MORAGA — One million of just about anything adds up to a lot of something.
David Miller, of Oakland, saw it that way when deciding to swim 1 million yards this year to raise money for cancer research. He reached the finish line Sunday afternoon by swimming 2,000 yards at the Soda Aquatic Center in Moraga, where Miller works as a lifeguard.
“Today was easy,” he said. “I’m used to 4,000 yards a day. I’m flying high just because of the generosity.”
Miller, 59, also reached his goal of $50,000 in donations because of an anonymous $10,000 pledge Sunday morning, he said. About 40 swimmers joined Miller, including 2008 Olympic medalist Kim Vandenberg. They shepherded him to the end of a journey that left him fatigued and with aching biceps and shoulder muscles.
MORAGA, CA - DECEMBER 27: David Miller celebrates after swimming 1,000,000 yards and raising over $50,000 for the Cancer Research Institute at the Soda Aquatic Center on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Moraga, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DECEMBER 27: David Miller finishes the final laps of a 1,000,000 yard swim, while raising over $50,000 for the Cancer Research Institute at the Soda Aquatic Center on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Moraga, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DECEMBER 27: David Miller, right, gets a hug from supporter Katie Macks, left, as he works to complete swimming 1,000,000 yards and raising over $50,000 for the Cancer Research Institute at the Soda Aquatic Center on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Moraga, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DECEMBER 27: David Miller readies to dive into a pool at the Soda Aquatic Center to complete swimming 1,000,000 yards and raising over $50,000 for the Cancer Research Institute at the Soda Aquatic Center on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Moraga, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DECEMBER 27: A sign is photographed while David Miller works to complete a 1,000,000 yards fundraising swim for the Cancer Research Institute at the Soda Aquatic Center on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Moraga, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DECEMBER 27: David Miller celebrates after swimming 1,000,000 yards and raising over $50,000 for the Cancer Research Institute at the Soda Aquatic Center on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Moraga, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DECEMBER 27: Supporter Katie Macks, left, signs a ballon as David Miller swims the final laps on a 1,000,000 yards fundraising event for the Cancer Research Institute at the Soda Aquatic Center on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Moraga, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, exits the pool by doing a handstand out of the water at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, swims at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: A board gives people daily updates on the status of swimmer David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, dives into the pool to start his 80 laps at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, is photographed at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, swims at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, swims at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, swims at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, is photographed at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, is photographed at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
MORAGA, CA - DEC. 14: David J. Miller, 59, of Oakland, swims at the Soda Aquatic Center at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Miller started Jan. 1 to swim 1 million yards this year. He has created a singular fundraising effort for the Cancer Research Institute. He has planned it where he will need to complete 2,000 yards, or about 1 mile, on his final day, Dec. 27 at the Soda Aquatic Center. Miller swam 80 laps today for 4,000 yards and averages about 25,000 yards a week. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
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One million yards represents swimming 1.6 miles every day of the year. Or put it this way: It totals 568 miles, the distance to drive from San Francisco to San Diego on Highway 1. While a million has a nice sound to it, Miller acknowledges serious swimmers do much more. During heavy training, Olympic-level distance swimmers complete 16,000 yards a day and sometimes as much as 20,000 yards, or 11 miles, said Michael Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman.
“A swimmer is someone who competes,” Miller said. “I just get into a pool and trudge along.”
He does more than that, as his well-defined upper body muscles attest. Miller also has pursued his goal to raise money for the Cancer Research Institute despite a year of pool closures and severe pollution from wildfire smoke that wreaked havoc with his swimming schedule.
Miller, who once owned a health and fitness center in Mexico City, said he picked the research institute because the disease has afflicted many of his family members and friends. He said he knows 28 people, including his mother, father and sister, who have had cancer-related illnesses.
Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, the cancer institute’s chief executive, said Miller’s effort highlights a trend in philanthropy, particularly during the COVID-19 health crisis. She said singular campaigns have helped offset lost opportunities as some charity events were canceled because of restrictions on large gatherings. Most individual donors focused on birthdays or weddings, O’Donnell-Tormey said. But one man is backpacking 4,600 miles from Delaware to San Francisco to raise $50,000 for the institute. Then there is Miller, who has chosen a lifestyle far from the beaten path.
“I don’t really have a career,” he said. “That was a conscientious decision.”
Miller said he earned a degree in economics from the University of Michigan and worked for Club Med in Italy and the Caribbean during the 1980s. Now, in addition to lifeguarding, Miller works as a part-time receptionist at the Chabot Canyon Racquet Club in Oakland. The idea to swim 1 million yards began in late 2019, when a 74-year-old man at the Soda Aquatic Center’s pool at Campolindo High School completed 750,000 yards. Miller said he told his friend they could do a million yards together in 2020.
“No way,” he recalled the friend answering.
Miller, who grew up in Buffalo, New York, decided to do it himself. It was not his first endurance charity event. Miller said that upon returning from Mexico City in 2011, he biked 15,000 miles with his dog in tow to every U.S. state. He said he tried to raise money for the Cancer Research Institute, which focuses on immunotherapy treatment, and three other organizations but did not have time for a concerted effort.
This time Miller wanted to focus on one nonprofit. Choosing swimming made sense because for about the past four years Miller has been a lifeguard at Soda Aquatic Center, home of the U.S. artistic swim team that hopes to qualify for Tokyo’s rescheduled 2020 Summer Olympics this coming August. Miller said he started on Jan. 1, 2020, by swimming 3,500 yards. He said he had planned to swim for two months to build his confidence before promoting the 1-million-yards campaign in March.
“COVID hit, and everything changed,” Miller said.
Normally Miller might have been able to schedule plenty of rest days to allow his body to recover from the daily grind of lap swimming. Health officials began closing pools in mid-March, though, when the first novel coronavirus surge began. Miller said he put aside the fundraising effort and focused on how he could swim.
At first, the Soda Aquatic pool remained heated because administrators did not know how long the initial lockdown would last. Miller said he was able to continue. As weeks passed, however, the facility operators shut down the pool’s heaters, filters and chlorination system. Miller said it was too cold to swim.
Miller was not ready to give up on his project, though. He said he resumed swimming through the rest of March until early May while wearing a triathlon wetsuit. Miller describes himself as a warm-water swimmer who once suffered from hypothermia during a 10-kilometer race on Lake Erie. Miller said U.S. Coast Guard rescuers had to pull him out of the water.
Once the pool reopened in May, Miller said he tried to offset the lost time by swimming as much as seven days a week. He said he caught up in July. Then came the wildland fires in August, covering Bay Area skies with lung-damaging smoke particulates.
“The smoke levels were so bad that swimming was worse than doing nothing,” Miller said. “But I had to keep pace. I just felt terrible.”
He said he eventually had to reduce his yardage and swimming days. It put him behind schedule again. By Nov. 1, Miller said he had completed enough yardage to feel comfortable about advertising the fundraising campaign. He finished amid another novel coronavirus surge and lockdown.
Miller’s spirits remained high on a recent day as he stroked toward the finish line. After his final “long” workout of 4,000 yards, or 80 laps, Miller did a backward handstand to exit the pool. Miller is not sure about his next trick. But he said he already has a few ideas percolating.