When Whitney Hedgepeth failed to qualify for the 1992 Olympic swimming team, she didn’t let the missed opportunity bring her down. Instead, she turned disappointment into motivation. While swimming for Texas from 1990-1994, she racked up five national championships, 27 All-American honors and broke the American Record in the 200-meter backstroke (her record stood until 2001). She graduated in ’94 with a degree in education.
In ’96, Hedgepeth made the Olympic team and went on to Atlanta where she won three medals — one gold and two silver.[s2If current_user_is(s2member_level2)] The UT Women’s Hall Of Honor inducted Hedgeworth in 2007, followed by the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, which inducted her in 2010.
Today Hedgepeth works as the Head Masters Swimming Coach at the UT Aquatics center. She still swims twice a week, in addition to running six times a week. She and her husband of 15 years, Mark Luther, have a daughter Dakota (15), and two boys Sage (10) and Payton (5). When she’s not coaching, she enjoys watching her children’s sporting events. She hopes to train for an Ironman triathlon with her husband one day.
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