the best part, reece whitley is 15. >> just to see my face on the cover my body on the cover i think was really cool. >> reporter: whitley a sophomore at penn charter graces the cover of sports illustrated kids as sports kid of the year. his predecessor and philadelphian mo'ne davis held the magazine's on honor last year. kim smith whitley is reese's mom. >> i think that the way that he looks at life in general is that he's going to be a better person if he's done something to make everybody else around him a better person, so i think that that's part of what makes him tick. >> reporter: he appeared on good morning america and first lady michelle obama tweeted her congratulations. >> i had expected maybe a tweet or two from, you know, national teamers that are members of u.s.a. swimming but nobody at the caliber of the first lady. she doesn't tweet about everybody so i think that's really special. >> reporter: but the young swimmer isn't just breaking records in the lap lanes, studies show 70 percent of african-american children don't know how to swim. >> it's unfortunate but, you kn

reece whitley is being wallcalled the next big thing in breaststroke. everything about this kid is big. no wonder he's making waves in the world of swimming and beyond. he's a 6'8" swimming sensation. >> no one's going the catch lane number five, reece whitley. >> reporter: at just 15 years old, reece whitley is being called the next michael phelps. he attributed success now to a failure at summer camp when he was 7. >> i failed the water test the first time i did it. i told my mom that night. she enrolled me in lessons the next week. and this is what happened. >> reporter: today, whitley holds five national age group records. has fast enough times to have already qualified for the 2016 olympic trials. he's breaking bareriersbarriers, too. 70% of black people don't know how to swim. >> yeah. >> reporter: what is your reaction? >> i need to play a key role in integrating swimming. >> reporter: people compare you with the best. the most elite of swimmers, how do you take that? >> at the end of the day, you can't get caught up in that stuff. it throws your

>>eporter: today, whitley holds five national a age gro records. has fast enough times to have already qualified for the 2016 olympic trials. he's breaking g bareriersbarriers, too. 70% of black people don't know how to swim. >> yeah. >> reporter: what isour reaction? >> i need to play a key role in integrating swimming. >> reporter: people compare you with the bebest. the most elite of swimmers, how do you take that? >> a at the en of the day, you can't get caught up in that stuff. it throws your mind off. >> reporter: he's as humble as he is a hulking figure. and kind enough to give an olympic hopeless like me enough of a head start to experience the thrill of victory that's now old hat for him. >> who won? >> i think linsey got it. >> reporter: not quite sure i can get bragging rights on that one. after 16 hours of practice, he dives into the books and maintains his spot on the the honor roll. written on the bedroom kreel rg the two times he wants to beat. >> pretty impressive. let's welcome "sports illustrated" sports kid of the year, reece whi

whitley is from montgomery county and a student at penn charter.ught up with him and his family today at school. he said he found out he won the award weeks before it became public. he told us how hard it was to keep quiet and if the win changes anything for him. >> i mean, i don't think it was -- what? >> i think it was extremely difficult for him to keep quiet. >> i think i was fine, i think i did a great job. >> i think just representing the sport as best as i can is something i'll stay focused on. >> got to be so hard to keep that quiet with social media these days. "sports illustrated kids" says whitley holds national records for the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke in his age group. >>> coming up next on nbc 10 news at 6:00, it's do or die time for the tiny town of colwyn. new at 6:00, we'll explain the big decision it's making that could impact its financial survival. >>> plus, new clues in this frightening fire truck crash that was caught on surveillance video. what nbc 10 has uncovered about the investigation. glenn? >>> i'm tracking the ret

whitley is being called the next michael phelps. he attributed success now to a failure at summer camp when he was 7. >> i failed the water test the first time i did it. i told my mom that night. she enrolled me in lessons the next week. and this is what happened. >> reporter: today, whitley records. has fast enough times to have already qualified for the 2016 olympic trials. riers barriers, too. 70% of black people don't know how to swim. >> yeah. >> reporter: what is your reaction? >> i need to play a key role in integrating swimming. >> reporter: people compare you with the best. the most elite of swimmers, how do you take that? >> at the end of the day, you stuff. it throws your mind off. >> reporter: he's as humble as he is a hulking figure. and kind enough to give an olympic hopeless like me enough of a head start to experience the thrill of victory that's now old hat for him. >> who won? >> i think linsey got it. >> reporter: not quite sure i can get bragging rights on that one. after 16 hours of practice, he dives into the b

teenager has been named sports kid of the year by sports illustrated kids magazine. 15-year-old reese whitley from lafayette hills is expected to compete at the u.s. olympic trials at june. the magazine cited his talent and humility to mentor young athletes. last year's sports kid of the year was mo'ne davis. >>> bucks county native singer song writer pink is the newest ambassador to the you nighted nations children fund -- united nations children fund. shell work with the group to promote healthy habits. she want to help the fight against global mall nutrition and obesity. >>> the film crew of the movie creed celebrated in exton this weekend. creed is the latest installment in the rocky franchise. over the weekend it set the record for the best opening for a rocky movie. >>> while creed came out swinging it was no match for the hungers games. mockingjay part ii topped the box office for the second week in a row. it grossed $200 million. markingjay brought in $150 million. the good dinosaur premiered in second with 32.$2 million in sales. and creed in third 31.$1 million. >>> the holiday seas

. >> one small roster move, whitley is off waivers. >> the knicks go for a win. there's a big reason for their solid start. the rookie to be this good this soon. the league might have under estimated demand for knicks jersey. as of yesterday sold out. it looks like today they are back in model modell was rushing to restock his jerseys. >> devils visit ed nton. rangers had a first ten game win streak. tampa bay tied it 1-1. d to a game winner. blue shirts visit the florida panthers on saturday. college hoops he is seton hall takes on bradley. and these thursdaying night uniforms. last night the jets and bills unfrms were indistinguishable. last night what the jaguars wore might have made you sick. jacksonville wore all mustard

. >>> this is a house fire in delaware county that injured several firefighters and started on whitleyeet and darby borough. none of the injuries are considered life-threatening. >>> this is the scene in overbrook after a suspected arsonist torched nearly a dozen cars. >> but he also sets himself on fire in the process. nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal reports. >> reporter: at the superior automotive's repair yard in overbrook, workers can fix up just about any beat-up old car. but not these ones. they were burnt to a crisp by a suspected arsonist. police say 11 cars here were set ablaze, the fire caught on crucial surveillance video. >> we heard the noise around 4:00 that morning. >> reporter: his row home butts up against the back. >> we saw the fire in the back. and the flame was in my neighbor's bedroom. >> reporter: woke you up? >> yeah. it was a boom, boom, boom. >> reporter: the surveillance video shows a mysterious hooded man at the scene heading toward the lot in the middle of the night, then those flames erupt while trying to escape the suspect accidentally sets himself on fire. you

this pennsylvania teenager has landed a coveted cover. 15-year-old reece whitley is named this year's sports kissed the year by sports illustrated. reece who excelled in basketball and baseball apparently got his true calling in the swimming pool. he is breaking records in the swimming world. his talent in the pool and efforts outside of the cool pool including mentoring young athletes helped him to beat out thousands of other children for this huge honor. >> i think it's incredible. just to be a finalist among, you know, those very special athletes and kids i think it's something really to be grateful for, you know, to win is, you know, just another extent, it's awesome. so i'm really thankful. >> he apparently fail his deep water swim test when he was self years old. his mom enroll him in swim lesson and the rest is history. he's the second pennsylvania athlete to hold this year. last year little league mo'ne davis got the honor. witness sal sophomore at penn charter high school in philadelphia and expected to compete at the us olympic trials in june. >> a puppy in rough shape is ge

amanda whitley from hyannis will be getting the vip treatment tonight and tomorrow. america' s hometown thanksgiving we can' t wait. randy: it' s always a great time. on facebook, emily and i were trying on the eyeopener gear over the years. cindy: maybe you should put it on right now. emily: we want to save that. cindy: a lot of people are looking for to the parade. last year the weather was pretty nice. this year looks pretty good. and little chilly. 8:00 a.m., upper 30' s. 40' s for the opening ceremony. with a northerly wind,, it will feel cooler. wind kicking up this morning. rain coming down along 498 east. fitchburg over an inch of rain. norwood close to an inch. county. area. the couple more once you head out to the framingham area. natick and stretching towards needham as well. and back towards lakeville and stretching over towards providence, we still have some downpours. these are going to be filling in over the next hour. that is the focus to about 9:00. by 10:00 or 11:00, range of the exiting. the rest of us are going to be clearing it out. the day starts with wet weather b