Luke Whitlock started as a reluctant swimmer.
“It took (some) convincing to get him to swim,” said his mother, Kara Whitlock. “We laugh because he didn’t pass Level 1 in swimming lessons (at age 6) because he didn’t want to put his face in the water. Then his little brother Blake did it and then it was game on because he’s very competitive. He looked like a swimmer when he swam, so we were trying to convince him to join the swim team. It took a couple of years, but he decided to try it.”
The Fishers Area Swimming Tigers member has come a long way. Whitlock, 18, was the youngest U.S. male swimmer to make the U.S. Olympic team since Michael Phelps made it at age 15 in 2000. Whitlock qualified by finishing second to Bobby Finke in the 800-meter freestyle with a personal-best time of 7 minutes, 45.19 seconds, to make the team at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.
Whitlock, a Noblesville resident, finished 15th in the 800-meter heats July 29 at the Summer Olympics in Paris. He was about 4 seconds slower than his Olympic team qualifying time. Whitlock hadn’t felt well but didn’t test positive for COVID-19 until after his Olympic swim.
“I didn’t even know he wasn’t feeling well or sick,” FAST coach Joe Keller said. “He didn’t want to use that as an excuse. He still had a great performance, but I feel quite confident if he had felt better, he would have probably been a lot faster. In 2028, he should be in position to do some pretty awesome things.”
Whitlock was disappointed.
“I didn’t perform how I wanted to. I don’t want to make excuses for that, but it’s something that I couldn’t control,” said Whitlock, who is a freshman at the University of Florida. “After my race, I was like, I’m ready to get back to work and ready for next year and each year after, especially in four years. But I knew I needed to take a break because I didn’t take a break at all last year.”
So, he forced himself to take a rest for a few weeks but is eager to get back in training mode.
Still, Whitlock said the Olympic experience was great.
“I had to quarantine for two or three days but since I had been experiencing symptoms before, I started to feel better,” he said. “I was able to go around the Olympic Village for the last two days after I quarantined.”
Keller said Whitlock often isn’t happy with a performance or practice.
“Early on, when I started working with him, that could result in some outward frustration that was being demonstrated,” Keller said. “We talked about that a lot and felt that could be really negative. He’s learned how to control it and turn it into something positive. Sometimes, the things that are one of our biggest weaknesses can also be our biggest gift. It fueled him and created this hyper-speed to get to the Olympic team.”
FAST held a welcome-home celebration for Whitlock Aug. 7 at Fishers High School with many younger team members asking questions and getting autographs.
Whitlock competed for Noblesville High School as a freshman in the 500-yard freestyle. He made the IHSAA state finals but finished 15th. After that, he chose to concentrate on the longer races in junior meets and didn’t compete at the high school level.
He took classes online but graduated with his class.
“Due to the days he was going to miss, (NHS) suggested online classes,” said Keller, who also is the Fishers High School boys and girls varsity swimming coach. “I think that component was helpful because there were times (when) he could get a little more sleep. I don’t want to necessarily promote that, but I think when you have an athlete that is a high level, I think there are some advantages.”
Ready for next stage
FAST coach Joe Keller is confident the best is yet to come for Luke Whitlock.
“He can train with the best in the world,” Keller said
Whitlock trained with Bobby Finke at the U.S. training camp and will train with him again at the University of Florida.
Finke, who earned a bronze medal in the 800 meters and won the gold in the 1,500 meters at the recent Summer Olympics in Paris, is a former Gators swimmer.
Whitlock is just under 6 feet and weighs approximately 140 pounds. One of his primary goals is to put on weight.
“I’m going to have a goal meeting with my coach at the beginning of the season, but the top goal is to gain muscle and to get bigger and stronger,” Whitlock said. “All the guys are a lot bigger than me and you can see my turns aren’t as good and my legs aren’t as strong. I’m good at the swimming part but getting stronger will help some of my skills.”
Along with getting in the weight room, he looks forward to getting on more specific meal plans to add weight.
