Q and A with Milorad "Mike" Cavic

Although Milorad (Mike) Cavic competes for the Serbian National team he's a home grown Southern California boy who swam for Novaquatics growing up and graduated from Cal Berkeley (with previous Q&A participant Duje Draganja). Still young at only 23, he's already had a great deal of International experience swimming at both the Sydney and Athens Olympic games and on numerous World Championship teams. He's a former World Record Holder in the 100 meter short course butterfly and silver medalist in the 50 free at the 2003 European SC Championships. Currently training at the Race Club with Gary Hall, Jr. and numerous former Cal Bear teammates, he will almost certainly be representing Serbia in Beijing next summer and looking for a spot on the podium and some Olympic hardware.

You know, I hate to use "best" or "favorite" when talking about any of the Q&A's we've been blessed to have here at BHO, but I will say that this one is definitely a Top 5 contender (If I dared rank them, which I would never do).


Photo courtesy of Milorad "Mike" Cavic

1. This will be your third Olympic season. Can you describe for us what your first Olympic experience as a young and impressionable teenager was like? What advice would you give swimmers coming into their first Games? How do you handle all the distractions and excitement and stay focused on racing?

My first Olympic experience was a scary one. I was 16 years old and was competing for what was then the Yugoslav Olympic team, and I didn't know what to expect. I knew I wasn't capable of making a final, but I figured I had plenty of time ahead of me, and that I needed to use the opportunity to feel the atmosphere, breathe it in, and get ready to experience the power of the scene. Well, long story short, I didn't do very well but what I came away with was one of the greatest things in my life - I felt like I overcame a great obstacle and that was myself. I felt I had the ability to race against anyone in the world and even though they might be better than me, I wasn't going to let their image or abilities intimidate me from swimming my own race!

My advice to an Olympic rookie is this - Although there are a lot of distractions at the Olympics, if you're seriously thinking you have a real shot at doing something great, turn your head away from those distracting things. There will be time for fun after the swimming is over, and you should have plenty of time to do anything you want considering swimming is the first week of the games. When you're at the pool, imagine the stands being full of people and try to feel the energy shooting down at you from all sides, because it's how it will really be. It's an incredible feeling, so you might as well let it fuel you in your race!

2. You train with an amazing group of swimmers at the Race Club. How competitive does the pool environment get? Does it ever feel like UC Berkeley - South Campus with all the Bears down there?

Its a real privilege to swim with the Race Club, we've got a lot of fast people, and a lot of cool guys to work with. Its pretty safe to say its competitive down here, but its that way with a lot of sprinters who think they're pretty good. I like to talk a bit of trash to raise the stakes and energy before a lactate swim, but its always all in fun, everyone understands that. I honestly don't have the feeling that I'm still at Cal because its a completely different environment (always warm here whereas in Berkeley its usually cold 7-8 months of the year)... but having Mike Bottom, Duje Draganja, and Nathan Adrian around is real nice during Cal Football days.

3. What is it that keeps getting you up and into the pool every morning?

After almost retiring from the sport last year, I had a lot of time to think about my goals in life and what I wanted to do, and I realized that I was still very capable in swimming and that I really wanted to be on that medal podium at the Olympics in Beijing. Now that I'm done with school its much easier training and recovering than in the past, but I really feel deeply that I'm going to be better than ever. It doesn't hurt that I have a great coach who tries to keep the whole training experience interesting, so going to workout isn't such a drag!

4. What do you love to do when you aren't swimming?

When I'm not swimming, my favorite pastimes are eating and sleeping! But for health reasons and reasons of trying to keep a life, I'm not able to do that all the time, so I like to watch movies, play xbox 360 with the guys, and go spear-fishing as much as possible. Whenever we play games we're always playing against each other so we're always in competition even outside the pool, its great! Gary Hall Jr. is not as bad as one would think!

5. You aren't just a pretty face but a very well educated one as well. What was the last book you read and how was it?

Thanks for the compliment :) The last book I read was not too long ago, and I want you to know it doesn't reflect my thoughts or beliefs, but I read a book on starvation/fasting called "Gladovanje" by a russian author. It was in Serbian I should add... basically I'm fascinated by the medical implications of healing through fasting. Its pretty controversial, but really interesting... It'd take me a few paragraphs to explain some thoughts behind it, but I'll just save you the energy of having to read it. :)

Photo courtesy of Bottomline Aquatics

So now I not only have to buy the book, but learn Serbian as well. GREAT! I love that photo of him spear-fishing so much I can't even tell you. Next week, Jo Fargus and Jason Lezak! We MIGHT even get some answers from Brendan before too long. Stay tuned...