Meet Micah Davis, St. Cloud swimmer with a record in hand and one in mind

ST. CLOUD – Before Micah Davis started kindergarten, he was already swimming competitively at the local YMCA.

His passion was sparked — as many are at that age — by Davis' desire to keep up with his siblings.

"I wanted to be just like my older brothers, and I've always been really competitive," he said. "And then it just kind of evolved as I kept swimming and continued chasing them."

Soon Davis not only caught up to his brothers but started competing across the state and country. And now, after winning state titles in the 100-yard butterfly and 200 freestyle as a freshman and sophomore, the 17-year-old from Clearwater is regarded as the best swimmer in the state — and one of the best in the nation.

He's aiming for a three-peat in those races this year at state, which runs March 6-8 at the University of Minnesota. But he wants more than the title: After setting the state record for the 100 butterfly last year, he hopes to break the 200 freestyle record of 1 minute, 35.39 seconds set by Chanhassen swimmer Jack Dahlgren in 2018 as well.

"This year I'm a full second faster than I was last year midseason so I'd say I'm on track," he said.

Last year, Davis won the 100 butterfly state title in 46.94 seconds, besting the previous state record by more than one second.

"It was definitely a big jump," Davis said. "It put me sixth in America last year in high school. And the other five guys ahead of me were seniors and I was a sophomore."

Despite his achievements, Davis said he often feels anxious and struggles with self-doubt.

"I'm just ridiculously nervous," he said. "And I think it's the expectations I put on myself and the expectations that are around me with the fan section."

A person in the bleachers would never know Davis was jittery. While on the pool deck at St. Cloud's Tech High School — where he is part of the swimming co-op with St. Cloud Cathedral, Rocori and Becker — he exudes calmness. Except, of course, when he's cheering on his teammates.

"I try to be confident and stay controlled," he said, "but it's difficult when you come up to the state meet and the whole three-month season comes down to two races for a total of maybe 2½ minutes."

Tech head coach Rebecca Miller, who has been training Davis since he was in seventh grade, certainly is confident in Davis.

"The self-doubt that he lacks on occasion, I more than make up for‚" Miller said.

She said she thinks it is "absolutely" possible for him to achieve this year's goal of being No. 1 in the nation and breaking the high school record of 45.08 seconds in the 100 butterfly, set by Tennessee's Spencer Nichols last year.

"He wants it that badly," Miller said. "He could walk in and tell me he wants to go 40 this year and I'd be like, 'All right. Let's get there.' "

Davis, who is homeschooled, trains about 12 hours in the pool and six hours in the gym each week. Outside of the high school season, Davis trains six days a week with the Aquajets Swim Team in Eden Prairie.

But even as an elite athlete, Davis is focused on balance. After swimming 20 hours a week two summers ago — in addition to gym time — Davis was exhausted and struggling with injuries. His dad, Jon, suggested he take a break from the pool for the summer.

"And when I came back, I had a better season than I've ever had," he said. "It's more for mental health and physical recovery. Not many people do it. My club team coach didn't really agree with the choice, but it's just something that I thought I needed."

Davis credits Miller, who swam competitively at St. Cloud Apollo High School and St. Cloud State, for treating their coach/athlete relationship as a partnership instead of a dictatorship.

"I don't feel like I ever had those type of relationships with any of the coaches I had. It was very much like, I was the athlete, they were the coach, and what they say goes," she said. "That wasn't something I liked as a swimmer."

Davis said Miller's approach helps him feel they are on the same page.

"There's a big communication factor that goes into it — just being able to reach out and talk about how you're feeling each and every day and structure workouts around that," he said.

In addition to training and just being a high schooler, Davis takes classes at St. Cloud Technical & Community College and plans to study electrical engineering at the University of Virginia.

Several teams reached out to Davis at midnight June 15, the first day colleges could start recruiting juniors. Davis said he chose Virginia because he was impressed by the coaches and his future teammates. Among his teammates next season will be Thomas Heilman, who last year became the youngest male swimmer to qualify for the U.S. Olympics team since Michael Phelps.

So now, more than a decade after he started chasing his older brothers in the pool, Davis is chasing Heilman and some big dreams.

"He went to the Olympics at 17," Davis said. "I've always looked at his times and thought, 'What can I do to get myself to where he is?' He just kind of expands my realm of what's possible."

One of those possibilities is going to the next Olympics, but Davis asserts he isn't sure that's a realistic goal.

"It's a possibility," he said. "I'm sure after I get down there and finish my freshman year, I'll be able to determine what my goals are going to be going into that year."

Sensing his self-doubt during an interview, Miller chimed in about the possibility of going to watch Davis swim in the Los Angeles Games in 2028: "I'm saving up."