Will Miller '07 is competing with the U.S. men's eight at the 2012 London Games. The eight won its heat on Saturday morning to advance directly to the Final A, to be held on Aug. 1. Miller is the 39th Northeastern athlete or coach to appear in the Olympics. To learn more about Northeastern in the Olympics, click here.
This article first appeared in the Boston Herald on July 12, 2012.
Miller, dad in same boat
By JOHN CONNOLLY
The 2012 London Olympics will signify a passing of the torch for Bill and Will Miller. It was 40 years ago that the elder Miller (Bill) rowed in the 1972 Munich Games in the coxless fours, alongside former Harvard oarsman Chuck Hewitt, former Penn rower Jim Moroney and ex-Brown crew member Dick Dreissigacker, all members of Philadelphia's vaunted Vesper Rowing Club.
Now, his son is heading to next month's Games as part of the United States heavyweight eight crew that will be racing on the man-made, six-lane, 2,200-meter Eton Dornay course. Rowing events take place during the first week of the Olympics before giving way to kayak and canoeing events the second week.
“It's a dream,” said a proud Bill Miller, who captained the Northeastern crew in 1969 and will be in London with his wife Sally and other son, Christopher, to watch Will.
“I'm pretty excited, just to be a part of everything,” echoed the younger Miller, who captained NU's rowing team in 2006.
Miller's crew qualified in May when it rowed a time of 5 minutes, 36.11 seconds to fend off crews from New Zealand (5:40.02) and France (5:46.35) on a 2,000-meter course in Lucerne, Switzerland. Since the men's eights are set to race Saturday, July 28, the first full day of competition, Miller's team likely will skip the previous night's opening ceremonies.
“We always knew what had to be done in order to get to the Olympics,” Will said. “We knew we had the capability both with the coaching that we had and with all the hard work we had done. But we also took nothing for granted.
“People call it 'The Regatta of Death' because it's a last chance to get to the Olympics. There's definitely a great deal of gravitas to it. Not just in the eight. There is a lot of rowing going on and you see crews either ecstatic or crushed.”
The Millers took similar, roundabout paths to rowing. Bill, now 65, went to Taunton High School, where he was a 6-foot-5 center in basketball, playing in the bruising former Bristol County League. At Northeastern, several other tall students approached him about rowing, which was a new sport at the school with an exuberant coach in the legendary Ernie Arlett.
“I told them maybe yes, maybe no. They were persistent. I wound up making the varsity my last two seasons and captaining the NU crew in 1969,” Bill said.
Will, 28, went to Duxbury High, where he was a member of the school's first state champion lacrosse team. After completing his rowing eligibility (he was captain in 2006) and his five-year co-op education program, he picked up the long stick again and played club lacrosse during his final semester.
“He said he wanted to try rowing in college, and he looked around and chose Northeastern on his own,” said Bill, who was a longtime crew coach at Boston University. “He surpassed everything I ever did. I was fourth in the Eastern Sprints. Will was third. He rowed three seasons on the varsity, I rowed two.”
Will, who also stands 6-5, currently lives in Almeida, Calif., and is a member of the California Rowing Club, training in Oakland under the tutelage of U.S. coach Tim McLaren and University of California coach Mike Teti. Will rowed double sculls and quadruple sculls before deciding to try for a spot on the heavyweight eights.
“It wasn't too tough to get back (into eights) because I had a background in sweep rowing, and all college rowing is in sweeps (one oar), and my coaches had me do some sweep rowing in the fall,” Will said.
Bill Miller recalled the 1972 Olympics, which were interrupted by the Munich massacre in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, a West German police officer and five terrorists were killed, as “obviously a unique experience.”
“You feel honored to represent the United States,” said Bill, whose competition concluded before the massacre took place. “You see all the fantastic athletes from around the world, and it's just great to be part of it and compete. Unfortunately, we didn't do as well as we wanted, but it was an honor to be on that team.
“Unfortunately, there was a timeout in the middle of it due to the tragedy. That took a lot of the excitement away from it. But you're in it to compete. It's one of the great sports experiences in the world and I can't describe it. Now that Will is going to get the opportunity to do it is something you can't really explain.”
Will Miller always has been aware of his Olympic pedigree.
“I don't think there ever was one particular time that we sat down and talked about it, but growing up when you're a kid you're aware that your dad competed in the Olympics so I was always pretty proud,” he said. “My dad ran a rowing camp so you're always around these elite rowers. You just never thought too much about it. When I got older I realized the impact better. It's exciting.”
