(Will Miller and his parents Bill and Sally at the World  Championships in New Zealand. Photo courtesy of Bill Miller.)

William Miller grew up under an Olympic legacy and now it’s his turn to create one of his own.

This summer he’ll have the experience of a lifetime rowing in the London Summer Olympics for the U.S. Men’s Eight Team. Beating out France and New Zealand for a spot in the Olympics was no small feat but in Lucerne, Switzerland this past May, Miller and his team pulled out an incredible nearly four second victory over New Zealand sealing their place in the Summer Olympics. “I’m really excited about the racing experience and the overall experience,” said Miller, 28, a 2002 Duxbury High graduate, from his training camp in California. “It’s been a long four or so years leading up to this moment.”

Miller who played lacrosse all through his DHS years and was a member of the first lacrosse state championship team, didn’t start rowing competitively until college. Miller rowed at Duxbury Bay Maritime School recreationally, and then devoted himself to it while at Northeastern University. Miller’s father, Bill Miller certainly gave him good rowing genes having competed himself in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

“I’ve had so little to do with everything,” said Miller’s father Bill. “He’s accomplished this all on his own and superceded everything I’ve done.”

Will’s father rowed in the Munich Olympics in the men’s four boat, which Miller actually qualified for in this year’s Olympics, but he decided to switch and row in the men’s eight instead. Miller’s father says his time in Munich was certainly an experience to remember but that his son has reached the Olympics completely on his own.

“I’ve never even coached him,” said Bill Miller. “He has done this all on his own. It’s something he took up in college and has just succeeded with. I guess I’m glad I never got in there and messed him up.”

While Miller may have taken the initiative all on his own and certainly succeeded, he is creating a very important family legacy for the Millers. Bill and Will Miller are only the second father son Olympic rowing tradition in Olympic history.

“Proud is putting it mildly,” said Sally Miller, Will’s mother. “We’re thrilled to say the least.”

While Miller has the support and legacy of his family to lean on, he has already proven himself to be a superior athlete. All through his college years, he trained hard, eventually gaining a place on the under 23 team for the U.S. where he continued to compete successfully. He’s been racing and competing on the U.S. team for five years. His Olympic debut is sure to be well received as the men’s eight event is the most anticipated event for U.S. rowing.

The crew has to beat out Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Australia and the Ukraine to win gold this summer. The competition is very close and sometimes fractions of a second determine the winner.

“It’s a really tight field,” Miller said. “There’s no real margin. Germany has been doing really well, but they are by no means untouchable. There’s a lot of good competition out there.”

The races are set up in heats with four boats in each for the first race. The winners of those heats will go on to compete in the next race of six boats and the first four will go on to the final race for the gold, silver and bronze medals.

“Just being there is obviously an honor,” said Miller. “We have our sights set on a medal though, it’d be nice to win some hardware.”

Miller heads to London on July 18 and he will train until the team’s first race on the 28, the day after the opening ceremony.

“We just have to show up on race day ready to go,” said Miller. “It’s a really great feeling of surging ahead in the boat and giving everything you have.”

Miller’s parents plan on going to London to cheer on their son. For Miller’s father, this second Olympic experience presents him with the sense of having come full circle.

Said Bill Miller, “It’s hard to compare the two. I’ll be sitting at one and I stood at the other. But it’s unbelievably exciting and thrilling to see him race.”