Unsung hero: Newport Aquatic Center stalwart Billy Whitford ‘opened the door’ to success for many
The stories of people who Billy Whitford has positively impacted over the past 20 years could fill a book.
There is Jose Jimenez, who met Whitford more than 20 years ago through Santa Ana’s Project PRIDE program.
There’s Esther Ruth Lofgren, who first crossed paths with Whitford as a junior rower and grew up to become an Olympic gold medalist.
There are kids who have gone to Ivy League schools, become emergency first-responders and are flying for major airlines.
All of them have one thing in common: participating at the Newport Aquatic Center.
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“That speaks to what Billy has been able to do with the center,” said Jimenez, who met some of his best friends, as well as the person who would become his wife, at the Newport Aquatic Center. “That’s all because Billy opened the door to different people.”
“All these punk kids are doing what I want to do,” Whitford, a 62-year-old Costa Mesa resident, said with a laugh. “I’m here cleaning toilets.”
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Editor’s note: This is an installment of Unsung Heroes, a new annual feature that highlights otherwise overlooked members of the community.
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In the early 1980s, Whitford had the idea to create a nonprofit that offers rowing, canoeing, kayaking and outrigger canoeing.
“I just got this vision,” he said, recalling the many agencies, donors and hoops he went through to make it happen. “I got this idea … there are lot of people that helped build it, but I gave birth to it.”
In 1987, Whitford left over differences regarding the direction of center. About 10 years later, when the Newport Aquatic Center found itself in financial trouble, Whitford came back, this time as executive director.
Ask anyone at the center and they’ll tell you Whitford is the one who makes things happen. He has solutions, connections and, of course, jokes.
He’s a role model, Jimenez said.
“He’s like the soul of it,” said Eden Broggi, a rowing coach at the center since 2003. “This is the coolest place in town, and so many kids have grown up here. This has made a huge impact on their lives.”
The 18,000-square-foot center in Newport Beach’s Back Bay serves 225 kids throughout Orange County.
Whitford made it a destination for everyone from first-time rowers to competitive athletes training for races.
“He’s the most nonjudgmental person I’ve ever met,” said Jason Lauderdale, father of two girls in the rowing program. “He makes everything fun. There’s not a person I respect more than Billy.”
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Nuran Alteir is a contributor to Times Community News.
Twitter: @whatnuransaid