If there’s water around, you’ll likely find Whitney Chappell swimming in it. The 2000 graduate of Gladstone High School is back at her alma mater as our new head swimming coach.
“I hope to pass on the same passion and pride to current and future Gladiators as I come full circle with my swimming career,” she said.
After graduation, Chappell traveled to Australia and New Zealand to compete in swimming with People to People Sports Ambassadors. She attended Bellevue College, earning a degree in echocardiography while swimming in adult clubs.
When she returned home, Chappell taught swim lessons and lifeguarded at multiple locations in the Portland metro area and continued competing in club swimming. She has also worked with Providence Child Center’s aquatic therapy program for medically fragile children.
Chappell’s freshman year was GHS’s first year with a swim team, and she served as team captain all four years. She said that our school’s swim team was the deciding factor as to whether to attend GHS or Oregon City High School.
“If Jackie Holstrom had not started the team in 1996, I would have attended and swam for OCHS,” she said.
Chappell has stayed involved at GHS, where her daughter Eva Gonzales graduated last year. Gonzales was also a member of the GHS swim team during high school and was captain her senior year.
Chappell said it was tough to find the words to describe the pride she has, not only for the sport of swimming, but more specifically for GHS’s team.
“Being a founding member of the Gladiator swim team, then having my daughter become a leader of the same team during her high school years, and finally coming back myself to coach the team has made me feel like this is my home and where I’m supposed to be,” she said.