This feature originally appeared in the 2020-21 Winter edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.




It might be cool to appear on "Good Morning America," but it doesn't pack quite the same punch on the pool deck at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
 
And that's just how Reece Whitley wanted it.
 
The larger-than-life Cal swimmer came to Berkeley in 2018 as one of the most recognizable recruits in recent memory. At 6-foot-9 and Black in a predominantly white sport, he already had the prerequisites to make people stand up and take notice. But it turns out Whitley is also a dominant swimmer who at one point was being referred to as the United States' "next Michael Phelps."
 
The attention in the swim world was overwhelming, and while it wasn't like Whitley couldn't handle it, he preferred not to.
 
"I really didn't let it get to me at all," said Whitley, now a junior for the Golden Bears. "It's definitely an interesting space to navigate. Over time, you get accustomed to it."
 
When major colleges began calling to land the No. 1 recruit in the country, Whitley was ready for something different. While he appreciated the attention, he was ready for the blending in approach. At Cal, where Olympians, record-holders and All-Americans swim in the pool every day, Whitley found his place.
 
"By the time I was a senior in high school, I wanted to get to a place where none of that mattered," Whitley said. "Cal was a perfect spot. Nobody is going to stop and take a picture with you here. Nobody is going to pat you on the back. It's what I needed, and I think that's why this is the one program that I felt that I could thrive in because all of that is out the window. You have to earn your respect here."
 
Whitley may have needed a break from all the attention, but that's not to say he didn't want to make an immediate impact at Cal. Even though world-class swimmers – both current and former Golden Bears – train at Spieker every day, he still felt the expectations common to a top recruit.
 
Whitley had every intention of making his mark as a freshman, but he immediately discovered how competitive it is by swimming in his own pool. Whitley's specialty is the breaststroke, and former Cal All-American Josh Prenot, the American record-holder in the 200 breaststroke, was training with the team. Andrew Seliskar was another top breaststroker who ended up winning the 200 at the 2019 NCAA Championships as a senior, helping the Bears capture the team title.
 
"When I got here, it was intimidating," Whitley said. "When you're a highly touted recruit, there's some pressure to come in and perform immediately. I got over that pretty quickly through my first semester. Maybe it was a little too tall of an order for an 18-year-old to be putting on himself."
 
By the age of 12, Whitley was well-known enough in swimming circles that he was posing for pictures with fans. But the exposure really took off when he was named Sports Illustrated's SportsKid of the Year at the age of 15. That landed him a feature on ABC's "Good Morning America."
 
"There were constant interviews after that," said Crystal Keelan, Whitley's junior coach. "People were coming to the pool. I had a microphone on me. There were cameras all around. They were great opportunities, but at the same time there was more pressure."
 
Whitley says the only time he really felt like the outside burden of expectations affected his performance was at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. With the nation watching and anticipating a strong performance from a 16-year-old, Whitley finished 13th in the 100 breaststroke and 14th in the 200.
 
"No 16-year-old guy should be thinking about going out there, stepping on the pool deck and trying to make the Olympic Team," Whitley said. "That's way far beyond the scope. That was honestly the first meet where I just swam terribly. I definitely think the attention got to me a little bit."
 
While Whitley spent most of his first two years at Cal successfully blending in to the program, he took center stage once again this summer, but not because of his accomplishments in the pool. Whitley emerged as a swimming spokesperson of sorts for racial justice in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and the societal reckoning that followed.
 
Whitley's voice became an important and frequent one in the swim world. He made a video message for "UNINTERRUPTED," the athlete empowerment platform co-founded by LeBron James. He was interviewed by USA Today and a number of other publications, not to mention conversations he had with his own team and others. He also wrote a first-person story for CalBears.com.
 
"I think it's been equal parts cathartic and equal parts exhausting for Reece," Cal head coach Dave Durden said. "Fairly or unfairly, he kind of carries forward that mantle of being a fast, Black swimmer in our sport. So people are going to turn to him and ask him what he thinks. Reece has handled it so well."
 
Whitley's story has always taken place within the context of race – since he first started garnering attention as a teenager. Whitley has stood out not just because he is tall and fast; he is also noticed because he is a Black swimmer in an overwhelmingly white sport.
 
"I've always embraced it," Whitley said. "I don't think I really had a choice. It is the main talking point in a lot of situations. I'm unapologetic about it. At the end of the day, I'm just like anybody else. I want to race. I want to win. It's not about race with me."
 
Whitley's voice resonated throughout Cal's roster during a handful of team conversations about racial justice this summer. Durden said they were words the team needed to hear, including himself.
 
"We never had that conversation before," Durden said. "To have it, and to just hear it, it made my heart sink. It's been eye-opening for me. I kind of run through my daily life and I have empathy for the events going on around us, but to really hear it in Reece's words and not just through my own ideas of what's going is different. It makes it more meaningful, emotional, impactful."
 
Whitley plans to continue to use his voice to speak out about racial injustice. In September, USA Swimming named him to a 14-member committee called "Team BLAC" (Black Leadership in Aquatics Coalition), made up of present and former members of the U.S. National Team, including former Cal great Anthony Ervin. The coalition's mission is to be "the aquatics leaders of the Black voice and to impact the sport of swimming through exposure, resources and mentorship."
 
"I simply want to see two things – representation and education," Whitley said. "It takes time, obviously. But if I can at least lay the groundwork for people to continue that work after me, that's just as important – just doing what you can to pass it on and make sure the change is long-lasting and continuing over time."