May 2022

I will start with Jeff Miller, who wins this year’s Gold Star for being the first to respond with an update. Jeff informs us that he does “not have much to say about what I did this year, but some nice things happened to my daughter, Caroline Miller Solomon. She was inducted into the US Deaf Sports Hall of Fame and the 2021 Greater Washington Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. As with most hall-of-fame inductions, these swimming accomplishments all occurred many years ago.”

Proud Papa Jeff was too modest to say anything directly about Caroline in his write-up, but he did include a shield that says more about her achievements from which I, being far less modest, will also cite vertically verbatim: Caroline participated in two Deaflympics. At the 1989 one in Christchurch (I assume New Zealand) she won four gold, three silver, and one bronze. Four years later in Bulgaria, she won nine gold and one bronze. Due to her wins at both, she won the Athlete of the Year honors in both 1989 and 1993. She also participated in the 1995 World Swimming Championships in Belgium where she won six golds and broke the 100-butterfly deaf world record. She also still holds the US Deaf Swimming records for three events in long course meters (LCM): 100 Butterfly, 200 IM (I would guess Individual Medley), and 400 IM). In addition, she was a four-year varsity swimmer for the aforementioned University, where among other awards and achievements, she is still one of the top best performers in Harvard swimming history in the 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 IM. Outside the pool — but not completely outside the water — Caroline has a MS in biological oceanography from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in the same subject from the University of Maryland, and she is currently a professor of biology and director of the School of Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. Jeff (“senior”) also reported that “there is another Gilman connection here,” noting that his son “Jeff, (Class of 1995) portrayed his sister in his senior speech. He signed the speech, and a classmate vocalized it, for which he won the senior speaking prize.” On behalf of all of us, very warm belated kudos to both Caroline and Jeff (‘junior”) as well as to their happy parents!

reported by John Redwood