Cody Miller Explains the Enhanced Games—Without the Spin

GMM by @SwimOutletGear
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, especially 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. LINK: bbc.com/sport/athletics/41084175

- 2025 Telegraph report found that 1 in 5 athletes admitted doping at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. LINK: telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2025/10/16/one-in-five-2022-commonwealth-games-athletes-admit-doping

- 2024 U.S. Athlete Doping Prevalence Study estimated 6.5% to 9.2% admitted to using at least one prohibited substance. LINK: norc.org/research/projects/us-athlete-doping-prevalence-study.html

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.

Many thanks to @SwimOutletTV for their 14 year partnership and support of this swimming news and media.

Swimming news courtesy of SwimSwam.com (swimswam.com)

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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.