Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #157: Gill1918 Presents Isabella Whitaker-ON (Rekortan Penn Relays Speaker Series)

Transcript

#157: Gill1918 Presents Isabella Whitaker-ON (Rekortan Penn Relays Speaker Series) · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Hey Yang, welcome back here to the Guild 1918 project special
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  series here. Got a few kind of short clips
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  coming up over the next few days, few weeks.
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  The great team over at record Tan surfacing, shout out to Tim
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  Jordan and Mary Beth Price. They put on a speakers series, a
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  coaches speaker series at the Penn Relays this year 2026.
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  And you know me, if there's any value to bring to coaches, I
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  want to bring to all of you here listening on the Gill
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  Connections podcast. So we've got all of the speakers
• 0:30
  and we've chopped them up to where their individuals will
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  have the individual episodes. Again, grateful for record Tan.
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  Go check them out. You know how to Google.
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  So go check out Record Tan servicing and hope you enjoy the
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  Gill 1918 Project. Welcome to the Gill 1918
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  Project, a podcast series by coaches for coaches powered by
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  Gill Athletics. Think of this as the Ted Talks
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  of track and field coaching. Short, insightful and packed
• 0:52
  with valuable strategies to help you grow as a coach.
• 0:55
  We're bringing the once a year track clinic straight to your
• 0:57
  ears daily. Interested in creating your own
• 1:00
  episode? Everyone's welcome to
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  participate. Check out the show notes below
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  For more information. Now let's get into today's
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  topic. Our next speaker is from on.
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  Our name is Isabella Whitaker. Isabella is a world class
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  sprinter and has had all kinds of different experiences in the
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  Track World and we're excited to have her room.
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  So, Isabella. Hello, thank you for the intro.
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  So my name is Bella Whitaker. I've actually had a very long
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  history here at Penn, starting my freshman year of high school
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  where I competed for the first time at Penn Relays.
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  And I have been at almost every single Penn Relay since then.
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  I wasn't able to get out here last year, but I think that's
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  about 8 Penn Relays. So I'm a lover of Penn Relays,
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  but yeah, I've been running track since I started high
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  school. I committed to Penn, really
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  excited to be here, really excited about the potential.
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  The university obviously was spectacular, but also the team
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  was doing something special and I really wanted to be a part of
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  that and sort of trudge my own way as well.
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  So during my time at Penn I was a multiple time Ivy League
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  champion as well as the first team All American.
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  Also after my senior year I qualified for the Paris Olympics
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  in the Olympic sorry in the 4 by 4 relay pool which was a crazy
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  experience being out in Paris. Since then I actually took a
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  fifth year at Arkansas and I am still there training there.
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  I signed a professional contract with on right after I graduated
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  with my Masters in Marketing. And while I was at Arkansas, I
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  broke the NCAA record and the American record running 4924 in
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  the 400. And yeah, and the, and the rest
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  is, is really history. As you can see, I am dealing
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  with an injury right now, but you know, it's kind of part of
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  the name of the game. But I'm, I'm honestly just
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  super, super happy to be here. Anytime I can get back to to
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  Philly is really special. And yeah, I honestly just wanted
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  to kind of open up the floor for questions.
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  Anything I can, anything I can do for you?
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  OK. How long have you been running
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  track? Start as child.
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  Or when did you struck on the track?
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  Yeah, so I actually started in swimming, which is super random,
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  but I swam for about 8 years. That was my first love.
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  It was my first sport and I did that until about halfway through
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  high school, I decided that I really wanted to take the big
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  leap and do track and field because I knew it was it was
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  something that I could be really good at.
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  And I and I felt just this, this pool.
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  I come from a track family. My younger sister also runs
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  track. Both my parents were in track of
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  Georgetown. So eventually, I probably was
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  going to find my way to the sport.
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  I was notoriously the kid who was racing in kindergarten at
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  recess and doing all sorts of challenges because I love the
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  the the competition. Yeah.
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  Good. Yeah.
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  Say that again. Sorry.
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  The camaraderie on Penn's team, Olympic team.
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  Oh, my bad. Yeah.
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  I mean, once you're say it again, the pros and the cons,
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  Well, you know, being someone who was still in the NCAA, being
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  on our Olympic team is it's kind of scary because, you know,
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  you've watched these pros compete for years, You've seen
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  them on TV, and then suddenly you're sort of among them.
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  So it's a bit intimidating, you know, walking around the Olympic
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  Village, it's, it's a scary thing.
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  But you know, as long As for me, I had to keep reminding myself
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  that I belong there. I did make that team and the
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  camaraderie is there. Once you're an Olympian, you're
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  an Olympian for life. And, and I see that.
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  And, you know, as I started my professional career, you, you
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  start seeing the same faces around and you start to really
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  build relationships with them and also with the USATF medical
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  staff. You really just get to know
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  people and, you know, you become more comfortable and it's it's
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  it is a great experience. But yeah, I would say the cons
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  are just, you know, it's an intimidating space.
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  People have been doing this for 10 plus years in the
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  professional world. And I'm just a little old me
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  just starting out. So can you tell us about?
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  The role of the difference coaches that you have that have
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  on your career athletically. Academically used, what coaches
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  have done for sure, yeah, he asked.
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  What coaches have done for me in my career.
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  I've had a couple different coaches in my career, you know,
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  since I've hopped a little bit around.
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  But I've always, I mean, the number one thing when you have a
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  coach is trust. You really have to trust that
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  your coach is going to get you to where you want to be and you
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  need to be on the same page. And for me, that means having a
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  conversation as soon as the before the season starts, as
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  soon as you start fall training of really writing down those
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  goals and being on the same page.
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  You need to understand that this is this.
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  We're doing this together. I might be the one on the track,
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  but I need to have complete and full faith and trust in you to
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  get me to where I want to be. And that means knowing what the
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  goal is. So as soon as we talk about the
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  goal, we we agree on the goal and we move forward.
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  And I think that's honestly the most important thing is just
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  establishing that trust. Yes, for sure.
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  That's a really good question. Honestly, it's it's a hard
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  thing. Being injured is a tough thing.
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  It's something that, like I said, it's it's kind of the name
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  of the game. It happens to everyone.
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  As coaches, you've probably experienced several of your
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  athletes being injured at some point or another.
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  I think just being engaged every day, you know, it, it might look
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  a little different. You're not going to practice on
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  the right like, you know, on the regular basis.
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  You're not. You have to become very creative
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  with the things that you're doing.
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  Luckily, like I said, I'm a swimmer, so I've been in the
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  pool more than I like to, more than I'd like to admit.
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  And that and that can be a lot. But I think just maintaining
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  that mindset of, you know, this is a hard thing that I'm doing
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  and that's OK. You know, we, we all experience
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  hard things in the sport and it's I always believe and I've
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  been injured before and I honestly learned so much from
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  that experience and I wouldn't have changed.
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  I am the athlete that I am today because of that injury and I
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  will be the athlete tomorrow because of this one that I'm
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  experiencing right now. But you know, there's ups and
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  downs or some days where I wake up and I'm like, this sucks,
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  this is terrible. I want to be out there.
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  I wanted to run at Penn Relays this weekend.
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  But then there's also other days where I'm like, but you know,
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  I'm going to be better off for it.
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  And I'm learning so much about myself through this process.
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  And I think that's the most important thing to kind of keep
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  reminding myself. That's a really good question.
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  That's OK. I have two.
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  Most recently, I qualified for worlds last year in Tokyo and I
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  ran the individual 400, but I also ran in the relay and I and
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  I won my first gold medal. And there's something, you know,
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  super special about that obviously, because it's a gold
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  medal and it's something that I get to keep for the rest of my
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  life. It's something that I always
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  remember that I was able to accomplish this.
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  And the first one is even more special because it's kind of
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  this like aha moment of like you, you made it.
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  But then the hunger is still there to continue to sort of
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  succeed. Now I want a gold medal for
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  myself now. I love being a part of a relay
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  team, but how can we go even further next time?
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  But it was really fun to be part of.
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  You know, USA women's 4 by 4 is like the winning, like a winning
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  team. They've always been.
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  There's such a rich history there.
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  And so to be able to sort of pave my way and be part of that
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  history was amazing. And then individually, I would
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  also say my NCAA record last year, indoor nationals, where I
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  surprised myself with what I was able to accomplish.
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  And I remember I crossed the line and I was like, oh, that's
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  crazy. And I knew my coach told me that
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  I was ready to do something special.
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  And at some point, you have to believe it for yourself.
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  But I can't say I wasn't still shocked that it was what it was.
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  You know, it was just a really special moment.
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  Yeah. Say that again, you said.
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  Do you think? Yes, yeah, yeah.
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  I think well, it was an insane amount of gratitude that I was
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  trusted. I led the relay off, which is a
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  super anxiety provoking. You know, you have to set the
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  tone, especially on a winning team like you would say women's
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  4 by 4. So I felt grateful that I was,
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  you know, trusted with that and I was so happy.
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  I mean, it was something that I dreamed about for for years.
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  And it's something that I always knew from the moment I started
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  track and field, I knew I wanted to go all the way.
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  I wanted to be an Olympian. That was that was what I wanted
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  to be. And I wanted to be a gold
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  medalist. So to sort of be in in my first
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  professional career and my professional debut and being
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  able to sort of take that home, it was just this insane
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  experience that was just like, I cannot believe I'm here.
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  And I'm so grateful that I've been given this opportunity.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure.
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  Yeah. For those who don't know, my
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  sister also made the Olympic team and so was the two of us.
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  She was, she ran the 800. She's actually an Olympic
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  finalist, also an on athlete. And there's, I mean, there's
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  not, I don't think many people can say that they went to the
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  Olympics. I don't think many people can
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  say that they've been to the Olympics with their sister.
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  I mean, we roomed together. We did everything together.
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  Like I said, in a kind of a big scary place like the Olympic
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  Village, it was it was a comfort to have someone that I know who
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  I've grown up with right by my side and, you know, sleeping.
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  My sister and I shared a room growing up.
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  We're sharing a room again. So it was really just this
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  source of comfort in this high, you know, pressure situation
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  that is the Olympics. But yeah, I, I think growing up
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  my, like I said, my parents were both track, were track people.
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  They love the sport. And there was never this
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  pressure to sort of to sort of compete.
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  Like I said, we both took a detour and did swimming for a
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  while, but they, they've always instilled us to always give
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  everything your all to, to be your best, but also be you.
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  And they've always, there's never been this pressure to over
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  perform for my parents. It's always been a like we love
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  you for you, the the people that you are and you are the person
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  that you are today because track has helped you, you know, has
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  has built your character. It's it's it's given you a sense
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  of self and they've they've always, that's been first and
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  foremost from when I was a child.
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  Yeah. Good.
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  Thank you so much, guys. Appreciate it.
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  Thank you. Yeah.
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  So it is a bit of a, it's a bit of a job.
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  Thank you, Bella very much. Appreciate your time, really
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  cool to hear all the different stories.
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  Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here. Hey, I hope you enjoyed this
• 13:54
  episode of the Guild 1918 Project series.
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  It's really my mission, my passion to bring you massive
• 14:01
  amounts of value and I hope this one hit the mark.
• 14:04
  The Gill 1918 Project is really dependent on you if for you to
• 14:09
  build your own episode, to hear your voice, to have your voice
• 14:12
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• 14:16
  there. So please get a hold of me,
• 14:18
  E-mail, text message, Twitter, smoke signals, get a hold of me
• 14:23
  and let's help create your episode of the Guild 1918
• 14:26
  Project. Hope you enjoy the day, they
• 14:28
  will see you tomorrow.