IU Olympians Looze, King and Miller Adjusting To Newfound Fame
Life as they know it has changed forever for IU’s Olympians after competing and coaching in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio De Janeiro.
“Nothing for anybody that went to that meet will ever be the same, because you’re forever an Olympian and that’s a really select group of people,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Just walking around the village, and there’s 10,000 athletes and you’re one of them right out of the gate, that changes you. If you go down there and you’re fortunate enough to win an Olympic medal, nothing’s ever the same.”
Looze served as an assistant coach to Team USA's women's swim team which won seven gold medals as a group. IU athletes swimming and diving for Team USA brought home seven gold medals from the summer games, including two won by sophomore Lilly King and one by alum Cody Miller.
King’s newfound fame really hit her when he returned to Bloomington and was shopping at Target this week.
“Four or five random people came up and hugged me, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know you!’ That was a little weird,” King said. “Other than that, I feel the same. I know life’s not the same, but I still feel like nothing’s really changed too much.”
Miller had quite the tour of Bloomington when he came back to visit, ranging from stops at the Bloomington Bagel Company on Kirkwood Ave. to singing with Rod Tuffcurls and The Bench Press at The Bluebird nightclub.
Like King, Miller has also been stopped multiple times by strangers. Not necessarily for random hugs, but photos.
“I was shocked at how many people in town recognized me,” Miller said. “I am like, by no means, famous. People say I’m Bloomington famous, I’ll take that.
“It’s changed a little bit, but we’re still the same people. Life’s pretty good.”
The newfound fame has largely resulted in positive reactions, though it wasn't without the occasional negative response from fans of certain countries, either.
King generated a lot of attention with her remarks against doping and Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, who has been punished for doping in the past.
King defeated Efimova in the 100M breaststroke to earn her first gold medal, then collected her second gold after competing in the women’s 4X100M medley relay. When she posted photos of herself with her gold medals to her Instagram account, she had Russian citizens commenting on the posts saying she didn’t deserve those medals.
"It's been pretty crazy, honestly,” King said. “I guess the social media following alone, everything just skyrocketing so fast and people know who I am now.”
Miller also felt the wrath of another nation as a result of speaking his mind. After backing Australian swimmer Mack Horton, who called out China’s Sun Yang for doping, Miller woke up the next morning to “hundreds of hundreds of tweets from angry Chinese citizens.”
Even with the increased following, both are trying to re-establish a normal routine.
Miller will marry his fiancé next summer and is looking to buy a house in Bloomington, sticking around as long as Looze and the swim team will have him.
King is preparing for her sophomore season after electing to turn down the opportunity to go pro.
Whatever they do, Looze said it is important that they all learn how to handle the newfound success and use it in a positive way for their families and school.
“You can see that there’s profound differences,” Looze said. “Life’s just different for all of us now.”