Fencing isn’t the most well-known sport in North America, but 28-year-old Miles Chamley-Watson has managed to make quite a name for himself in the sporting world.
Born in London, England, Chamley-Watson spent eight years of his life overseas before eventually moving to New York City. From there, his family landed in Philadelphia, and his fencing career took off from there. The 6-4, 175 pound athlete later went on to represent the US at the 2012 London Olympics where he captured a bronze medal in a team event.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/GettyImages
While becoming recognized in his sport, Chamley-Watson has also managed to make a name for himself in the modelling community. The Penn State alum models for IMG Models and has accumulated nearly 117K followers on Instagram. We had the chance to catch up with Chamley-Watson to discuss fencing, his modelling career, collection of tattoos, and more.
Jesse Pollock: What kind of training goes into fencing? I don't think it's something that people necessarily think about too much.
Miles Chamley-Watson: I think for me, most people kind of in the sport aren't necessarily as athletic as I am, but they have the mental part. I figured if I can be in the best physical shape then I'll be able to kind of..., no matter even if I'm not kind of feeling right in the head, which every athlete gets like, I can always rely on my body and my movement to help me keep winning. So I work out about six to eight hours a day. That entails physical therapy in the morning. This is not a massage, so it comes back to recovery. And then after that, two hours in the gym which is the dog pound in SoHo. I work out on any day, anything from Monday to being explosive work; Tuesday will be plyometric; Wednesday will be legs; Thursday will be upper body and Friday will be endurance. My trainer and I have a very strict schedule and then after that from 12pm-4pm, I go fencing. That entails sparring video, private lessons and drills. So I have a very strict routine from Monday to Saturday and then the rest of the weekend I enjoy to myself. But I honestly work out almost twice as hard in the gym to push my body to the limit so when I'm fencing I don't ever feel fatigued.
Jesse: I just want your take; what percentage of fencing would you say is mental and what percentage would you say is physical from your standpoint?
Miles: I think most people are going to say 50/50 but to be honest with you, I think it's very mental. You know there are a lot of people; I mean that's a really tough question. I would say 60-40 favouring mental, even 70-30 favouring mental because there's a lot of people who might not be in good shape but have very strong minds in terms of losing and then coming back, you know as you get older you get more experience. So there's no correct number or percentage but I think it is more mental than physical. It's a mix between boxing and chess is what I like to call it, because it's physical but then you have to kind of outplay your opponent as well.
Jesse: So you ended up at Penn State. Can you talk about balancing your pursuit of your favourite sport and being a student at the same time? What did you study?
Miles: Yeah, so I mean, I think it was quite easy. I think that's something that requires time management skills, so you kind of get what you needed to get done and Penn State did an amazing job of helping out the athletes. You know the student athlete program was phenomenal. They help you out you know, but I was also on my national team. So I was also doing fencing as well as my national team, then I made the Olympics, and then I came back to school for NCAA. So I was like I had to work just as hard if not harder than everyone else. I studied recreational sports management.
Jesse: After Penn State you obviously continued to pursue fencing, but you also have a modeling career. Can you touch on that?
Miles: Yeah, my mom was a model and into fashion and started to get a little notoriety: Companies kind of went after me, and then top agencies, and then IMG, the biggest model agency in the world grasped me in and took me to a whole other level. They saw the potential in me and they consider me not just an athlete and model, which is kind of great to have. I'm just so blessed to have them on my team as well as a sports agent. It's really cool to see yourself glowing in the path you take, so I'm super humbled and blessed to have them.
Jesse: What is your life like between fencing and modelling? Do you split it evenly?
Miles: The number one priority is always fencing, that's what got me to this point. That's what... you know... That's what I do every day. You know modelling, you can't really control the industry when it involves or has a lot to do with people wanting to book you, blah blah blah, and then I think in fencing if I work hard enough then I'll get the job done. So, and I love modelling it's amazing, it's a healthy attraction and it's fun for me. But the bottom line is obviously winning sports. The only thing I haven't done in my sport is win the Olympics. Nothing's going to stop me there.
Jesse: What approach are you going to take to 2020 that's going to be different from years prior?
Miles: My plans are honestly to do whatever I want and that means feel whatever I feel is right. I think in the 2012 Olympics I was young, and in my home town, there were a lot of distractions that kind of changed who I was just because it was the Olympics. I'm going to do whatever I want and that's the kind of way I'm going to go into 2020. I still have to qualify so there's nothing guaranteed. Competitions are a long grueling process so I'm working hard for that.
Jesse: I noticed that you have quite a few tattoos on your body. Are any of them in relation to the sport at all?
Miles: Oh yeah, a couple. Every tattoo on my body has a purpose. The first time I ever became a world champion I got the numbers eight, nine and 13 inside of the inside of my arm in Hungarian. I have the Olympic rings, my first one which was in London. I got the Rio symbol inside my arm when we got our bronze medal. I got tattooed in Brazil with some people.
Jesse: I think your tattoos are unreal, just wanted to mention that. I also recently saw you posted a picture with Scottie Pippen and a couple of other celebrities. What exactly was going on in that photo?
Miles: A good buddy of mine is an artist who works with a company called Crime by Design. He called me and said, “Hey, I want you to meet someone.” I was like cool, and it ended up being Scottie Pippen, and I'm like holy shit and then we kind of just connected right away. I like to call him a friend now, which is kind of insane. The way the world works, it's about being in the right place at the right time. It's crazy because it's been happening a lot to me in my life.
Jesse: As far as fencing goes, you work with Red Bull, correct?
Miles: Yeah, I work with a bunch of sponsors; Red Bull is one of them.
Jesse: What's it like being on their team?
Miles: They are probably one of the hardest sponsors to get on the roster because they're so picky. But once they bring you into the family it's such an incredible experience. The experience they've given me is second to none, and there's no stupid ideas, no stupid projects, and they push barriers, which is what I'm about. It's literally a match made in heaven.
Jesse: What are the relationships like with your coaches and teammates while preparing for the Olympics?
Miles: Yeah I mean, one of my teammates, Gareth Meinhardt, I've been rooming with him since I was about 15 years old. And we've kind of grown together. You know, it's like we come from boys to men literally and he's become my best friend. I'm not as close to other teammates as I am with Gareth because I see him more often. Obviously, teammates are going to be on hand, that's natural you know? But there are great kids and great teammates and I hope that we're all on the same team together from Rio and can win as a team again. I think it's just great chemistry. And I'm happy that I'm able to grow the sport to a different level and I hope that eventually will help them.
Jesse: Can you go BarDown?
Miles: Yeah, for sure.
Jesse: That was a very confident answer. I love it.
Miles: Hell yeah bro, when I come to Toronto we'll hit some hockey pucks. I’m ready my man.
