Miller Awarded Deaf Athlete Of the Year for Second Time

After winning 10 medals at this summer's World Games for the Deaf in Sofia, Bulgaria, a Harvard varsity swimmer has been named Athlete of the Year by the American Athletic Association of the Deaf (AAAD).

This is the second time sophomore Caroline Miller has won the award. She was named 1989 Athlete of the Year for her performance at the 1989 World Games for the Deaf.

"I'm even more surprised [than the first time]," she said. "They don't usually pick people twice."

Miller is only the second person in the history of the award to be selected twice, according to Shirley Hortie Platt, executive director of the AAAD.

The Adams resident will go to Akron, Ohio, on April 2 to receive the award on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the AAAD.

"People fight to go to the award ceremony," Miller said.

Stunning Performance

This year's award is based on the competition at the World Games for the Deaf in July.

Miller won a bronze medal the 50-meter freestyle and nine gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle, 200-and 400-meter individual medleys, 100-and 200-meter butterfly, 100-meter backstroke and three relays.

Her 4x200 freestyle relay team set a new world record for deaf athletes of 9:08.55.

"It's really the deaf Olympics," she said. "It's fun. I don't swim well under pressure."

The award is also based on character.

"You have to be a good leader, a good person," she said.

Miller "is a wonderful, charming person with a warm, outgoing personality and she has genuinely sincere concern for others," said Platt. "Her sportsmanship, encouragement, team spirit and unrelenting desire to win are the driving force behind the USA swim team."

Miller said that her toughest competition came from the American team, but even they didn't create very much pressure.

It is harder to find deaf swimmers since many deaf children are now mainstreamed into regular schools and some are reluctant to affiliate themselves with deaf organizations, she added.

Keeping in Touch

The AAAD is Miller's way of keeping in touch with the deaf community. When she came to Harvard, Miller said she feared she would be isolated. Although that hasn't been true, she values the connections AAAD gives her. There are no hearing people in the AAAD.

"It's a cultural thing," she said. "They're my kind.' I made a big sacrifice [to come here]."

And despite her success at the World Games, Miller said she will stop competing after college even as she continues her involvement in the AAAD--possibly doing administrative work. She currently does correspondence, and she published last month's newsletter.

Competing Since Nine

Miller, who puts in about 20 hours a week for the Harvard varsity swim team, has been competing since she was nine years old.

"But it was starting not to be fun anymore," she said. "Last year [though], here at Harvard, I had a really, really good time. I need to get rid of my energy. But [after college], it will be time to do new things."

The AAAD invites all deaf people to join, both those who read lips and those who read sign language, she said.

"We are open," Miller emphasized.

The AAAD, the chief national organization promoting athletics for the deaf in the United States, is affiliated with both the United States Olympic Committee and CISS, the international governing body for deaf sports.

Its goal, according to a release, is "to provide deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adults with opportunities to compete with their peers as well as the larger society of athletes."