstroke.

“That was like the meet of my life and it was very special because I had been praying ‘renew my strength as the eagles’ from Psalm 103,” said Miller. Psalm 103:1-5 reads: “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. [NIV]”

“Every day when I went swimming, I would pray that prayer. At that Nationals meet, I had done almost the same time I had done in Junior Olympics. I was 50 years old and doing times I was doing when I was 15,” Miller recalled, “It was just such an awestruck appreciation that brought a closeness to God.”

In 2003, Jan competed as one of 10,000 athletes in the Senior Games in Newport News, Virginia. This meet was Miller’s first National Senior Games. She competed in 6 events, won all 6 and set 6 records! She received a special flag that flew over the capital and held it in the Parade of States at the opening ceremonies. Two years later, 11,000 athletes attended in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Pittsburgh was fun because I had competed in my very first Nationals when I was just 13 in junior high school. Then I went back to the very same pool so many years later and did as well as I had the first time,” stated Miller.

By 2004, Miller had set an astounding 42 records! Over the course of her swimming revival from 1998 to 2004, she won 193 medals, averaging around seven medals each meet. Her love for competitive swimming didn’t stop there either. At the 2008 Nationals hosted by the University of Texas in Austin, Jan earned a staggering 10 medals!

Miller continued to compete and swam at the United States Master Swim Meets in 2005 and 2007, where she received Top 10 times at both events. Jan had always had a goal of having a Top 10 all-time record, and she has two! In fact, Jan’s Masters Meets times were almost the same as her Junior Olympic swim times, which helped her to earn her second All-American Award. More recently, she raced with a Top 10 race time in 2018 and continues to compete with the Masters of South Texas out of San Antonio.

“She’s my trophy wife,” notes her husband, Alan, “She just enjoys swimming and meeting all the people. I always enjoy watching her from the stands because she’s always finding new people to talk to... it’s fun to watch her.”

At first glance, you may not know that this retired elementary school teacher was such a decorated athlete. To be so decorated and accomplished, she remains so humble. “To God be the glory, gifter of talents,” Jan says. May God continue to use her and her testimony of strength and renewing to reach and inspire others.