Reece Whitley swam the breaststroke leg of California's NCAA championship 400-yard medley relay in 2022. His college career also included eleven Pac-12 titles across individual races and relays, along with academic honors. A business administration graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, he completed five seasons with the Golden Bears. Away from racing, he worked with the Black Leadership in Aquatics Coalition, participating in discussions with USA Swimming about race and inclusion in the sport.
Whitley competed for Penn Charter before attending Berkeley. His early international experience included the 2015 World Junior Championships and the 2017 meet, where he served as a U.S. team captain and won four medals. In 2019, he won the U.S. national title in the 200-meter breaststroke. Those appearances brought experience in long-course international events alongside the shorter pool used for American college competition. At Berkeley, he raced in both breaststroke distances, individual medley events and medley relays.
His first college season ended with California winning the 2019 NCAA team championship. He received the Pac-12 Swimming Freshman of the Year award. He later helped California win the national team title again in 2022, when his medley relay set a school record. In individual races at that NCAA meet, he placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke and seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke. He had finished second nationally in the 200-yard breaststroke the previous year.
Whitley earned his business administration degree in 2022. He was named the Pac-12 men's swimming and diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a CoSIDA Academic All-American that year. He also received Academic All-District recognition, an award considering classroom work and athletic performance together. After graduating, he used an additional season of eligibility available under the NCAA's pandemic waiver. He helped California win another team championship in 2023 and received second-team All-America recognition in the 200-yard breaststroke during that final season.
He announced his retirement from competitive swimming in June 2023. His public work during college had included conversations with club teams and with USA Swimming through the Black Leadership in Aquatics Coalition. Whitley described the coalition's role as making the concerns of less visible Black swimmers part of national discussions. He spoke about racial injustice and about changes needed within swimming organizations.
