There is already a ton of buzz gathering around the newest California Golden Bears swimming commit. Reece Whitley is still only 17 years old, but there’s a lot of talk about him becoming extremely special by the time the 2020 Olympics roll around.
Obviously, Whitley’s story becomes more compelling to the national media because of his skin color. An African-American in a generally white sport, Whitley’s early success has a lot of people rooting for him to do great things.
Dana O’Neil penned a story about Whitley to the Washington Post, particularly highlighting the impact Whitley could have on young African American children that could be akin to what Simone Manuel did at the Rio Games and Cullen Jones did before both of them.