

Miles Chamley-Watson knows how to look good. He also is one of the top foil fencers in the world. But finding a way to train, fence and model isn’t always easy for the British/American athlete. The 6-foot-3 righty is the second-ranked U.S. fencer and is currently No. 7 in the world. He medaled in Rio for Team USA in 2016, winning bronze in the Men’s team foil event. In 2013, he became the first American man to ever win an individual Senior World Championship title. Watson spoke with Uproxx on the way to the airport before a flight to Leipzig, Germany, where the 2017 Fencing World Championships start on Friday. With high hopes for gold, the 27-year-old Olympic bronze medalist and model has plenty on his plate. It’s a good thing he’s learned to sleep on planes and doesn’t mind sneaking in workouts at midnight to keep himself sharp. He chatted about being a vampire, his style and how he balances stabbing people without recourse and making time for friends and family. And also maybe being the next James Bond. https://www.instagram.com/p/BWlHwOdH8nQ/ You have a very busy schedule with training, competing and even modeling. How do you find time to relax and have some leisure time? Obviously it’s tough to kind of balance both training and fencing and all that stuff, but I think for me, I like to think of those things as a healthy distraction. I like to kind of put myself in those things because I’d rather do a lot of things at once instead of one thing. And I don’t complain. It’s always a good time when you’re busy. I think it just comes down to how you balance it. For me there’s a lot of time in the day I can sneak in a workout at 5 a.m. or at midnight, and schedule them around photo shoots. So for me, there are no excuses. You have to take time to balance and get everything done. I read your piece in the New York Times a few weeks ago that took us through your “off day.” It was interesting to see that even on your Sunday you have a pretty set schedule and are still working out and burning thousands of calories. Is that something you grow tired of?

I said the same thing when I read the article. I was like, “Jesus, I don’t really have an off day.” I think my days are always going to have structure but obviously I still would if I don’t go to the gym. But Sundays are kind of a relaxing day but there’s always kind of a routine underlying my day, but Sundays are a little less strict. I try to keep myself on a schedule even though it’s supposed to be my off day. But I kind of have some fun with my friends, walk around and be a bit more relaxed even though it’s a busy day. I try not to complain.

It also doesn’t sound like you get a lot of sleep. In the piece it says you’re up on nights until about 1 or 2 a.m., then you’re awake at 9 a.m. again, which you say is late for you. When do you actually get to sleep? To be honest with you, I don’t really sleep much. I’m a vampire. It’s kind of nuts, I sleep all the time on airplanes, though. Like, I’ll literally sleep the entire flight to Germany. That’s kind of where I sleep the most, it’s weird. Thank God I travel a lot so I have good seats most of the time, but I sleep mostly on airplanes. I probably sleep six hours a day, if that. When you’re training for competition, are you focusing on something in particular? Balance? Quickness? Reading the opponent? Or is it just an effort to keep everything sharp? Balance is probably one of the number one things for my sport, and my life in general. If I don’t have balance social life with my competition schedule then I’ll struggle. It kind of goes hand in hand. So for me, I’m always looking for balance. I do a lot of agility work on the ball, a lot of hand-eye coordination. So I’d say balance is number one and hand-eye coordination. In general, in sports, you win some you lose some. It’s like that for everyone, but especially for athletes. One minute you’re on top, the next minute you’re on the bottom. So it’s kind of something you always have to understand and for me, I’m happy all the time. Even when things aren’t going well, I’ll never show it. So people will never know. But for me, I think if you have balance in life in general you’ll go very far. And I’m able to balance both… balance is definitely number one. https://www.instagram.com/p/BUxkRsbFMQv/ I saw the piece that you were wearing a Lokai bracelet that has the UK flag and the US flag colors on it. You wear that passion for your origin story quite literally on your sleeve with your tattoos. Why are you so passionate about sharing that with others?

For me, I’ll always obviously have that British background. I was born there, I’ll never ever forget that. But now I represent America so it’s always kind of nice to be part of both countries. I like to say I was born in London but bred in New York. The bracelet represents both countries and it helps that both flags use red, white and blue, which makes it easier for me. But I think they’re very similar but different in different ways. I’ll never shy away from being both British and American. You’ve worked directly with Lokai for a while now, but what kind of jewelry do you wear on your days off? Do you wear anything while you’re competing? Are you a watch guy as well? Honestly, I don’t ever take off my bracelets. And I’m not just saying that. I literally never take them off. I have tan lines, which is annoying, but I never take them off. I sleep with them on. But obviously I’m a watch guy, too. Watches are my thing. But on my right arm, I never take them off. I have five on as we speak right now. For me it’s like a style thing. People ask me about the company. And it looks visually beautiful. If you don’t know the story of the company, it’s a great story to tell. The only way I take them off is if I give them to you. And you have to be really special. Or really attractive. [laughs]

How exciting is it for you to be a part of the company’s next line of jewelry? They’re taking a step forward with recycled materials, is that something you’re passionate about? Wait until you see these bad boys, my friend! Game changer. I think the 2.0 is perfect for where I am in my life right now in how they visually look, so I think the 2.0 is something that’s going to open a completely different audience. I have both 2.0 and the originals on at the same time. I think it’s a great addition to the collection. But the 2.0 for me might be my favorite. You seem really passionate about the company in a genuine way. That’s certainly not always the case with these kind of endorsements. What’s so special about these bracelets for you?

It’s a mental reminder for me that I started out years ago and I didn’t necessarily believe I could make a living or be able to do the kind of things I’ve been doing with fencing. Having a Lokai bracelet on is a mental reminder of where I came from and to always be humble. Today I might be shooting this but tomorrow I could have nothing, so that’s why it’s so important to have them in every piece of work I do. Just, you know, it show that I’ve grown a lot but it shows where I’ve come from. https://www.instagram.com/p/BWqmCVqnl5K/ Sports Illustrated came out with a list of fashionable athletes a few days ago. Not only were you on the list, you got an award — Best Street Style. What does that mean to you to be recognized like that? I’m just out here changing the game, you know how it goes. (laughs) No, but for me it’s awesome to be on the list. Because everybody on that list is a pretty big athlete. And I got to actually shoot with them. But let’s be honest here: I think I’m number one. With all the pictures that I do, I try to have a little piece of me in the magazine. And I can’t say anything yet, but be on the lookout for me in a high fashion magazine soon. It seems like athletes have embraced style to a much greater extent these days. Is that something you’ve seen in the fencing world as well? Yeah, I think the cool thing is when I have kids come up to me and say ‘Oh, I was getting made fun of in school but I showed them a picture of you and now they stopped making fun of me.’ And I was like ‘Why?’ and they say ‘You’re cool. You’re stylish and all that’ That, to me, is the extra kind of umph to do the things I do. I want kids around the world to look at sports outside of the traditional sports they grow up with. That’s one kind of message I’ve wanted to have. To kind of open doors and show kids that there’s a lot more out there than what you see from everyone else. Being different is important. https://www.instagram.com/p/BWQ3wH4HfPB/ So the door’s open here: what would you say to someone interested in fencing if they’ve never given the sport a look?