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Ashley Twichell

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Ashley Twichell
Personal information
Full nameAshley Grace Twichell
National team United States
Born (1989-06-16) June 16, 1989 (age 35)
Fayetteville, New York[1]
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
College teamDuke University
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the United States
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2011 Shanghai 5 km team open water
Gold medal – first place 2017 Budapest 5 km open water
Silver medal – second place 2017 Budapest Team event
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Shanghai 5 km open water
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Gwangju Team event
World Championships (SC)
Silver medal – second place 2016 Windsor 800 m freestyle
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2011 Guadalajara 800 m freestyle
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2013 Kazan 10 km open water

Ashley Grace Twichell (born June 16, 1989) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in long-distance freestyle and open-water events. She placed seventh in the 10 kilometer open water swim at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[2] Twichell's age at her Olympic Games debut, 32 years of age, made her the oldest American swimmer first-timer at an Olympic Games since 1908.[3]

Career

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2011

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Twichell earned the first international medals of her career at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China, winning gold in the 5 km team and bronze in the 5 km open water events. Later in 2011, she earned a silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle at the 2011 Pan American Games.

2012

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At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, she placed 10th in the 800-meter freestyle and 18th in the 400-meter freestyle, missing the Olympic team.[4][5]

2013

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In 2013, Twichell won gold in the 10 km open water event at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia.

2016 World Swimming Championships

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Twichell competed at the 2016 World Swimming Championships held in Windsor, Canada in December 2016. She won the silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:11.95, finishing only behind Leah Smith.[6]

2017 World Aquatics Championships

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At the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in July 2017 in Budapest, Hungary Twichell won two medals. The first medal she won was a gold medal with a time of 59:07.0 in the women's 5 kilometer open water swim.[7] With her win, Twichell became the oldest American swimmer to win a world title in open water swimming as well as the oldest female swimmer for the United States since 2003 to win an international swimming title in an individual event.[8] The day after winning a gold medal in an individual event, Twichell won a silver medal in the 5 kilometer mixed team relay event.[9]

2019 World Aquatics Championships

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In July 2019 at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Twichell qualified for her first Olympic Games.[10] Her sixth place finish in the 10 kilometer open water swim secured her spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in the marathon 10 kilometer swim for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[10][11] Twichell and her teammate Haley Anderson, who also competed in the race and finished in the top ten, were the first athletes qualifying to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in any sport.[10] Twichell and her three relay teammates, Jordan Wilimovsky, Haley Anderson, and Michael Brinegar, won bronze in the 5 kilometer mixed team relay event.[12][13]

2020

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After months of pool closures and a lack of swim meets to compete in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Twichell returned to racing in the pool in November 2020 at the 2020 U.S. Open Swimming Championships.[14] At the Championships, she won a silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 16:18.11, finishing less than fourteen seconds behind gold medalist Bella Sims.[15]

2021

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2021 US Open Water National Championships

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In April 2021, Twichell competed in the 5 kilometer and 10 kilometer open water swims at the 2021 US Open Water National Championships in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. She finished second with a time of 2:03:01 in the women's 10 kilometer open water swim.[16] In the women's 5 kilometer open water swim, Twichell finished first with a time of 1:01:31, winning the national title in the event.[17][18][19]

2020 US Olympic Trials

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At the 2020 USA Swimming Olympic Trials (held in June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) Twichell competed in two individual events, the 400-meter freestyle and the 1500-meter freestyle. In the 400-meter freestyle Twichell placed eighth with a time of 4:10.51 in the prelims heats and decided not to swim in the final even though she qualified.[20][21] In the 1500-meter freestyle she finished fifth in the final with a time of 16:01.62, not qualifying to swim the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[22][23][24]

2020 Summer Olympics

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See also: Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Twichell was 32 years old heading into the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, making her the oldest first-time American swimmer at an Olympic Games in over 100 years.[25] Specifically, she was the oldest American swimmer at Olympic debut since James Green debuted at age 32 in 1908.[3] In the swimming community, only one female U.S. swimmer at the Olympic Games had been older, Dara Torres who was 41 years old at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[10]

In the 10 kilometer marathon swim on August 4, Twichell placed seventh behind sixth place finisher and American teammate Haley Anderson with a time of 1:59:37.9.[2][26]

Awards and honors

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Personal

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Twichell is married to Derek Wall and in November 2021 she announced they were pregnant with their first child.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ashley Twichell - Bio". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Green, Marsha (August 3, 2021). "Team USA's Anderson, Twichell Finish 6-7 in Women's 10km; Brazil's Cunha Wins Gold". NBC Chicago. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Kramer, Lindsay (September 1, 2019). "Ashley Twichell swims from Fayetteville to Olympics: 'It's been a pretty long journey'". The Post-Standard. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Women's 800-metre freestyle (heats)". Omega Timing. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  5. ^ "2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Women's 400-metre freestyle (heats)". Omega Timing. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  6. ^ "13th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Windsor (CAN): Women's 800m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. December 8, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  7. ^ "17th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 5km Results". Omega Timing. July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  8. ^ Zaccardi, Nick (July 19, 2017). "Ashley Twichell becomes oldest U.S. swimmer to win open-water world title". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  9. ^ "17th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Mixed 5km Team Relay Results". Omega Timing. July 20, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d Spezia, Mark (September 20, 2019). "Denied three times, Ashley Twichell clinches a spot (maybe more) at 2020 Tokyo Olympics". ESPN. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  11. ^ OlympicTalk (July 15, 2019). "Jordan Wilimovsky qualifies for Tokyo Olympics in open-water swimming". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  12. ^ "18th FINA World Championships: Mixed 5km Relay Results". Omega Timing. July 18, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  13. ^ "Bringing Home Bronze / Brinegar anchors U.S. Mixed Open Water relay team to third-place finish". The Republic. July 19, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  14. ^ Maese, Rick (November 13, 2020). "One meet, nine cities, lots of rules: How top U.S. swimmers finally returned to the pool". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  15. ^ Hy-Tek (November 16, 2020). "2020 Toyota US Open Championships - Compiled Results" Archived February 26, 2023, at the Wayback Machine. USA Swimming. November 22, 2022.
  16. ^ "2021 USA Swimming Women's 10K National Championship". USA Swimming. April 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  17. ^ "2021 USA Swimming Women's 5K National Championship". USA Swimming. April 18, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  18. ^ "Twichell Wins Final Open Water Race Before #TokyoOlympics at 2021 Open Water National and Junior National Championships". USA Swimming. April 18, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  19. ^ Pecoraro, Nick (April 18, 2021). "Heron/Twichell Win 5k 2021 National Titles, Pishko/Denigan Win Junior 7.5k". SwimSwam. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  20. ^ "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Women's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  21. ^ Miller, Nicole (June 14, 2021). "US Olympic Trials Wave II, Day 2: Walsh, Albiero Scratch 100 Back Semi-Finals". SwimSwam. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  22. ^ "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Women's 1500m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  23. ^ "Two Blue Devils Compete on Day Four of Olympic Trials". Duke University. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  24. ^ Sutherland, James (June 16, 2021). "2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II: Day 4 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  25. ^ Marden, Andrew (April 27, 2020). "Journey to Tokyo: Ashley Twichell". CBS17. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  26. ^ Costantini, Lisa (August 3, 2021). "Haley Anderson and Ashley Twichell Finish Women's Marathon Swim In The Top 10". TeamUSA.org. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  27. ^ "Hall of Fame - Ashley Twichell". Fayetteville-Manlius Hornets. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  28. ^ Rieder, David (23 November 2021). "Open Water Olympian Ashley Twichell Expecting First Child". Swimming World. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
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