COC athletes at Smith: Nathaniel Miller
Posted on February 20, 2018
The Winter Games in Pyeongchang are wrapping up soon. The final profile in our series celebrating the Olympics is water polo great Nathaniel Miller.
Kingston, ON – One of Canada’s most decorated water polo players, Nathaniel Miller traces his roots in the sport back to, of all things, a blip in government infrastructure spending.
For Canada’s centennial, in 1967, a bevy of pools was built on Montreal’s West Island. Swim clubs popped up all over, and by the time a young Nathaniel joined his local club many years later, Montreal had become an aquatic hot spot.
“My first coaches were two national team players, so I had great mentors. I fell in love with the idea of competing against the best,” says Nathaniel, who grew up in the Montreal suburb of Kirkland.
Over an 11-year career on Canada’s senior men’s national team, Nathaniel won three bronze medals at the Pan Am Games, a Commonwealth Water Polo Championship (he was named MVP), and his team qualified for the Olympics in 2008 — a first for men’s water polo in Canada.
More hardware came during a pro career, including elite division championships with the Olympic Nice Natation club in France and Fluminense in Brazil.
Now in Calgary, Nathaniel, 38, develops sports programs for InjaNation Fun & Fitness, an indoor trampoline park and obstacle course for families, while he works toward his EMBA at Smith. “The opportunity to go to one of the best business schools in the world is something I couldn’t pass up.”
He’s still involved in water polo, too, coaching at a local club in Calgary — and mentoring, perhaps, Canada’s next generation of water polo greats.