Cal swimmer pursuing Olympic history, despite pandemic delay

Reece Whitley, 20, is one of the top swimmers in the country in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke races. He attends the University of California, one of the top swim programs in the country.

But his goals extend farther than the 25 yards in the NCAA pools. The 6-foot-9 swimmer, a native of Philadelphia and former swimmer at William Penn Charter School, is trying to reach new heights by earning a berth in the Olympics and potentially joining a small list of Black swimmers to medal in the Olympics.

Whitley’s pursuit will have to wait another year, since the Olympics were postponed until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Having the Olympics in 2020 would’ve been unfair for a lot of people who wouldn’t have had a chance to give their best shot at trials,” Whitley said. “I just feel bad for a lot of people on the older side, where an extra year of training may not be best for them.”

Cal won the 2019 NCAA swimming and diving championships when Whitley was a freshman and was positioned to make another run this year. Whitley had a goal of making it to Tokyo.

“It’s a privilege to swim at this level regardless of race,” Whitley said. The best part about my position is that I’m not in it by myself. There are more elite Black swimmers that are my age and younger that you’ll definitely know about by 2021 or 2024.”

A two-time national high school swimmer of the year, Whitley was named PAC-12 swimming freshman of the year during Cal’s NCAA title run and also was named to the PAC-12’s winter academic honor roll.