[ PHOTO BY BECCA WYANT ]
Reece Whitley Putting Pieces Together to "Set Myself Up For a Good Swim" at Olympic Trials BY DAN D'ADDONA
W
hile many swimmers get more tense and feel more pressure heading into the Olympic Trials, Reece Whitley is feeling more relaxed. It isn’t because the Trials aren’t stressful, but Whitley has finally gotten to the point of his year where Trials aren’t just his main focus, but his only focus. It sometimes is easy to forget that college swimmers, while at the top of their sport, are also students with major schoolwork and pressure in the classroom. “This year has not been an easy one academically. I have been managing to train well throughout that. So I think this last push could feel actually refreshing as opposed to hectic,” Reece Whitley told Swimming World. “The vibes are good.”
where I put too much pressure on myself.” Whitley was out-touched by Minnesota’s Max McHugh in the 200 breaststroke. “Max is obviously very good and he knows I am good. We push each other. I think I settled a bit too much up front and I didn’t have enough to push through that in the back half the way I wanted. If I let things flow a little more and let things fly at the 75 instead of 125, maybe it is different,” Whitley said. “But it is all information. I got fifth as a freshman. I got to swim in the 200 IM final this year. To finish second after a long week of racing, I can’t really complain. Of course you always wish things go better.”
Whitley is coming off of an NCAA Championships that didn’t go as well as he had hoped for himself or Cal, which finished runnerup to Texas.
Whitley said he will take all of that information he learned at NCAAs and put it to good use at the Trials, where he will be swimming against some of the same athletes, as well as professionals, in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events.
“None of my swims felt good. That is the way NCAAs goes. It is about grinding through that. Nobody feels good,” Whitley said. “In the 200 breast, the morning swim was fine. I think it was just me getting excited for the day. There is also a team race that is at the forefront and you get nervous because each swim is more important. Every swim, every stroke matters. That is more to think about. I think that put me in a spot
“I will take a lot,” he said. “The mentality of going out there regardless of how you feel, not caring about time and just racing the dudes next to you. Nobody knows the exact time it will take to make it. But you know the winner of the race will go to the Olympics. It is about getting your hand on the wall first or seconds. I am focused on putting myself in position to be in the hunt. Breaststroke is pretty loaded. There are
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