Scott Miller, the Olympic silver medallist who served three years for running a crystal meth syndicate, opens up in a new ABC documentary about his fall from grace, his addiction, and his fight to rebuild his life.

Scott Miller won silver in the 100-metre butterfly at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was on top of the world. Then he became a drug addict. Then he became a convicted drug dealer. Now, at 50, he's telling his story in a new ABC documentary, Deep End: The Scott Miller Story.

Miller isn't asking for sympathy. He knows how it looks. But he wants people to understand the full picture — not just the headlines.

"I know I'm not a bad person," he says in the documentary, speaking from his childhood home in Manly, where he cares for his mother, Jenny. "I've just made some mistakes in life and my whole mantra now is about trying to help kids not go down the same path."

The two-part series, premiering June 22 on ABC and ABC iview, traces Miller's journey from swimming prodigy to drug addict to prison inmate. It's a raw, unflinching look at how fast things can fall apart.

Miller was 15 when he joined the Australian Institute of Sport. He won Commonwealth gold, then Olympic silver in Atlanta — losing to Russia's Denis Pankratov by a fraction of a second. Pankratov had swum most of the first lap underwater, a tactic that was legal but controversial. Miller says that loss, combined with injuries and a lack of support from the swimming establishment, sent him into a spiral.

"They didn't give a f---," he says. "They were just there to take. I felt used. I was currency. No one gave a shit about Scott and about Scott's future."

He got hooked on drugs. In 2013, police arrested him for possessing methamphetamine. He got a one-year suspended sentence. Then, in 2024, he was released from prison after serving more than three years for his role in a drug syndicate that supplied crystal meth — "ice".

The documentary features interviews with childhood friend and TV host Johanna Griggs, as well as other swimmers and coaches. It also reveals Miller's relationship with former shock jock Alan Jones, who is facing indecent assault charges. Miller says Jones was controlling — pushing him into his short marriage to the late Charlotte Dawson.

"Alan's got his opinion on how things should be done, and his controlling was in my best interest," says Miller. "But I felt that I needed to make my own decisions. I needed to be wrong."

Getting back in the water after 15 years was brutal. Miller trained for the Masters Swimming Australia National Championships in Brisbane, where he broke a national record in the 50-metre butterfly. But the pool brought back bad memories.

"I had a lot of bad feelings attached to [the water]," he says. "It turned to hatred and fear. I didn't even want to have a shower. That's how bad it was."

Now, Miller speaks to young people through Alcohol and Drug Awareness Australia in Victoria. He says the kids are shocked by his story — and that's exactly the point.

"Their eyes don't leave me and their jaws hit the ground," he says. "I get a lot of them coming up to me afterwards and saying, 'Mate, that was full on, you've given me a different perspective.' I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to help someone."

Deep End: The Scott Miller Story airs at 8pm on Monday, June 22, on ABC and ABC iview.