Whitney Hedgepeth was a 27-time All-American and a three-time NCAA Champion during her collegiate career at The University of Texas at Austin. She graduated in 1994 with a Elementary Education Degree and taught 6th grade Language Arts for one year before deciding to return to swimming in hopes of making the 1996 Olympic Team. Whitney was a versatile swimmer and won seven national titles in seven different events (100 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 back, 200 back, 200 free, 500 free). She competed in the 1988 Olympics while still in High School in Seoul, Korea swimming the 200 IM and placing 8th. She later competed in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, winning three medals: a gold in the 400 medley relay, a silver in the 100 back, and a silver in the 200 back.

After her achievements in Atlanta, Whitney retired from competitive swimming and decided to focus on coaching. Whitney started coaching at Longhorn Aquatics in 1996 as the head age-group coach. She was the National Team head-coach and Director of Longhorn Aquatics from 1998-2001. After having kids of her own, Whitney switched her focus to coaching adults where she currently holds the position of head swimming coach of our Master’s program.

Whitney was inducted into the UT Women’s Hall of Honor in 2007 and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

Whitney is married and has three children: a daughter who swims for the University of Georgia and two sons who love baseball and football.