Catching up with Karinne Miller
Karinne Miller, a NAC alumnus, is being inducted into the Southeastern Swimming Hall of Fame in early October. Karinne, who was a silver medalist in the 200m butterfly at the Pan American Games, was also an 8-time National Finalist in individual events, and won a national championship and set an American Record on a relay.
NAC caught up with Karinne Miller and asked her a few questions. Enjoy!
The American Record setting relay. From left to right: Amy Caulkins, Joan Pennington, Tracy Caulkins, Karinne Miller. Courtesy of Marjorie Shuer, Durham, NH
Where do you live now and what are you up to these days?
I live in Franklin, Tennessee, with Stuart and our two daughters, Rachel (16) and Rebecca (14). I also work full time as a Design Director at The Buntin Group.
How did swimming help lay the foundation for what you were able to accomplish later in life?
I think swimming taught me how to be good at something. After I retired from swimming I wanted to be good at something else. And that something was graphic design. Like in the pool I had some talent but I certainly wasn't the most naturally gifted. Being 5 feet 2 didn't help. But I had some good teachers who taught me foundations and from there I knew I had to work my rear off to get better at it. It is so cliché but to get good at something takes hours and hours for years upon years of hard work, focus and passion. Editor’s note: Karinne has indeed proven her talent after swimming as she has won numerous awards during her design career, including a Grammy Award for the "Asleep at the Wheel's Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys" CD. She has also been named "Art Director of the Year" four times by the Nashville Advertising Federation, more than any other art director in Middle Tennessee.
What is your fondest memory of swimming for the Nashville Aquatic Club?
There are a ton of them.
Watching Tracy break her first American Record in Birmingham, Ala., when she was 14. And watching the crowd. We all cried. This was back when the girls from California were the only ones coming close to competing with the East Germans. (ie. Shirley Babashoff and Jill Sterkel) Then here comes little 100 pound Tracy from Nashville.
Also winning our first National title/setting an American Record as a relay team and an overall National Championship women's team title. Coach Bergen had us practice our relay take offs for hours at a time. And we got so good at them that neither the officials nor anyone in the audience could tell if we had false started. And it gave us at least a second advantage over the other teams for every take off. We were just this group of girls from Nashville and showed up on the national stage in Canton, Ohio, and later in Austin, Texas, big time. The American Record held for a long time.
And another memory that we always relive is was when Dave Swenson, Patty King, Claire Sanders and I were all too young to go to the State High School Meet in Knoxville. So the coaches found us an alternative meet in some dive pool in small town Alabama. I'm not even sure if they had lines on the bottom of the pool. But we all killed our best times in everything we swam, invented new NAC cheers, ate “Deluxe Graham” cookies, and laughed for 3 days straight.
Do you still keep in touch with any of your NAC teammates, and if so, who?
Not as many as I would like to, but Claire (Sanders), Macie (Phillips), Alice (Irvin), Bill (Allen), and of course my University of Florida teammates Tracy (Caulkins), Amy (Caulkins), and John (Morse), to name a few.
What’s the biggest difference, if any, in competitive swimming now and when you swam?
I think it is really the nuts and bolts of it. Like the changing of the backstroke turns and your head can go underwater in breaststroke. Track starts and the stricter false start rule. (Which is good for women wearing opaque suits dry and totally see through after they get wet ; )
Other than that it is still about who gets back and forth the fastest.
Do you still follow the team and its accomplishments now? What has caught your attention in recent months?
It has been so exciting to read in the paper about the most recent Olympic Trials, and how many from NAC competed. Brings back many fond memories and it makes me proud that the swimming legacy that we helped build continues today.
What are your thoughts on being inducted into the Southeastern Swimming Hall of Fame?
It is an enormous honor! And a total surprise.
From left to Right: Tracy Caulkins, Claire Sanders McCall, Macie Smitherman, Karinne Miller
