Reece Whitley (born January 3, 2000) is an American competitive swimmer specializing in the breaststroke. In 2019, he was named 2019 Pac-12 Men's Swimming Freshman of the Year.[6] At age 15, he won the silver medal in the 100 meter breaststroke at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Singapore,[7] where he also finished 4th in the 200 meter breaststroke.[3]

Reece Whitley
Personal information
National team United States
Born (2000-01-03) January 3, 2000 (age 24)[3]
Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, U.S.[4]
Height6 ft 8 in (203 cm)[1]
Weight245 lb (111 kg) (2015)[5]
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
ClubPenn Charter Aquatic Club[1]
College teamUniversity of California, Berkeley[2]
CoachCrystal Keelan[1]
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing the  United States
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Junior Championships 0 5 0
Total 0 5 0
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2015 Singapore 100 m breaststroke
Silver medal – second place 2015 Singapore 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2017 Indianapolis 100 m breaststroke
Silver medal – second place 2017 Indianapolis 200 m breaststroke
Silver medal – second place 2017 Indianapolis 4×100 m mixed medley
Junior Pan Pacific Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Maui 100 m breaststroke
Representing the California Golden Bears
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
NCAA Championships 0 4 2
Total 0 4 2
By race
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
100 y breaststroke 0 0 1
200 y breaststroke 0 1 0
4×50 y medley 0 1 1
4×100 y medley 0 2 0
Total 0 4 2
NCAA Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Austin 4×50 y medley
Silver medal – second place 2019 Austin 4×100 y medley
Silver medal – second place 2021 Greensboro 200 y breaststroke
Silver medal – second place 2021 Greensboro 4×100 y medley
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Greensboro 100 y breaststroke
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Greensboro 4×50 y medley

Whitley was named Sports Illustrated Kids' SportsKid of the Year for 2015.[8][9][10]

Personal life

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Whitley swam for 5 season as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley. He graduated from William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia in 2018.[1] He started taking swimming lessons at age 7 after failing a deep-water safety test.[11] He also started playing basketball and baseball at age 7,[10][12] but he stopped playing baseball after he broke his first swimming national age group record in 2012.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Crouse, Karen (May 9, 2016). "At 16, Reece Whitley Stands Tall in and Out of Water". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  2. ^ "Top Ranked Recruit Reece Whitley Verbals to Cal". swimswam. June 17, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Featured Bio Reece Whitley". USA Swimming. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "Reece Whitley". Swimswam. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (January 25, 2015). "Already dominant at 15, Penn Charter's 6–foot–8 Reece Whitley is swimming toward a possible Olympic berth". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  6. ^ "Cal's Reece Whitley is named 2019 Pac-12 Men's Swimming Freshman of the Year". Pac-12 conference. April 4, 2019. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  7. ^ "Anton Chupkov Challenges World Junior Record in 100 Breast Win at 2015 FINA World Junior Championships". Swimming World. August 26, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  8. ^ McGarr McCue, Elizabeth (November 30, 2015). "SportsKid of the Year 2015: Reece Whitley". Sports Illustrated Kids. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  9. ^ Lutz, Rachel (November 30, 2015). "Swimmer Reece Whitley named Sports Illustrated's Sportskid of the Year 2015". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Feeney, Nolan (November 30, 2015). "Swimmer Reece Whitley Is Sports Illustrated Kids' 'SportsKid of the Year'". TIME. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Eisenberg, Jeff (July 30, 2015). "Fifteen-year-old swimmer Reece Whitley set to chase an Olympic bid". Yahoo!. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  12. ^ Hunt, Donald (February 26, 2016). "Reece Whitley hopes to stand out at Olympic swimming trials". ESPN. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
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