Richard Whalen, the head coach of the Wellington Wahoos swim club and the head coach of the girls and boys swimming teams at Wellington High School, is the “Pied Piper” of swimming in Palm Beach County, especially in Wellington. During the high school swimming season, which lasts from August to early November, Whalen provides coaching to more than just his swimmers from WHS.
“In addition to my kids from Wellington High School, I coach swimmers from other high schools, such as Palm Beach Central, Royal Palm Beach, Seminole Ridge, the School of the Arts, Park Vista and Cardinal Newman,” said Whalen, who has been coaching high school swimming in Florida for more than 40 years. “They swim for the Wellington Wahoos during the club season, so it only makes sense for them to continue to train with me during the high school season.”
His career as a swim coach started in Tallahassee immediately after he graduated from Florida State University back in the early 1980s, where he swam the 200-yard backstroke, the 200-yard breaststroke and the 400-yard individual medley for the Seminoles. Prior to swimming at FSU, he spent two years going to school and swimming for Indian River Community College, one of the swimming powerhouses in national junior college circles.
Since 2004, Whalen has been in charge of the swimming program at WHS, where he also teaches economics/government, film/television production and works with ESE students.
As a swimming coach, Whalen is rather matter of fact about how swimming can impact a young athlete’s life and his role as a coach.
“Swimming helps develop self-discipline, being responsible, and you learn about the power of perseverance,” Whalen said. “If you put in the work, you’ll succeed in life and go faster in the pool. I expect my swimmers to show up and work hard.”
When his swimmers express uncertainty or a lack of confidence in the pool, he has a quick response.
“You can if you want to” and “If you want to, you’ll be successful” are two of his common responses, always said with a smile.
Whalen has a long list of his former swimmers who have moved on from swimming and have been successful in business, law, medicine and more.
On the topic of the speed of today’s swimmers, Whalen is amazed at how swimmers’ times continue to improve.
“At some point in time, there has to be a limit, but we’re not there yet,” said Whalen, who noted that technological improvements in swimsuits, goggles, bathing caps and how swimming pools are designed have played a role in times getting lower over the last 40 years.
While Whalen is invested as a swim coach, he’s also a big fan of the sport. He is looking forward to watching the swimming at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. Like many avid swimming fans, he was glued to the nine straight days of nightly broadcasts on NBC and Peacock of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials from Indianapolis in June.
“Our Olympic swim team is a mix of the old guard with a few new faces sprinkled in there,” said Whalen, who watches swimming on television as both a fan and a coach. “Our Olympic team is strong, but so is the Australian Olympic swim team. There will be some good races to watch.”
As Whalen looks forward to the upcoming high school season, which is a fall sport in Florida, he is expecting great results from many of his swimmers, both boys and girls.
“Julian Granison, Dylan Metz and Andreas DaSilva should do well this fall,” Whalen said. “Julian is strong in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races, Dylan will be a force in the two distance freestyle events, which are the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle, and Andreas is very good in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly. Julian will be a sophomore, while Dylan and Andreas will be juniors.”
Whalen would not be surprised to see Granison, Metz or DaSilva return home as state champions in November.
On the girls side, Leorah Rotchin, Natalie Honzik and Veronica Metz, who is Dylan’s sister, are expected to go fast this fall.
“Leorah can swim the 100-yard butterfly as well as the 100-yard, 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle,” Whalen said. “Natalie will be strong in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Veronica can swim anything, but her best events are the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle.”
This fall, Rotchin will be a senior, Honzik will be a junior and Metz is an incoming freshman.
One thing that Whalen is looking forward to is the opening of the new swimming complex at Village Park in Wellington, which is expected to open in late 2025.
“The current pool has been upgraded twice, and we need more pool space for our Wahoos swim team,” Whalen said.
Outside the pool, one of Whalen’s constant companions is his dog Guinness.
“She’s a Jack Russell-black lab mix,” Whalen said. “Six years ago, I rescued her from a field in Belle Glade, when she was flea-bitten and eating lizards. She’s now healthy and loves walks in the park.”
