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Elizabeth Whittam exploded onto the scene as a first-year with a runner-up finish in the 200 individual medley at the 2002 NCAA Div. III Championships, and three years later, graduated with the fifth-most All-American certificates – 17 – in program history, while helping the Scots to a trio of top-seven team finishes.
Having arrived on campus with high expectations, thanks to a pair of all-state honors at State College Area High School, Whittam lived up to the hype with Div. III Championship-qualifying cuts in the 200 IM (2:05.67) and as part of the 200 freestyle relay (1:37.27) on the first day of the midseason Zippy Invitational. Later in the year, Whittam added her name to the Kenyon College pool record board thanks to a 2:08.81 in the 200 IM during a dual meet.
Whittam, whose 22 All-North Coast Athletic Conference certificates rank as the most in program history, became the eighth woman to win an individual event at one of Div. III’s preeminent meets with a 2:06.90 in the 200 IM as a first-year.
At nationals, Whittam just missed out on becoming Wooster’s third national champion, as Kenyon’s Agnese Ozolina’s 2:04.53 edged out Whittam’s 2:05.36, after the Scot great entered the championship with the top seed (2:05.67), and produced the best time in the preliminary heats (2:05.64). Later that night, Whittam led off the Scots’ 400 medley relay that placed 11th at 3:56.64.
“Liz’s performance during her first-year in the 200 IM was exceptional, and surpassed her prior best in that event,” said longtime head coach, and current athletic director Keith Beckett. “While I know she really wanted the title, and I wish I could have provided such for her, Liz’s qualifying swim and performance in the finals were outstanding, and each of those races were a pleasure to watch.”
The following day, Whittam, and her Scot teammates nearly made program history again, as the Scots’ 200 medley relay logged the second-fastest time in the preliminaries (1:47.76) before settling for fourth-place (1:47.40) in the championship heat, a showing that marked the program’s best since the 200 freestyle relay finished as the runner-up at the 1989 championships.
Other highlights from Whittam’s six All-American swims as a rookie included a fourth-place showing in the championship-capping 400 freestyle relay (3:31.09) and a seventh-place time of 4:32.39 in the 400 IM.
“Liz was the most versatile swimmer in the history of the program,” said Beckett. “She never hesitated to put individual objectives behind those that were for the betterment of the team. As a result of graduation, our all-conference and national level medley relays appeared lost as we did not have a backstroker, something far from Liz’s forte. Liz said ‘I got it.’ She did, and both of the medley relays earned All-American status.”
Led by the combination of Whittam and fellow Hall-of-Famers Jenny Bayuk, Kayla Heising, and Elizabeth Roesch, Wooster’s 2003 team matched the program’s highest-ever finish – fifth – at the Div. III Championships. Although Whittam earned All-American honors in the 200 IM for the second straight year, her primary contributions came on relays, where she helped the Scots finish in the top eight in both medleys and the 200 and 800 freestyles.
Wooster logged one more top-four relay during Whittam’s career, and that came during the 2004 Div. III Championships, where the Scots’ 800 freestyle relay touched at 7:42.52. Individually, Whittam earned three All-American certificates between her junior and senior years, including a pair of 13th-place finishes in the 200 and 400 IM as a senior.
The business economics major went on to further her education with a M.B.A. from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, and is currently a director of product management at Asurion, where she leads a team focused on designing products to meet the needs of the company’s North American strategic clients.
Personally, Whittam is married to Nathan Thigpen, and calls Nashville, Tenn. home. The couple has two children, Frances (3) and Cecilia (1).