Trojans find community through Swim with Mike program

As a wheelchair user, USC junior Rachel Miller knows her college experience is different from most. So, when Miller saw a fellow Trojan using a wheelchair, she knew she had to say hello.

That person was Myles Molnar, who, like Miller, has relied on a wheelchair since being a teenager. As the two connected over their shared experiences growing up as student-athletes, Molnar — a graduate student in data science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering — referred Miller to the Swim with Mike Foundation, an organization that raises scholarship money for disabled athletes. Now, the two Trojans are part of a community of nearly 50 current students across the country who call themselves Swim with Mike scholarship recipients.

“It’s an organization where not only do you get the financial support that you need, but also the emotional support,” said Miller, a biochemistry major at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “They’re an organization who has seen similar situations, and so they’re best equipped to handle whatever you may have.”

This weekend, the foundation will host its 44th annual Swim with Mike event at USC, featuring multiple swimming workouts and races, a wheelchair basketball tournament and a diving show, all held at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on the University Park Campus.

For Molnar, this will be the eighth Swim with Mike event he has attended. Though he enjoys the festivities of the event, he said his favorite part is reconnecting with friends and other members of the Swim with Mike family.

“It’s always a great vibe,” Molnar said. “But people come into town for this event, so it’s just great to see friends again.”

Swim with Mike: Nearly half a century of giving

The inspiration for the first Swim with Mike event started far from any pool. On Jan. 2, 1981, a dirt-biking accident paralyzed Mike Nyeholt, a USC All-American and three-time NCAA champion swimmer. Friends and teammates organized a fundraiser to raise money to purchase a specialized van so Mike could continue his education at USC. The event — named “Swim for Mike” at the time — was a swim-a-thon that featured USC swimmers, volunteers and donors doing laps around a pool on campus. Organizers raised $58,000, and Nyeholt decided to pay it forward and keep the event going for other disabled athletes.

Since that first fundraiser, the event has featured Olympians, celebrities and even former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Over more than 40 years of events, the Swim with Mike Foundation has raised more than $25 million and awarded over 250 scholarships to recipients at more than 130 universities across the country.

“Every single person at Swim with Mike has been so kind and caring and just genuinely wants to watch you succeed,” Miller said.

Trojan upbringing for Swim with Mike beneficiary

Growing up in nearby Hermosa Beach, Miller and her two sisters — who are triplets — picked up a sense of Cardinal and Gold pride from an early age: Miller’s mother graduated from USC in 1990 and worked as a lifeguard at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

“My mom loved her time here, and she wanted us to come here and just experience what she did,” Miller said. “She will not let USC go — she’s a true alumnus and a true Trojan fan.”

USC was actually the dream school of Miller’s sister Maddie, a USC Dornsife psychology major. However, given how close they all are and their mother’s influence, Rachel and her other sister Allie — also a psychology major at USC Dornsife — joined the former as Trojans. All three are slated to graduate together in 2026.

“It’s just a full-circle moment,” Miller said of graduating from USC with her sisters. “We grew up together, have taken a lot of the same classes, and just lived life together. To be able to walk together is kind of like our final big moment before we go our separate ways.”

Miller’s path to Swim with Mike started as an eighth grader in January 2018, when she developed a viral infection. What began as an infection that Miller said was “going around” her school soon began to destroy her connective tissue and turned into a three-month hospital stay and two years of bed-bound rest and recovery.

“No one really understands what happened, and to this day, I don’t, which has been frustrating to come to terms with,” Miller said. “At the same time, there’s nothing to do except move forward.”

Her perseverance paid off, both physically and academically. She regained some mobility in her upper extremities after seven years of intense physical therapy. Once an active softball player and swimmer, Miller has found her road to recovery challenging. Fortunately, she has found ways to satisfy her competitive itch through new sports, such as wheelchair basketball.

“I just remember sitting in the sports chairs, and everyone was at the same height as me, and I felt this sense of belonging, because so often I’m talking to someone who’s standing up as almost all my friends are able-bodied,” Miller said. “I’ve never really interacted with wheelchair users before, but to have everyone at the same height playing a sport was really inspiring.”

Miller credits the Swim with Mike Foundation with not only giving her a sense of community, but also making it possible for her to have as close to the typical college experience as possible.

“Without this experience, I don’t think I would have attended college and gotten a higher education,” Miller said. “I’m incredibly thankful that they’ve made me so ambitious that my main struggle is choosing what I want to do and not the fact that I can’t do it.”

The 8,300-mile journey to USC

Unlike Miller, Molnar didn’t grow up a Trojan fan, or anywhere close to USC. A Bay Area native, Molnar spent part of his childhood in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he attended an American International School. He grew up playing baseball and soccer, but after being introduced to wrestling in fourth grade, he was hooked.

“In an individual sport like wrestling, when you lose, you can’t really point at other people — you have to own it,” Molnar said. “I’ve always gravitated towards individual sports and this focus on self-betterment.”

During wrestling practice in seventh grade, while living in Abu Dhabi, his life forever changed. At one point during practice, Molnar’s neck curved and his chin was pushed into his chest with so much force that he dislocated his C5 and C6 vertebrae. He required emergency surgery. After eight days in the hospital, Molnar began the 8,000-mile journey back to the Bay Area for rehabilitation.

“One of the main focuses is on ADLs — activities of daily living — so brushing my teeth, feeding myself, moving around in bed, getting dressed, pushing my wheelchair, brushing my hair, all these things that I kind of have to relearn how to do,” Molnar said.

He eventually entered a rehabilitation facility in Colorado, where he continued his high school course work and was introduced to the Swim with Mike Foundation.

“I was told that if I wanted to pursue higher education, it’s still completely on the table, and [Swim with Mike] is a great way to do it,” Molnar said.

Molnar had applied to several colleges, but he said one detail stood out while visiting USC. During his first trip to the University Park Campus, Molnar noticed how accessible the campus was for wheelchair users. What might have gone unnoticed by most people made all the difference for Molnar: He knew he wanted to be a Trojan.

“If a random bathroom way up in the corner of nowhere is exceptionally accessible, then this is obviously an important thing to the campus,” he said.

Since his arrival at USC, Molnar has earned a Bachelor of Science degree from USC Dornsife in computational and applied mathematics with a minor in applied analytics and started a graduate program in data science at USC Viterbi. His favorite part of his USC journey has been his work with Trojan Knights, the oldest service and spirit organization on campus, where he previously served as treasurer. Although he has faced many challenges since his wrestling days in Abu Dhabi, Molnar believes he is now stronger than ever. He credits the Swim with Mike Foundation and community with showing him what’s possible.

“The Swim with Mike scholarship has allowed me to become a student of higher education, which has broadened my horizon and my expectations in myself by lifting any limitations I may have once had,” Molnar said.