[citation needed] It was at the age of ten that Whitfield witnessed Australia's Dawn Fraser win her third consecutive 100-metre freestyle Olympic gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Olympian to win an individual event three times consecutively, that forged her resolve to become an Olympian.

[citation needed] Her improvement was rapid, and in 1968, she won the 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke in the under-14 division at the State championships before placing second in her age group at the national titles in Hobart.

At the age of 14, she narrowly missed selection for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, after finishing sixth and fourth in the 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke respectively in the trials.

[citation needed] In 1969, Gathercole was appointed as a swimming coach in Midland, Texas, forcing Whitfield's father to raise funds for her to travel to Texas and board with his family to continue her training for six months, where she sharpened her racing skills with more frequent racing in the more competitive American scene.

She added a third gold medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay, combining with Lynne Watson, Alyson Mabb and Denise Langford in 4 m 30.66 s. Whitfield continued her winning run in 1971, taking out the Australian Championships in both breaststroke events, although her times were slower than in Edinburgh.

She competed at the International Coca-Cola Meet at Crystal Palace in London, taking the bronze medal in the 200-metre breaststroke behind the Soviet Galina Prozumenshchikova, the world record holder.

[citation needed] Late in 1971, Whitfields' rival Harrison came to Australia on a Churchill Fellowship and trained alongside her with Talbot.

Whitfield gradually improved her times in the lead up to the 1972 Summer Olympics during the Australian training camp in Scarborough, Queensland.

In the 200-metre breaststroke, she came second in her heat to Prozumenshchikova in a time of 2 m 44.5 s, making her the sixth fastest qualifier for the final, placing her in lane seven.

Talbot told her to stay calm if Prozumenshchikova made an early attack, telling Whitfield that the third lap was the critical part of the race.

She was fourth at the 150-metre mark, before moving into third place after the turn at Prozumenshchikova's expense before claiming the lead with 20 metres to go by passing Hungary's Ágnes Kaczander and American Dana Schoenfield.