DURHAM, N.C. – Duke swimming and diving head coach Dan Colella has announced the addition of Athena Miller to the Blue Devil coaching staff. Miller will serve as an assistant coach, working with the program’s male and female swimmers.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have someone of Athena’s experience level joining our staff,” Colella said. “Having been a head coach, I think she’s going to be a really great addition to supporting us in our endeavors this year. We have such a great group here at Duke, and Athena has a skill set that is going to be invaluable to the success of the program.”
Miller comes to Durham from Defiance College, a Division III institution in Ohio, where she was the head coach of the men’s and women’s teams from 2012-15. She took over at the helm of the Yellow Jackets program in its second year, recruiting student-athletes to help start up the teams.
Prior to overseeing the swimming programs at Defiance, Miller spent four seasons as the head coach at Stow Munroe Falls High School in Stow, Ohio. During that time, she also worked as an assistant coach for the Firestone Akron Swim Team, guiding a pair of athletes to Ohio’s Division I state qualifying marks and mentoring an Olympic trials qualifier.
A native of Wadsworth, Ohio, Miller swam and participated in pole vault on the track and field team at the University of Mount Union. She graduated in 2008 with a degree in business administration and went on to receive a master’s in sport psychology from Capella University in 2012 and an MBA in sport management from Defiance in 2015.
“I am thankful and honored to be so welcomed into the Blue Devil family,” Miller said. “These student-athletes are highly committed to both academic and athletic excellence and creating a dynamic environment that I am both excited and proud to be a part of.”
Swimming news courtesy of Duke Swimming & Diving.
