up to the 1972 Summer Olympics during the Australian training camp in Scarborough, Queensland. Coming into the Olympics, she was not regarded as a favourite, with her best times being substantially slower than other swimmers. Whitfield's best time in the 100-metre breaststroke was only 1 m 18 s, but she repeatedly lowered this throughout the competition, coming third in her heat in a time of 1 m 17.59 s to scrape into the semi-final. She then posted a time of 1 m 16.3 s, again placing third and again scraping into the final. She again substantially improved her time in the final, claiming bronze in a time of 1 m 15.73 s behind Cathy Carr of the United States. 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. The Australian public were not expecting much of Whitfield. Her final was on the same night as the women's 100-metre freestyle and the men's 200-metre freestyle, in which Shane Gould and Michael Wenden had been anticipated to win. After the first lap of the race, Whitfield seemed unlikely to deliver an upset victory, turning through the 50-metre mark in last place. She clawed back a little ground in the next lap but was still far behind at the midpoint of the race. She made her move in the third lap as instructed by Talbot, and began to reel in her opponents, causing a crowd reaction. 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. Her time of 2m 41.71s was 2.5 s faster than her previous best, holding off a final ditch attack from Schoenfield. The 4×100-metre medley relay was an anti-climax as the Australians swam poorly and came fifth in their heat and failed to qualify for the final. On her arrival in her home town, she was accorded a street parade. This was Whitfield's career peak. She won both breaststroke titles the following year at the Australian Championships in times slower than she