wpf effects the speed of the attack, which overall creates the ability to get more swings in....however this difference is minimal, i think waltf4 said it was like ~0.64% increase in speed from a STR build with low wpf to a AGI build with high wpf....so....
other than that just take a fast weapon, get it loomed, learn the different swing animations and their reach/timing and how they lead from one to another (stab is slow and gets you "stuck" in it sometimes)
Athletics does make quite a difference I think if you turn through your swings, it will make them connect faster and do more dmg.