Ashley Grace Twichell (born June 16, 1989) is an American competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specializes in long-distance

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

and open-water events. She placed seventh in the 10 kilometer open water swim at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. At 32 at her Olympic Games debut, she became the oldest first-time American swimmer at an Olympic Games since 1908. Twichell was born the youngest of four siblings to Terry and Deirdre Twichell on June 16, 1989 in Westchester County, New York. She lettered in swimming at

Fayetteville-Manlius High School The Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District (F-M) is a K-12 public school district located in the Town of Manlius in Central New York, enrolling approximately 4,800 students. F-M serves a large portion of the Town of Manlius, including t ...

for three years and was an All-American her senior year in the 200 and 500 freestyle. She held school records in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, and was an honor student.

Career

Duke University

Twichell swam for

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

from 2007-2011 under Head Coach Dan Colella, who specialized in backstroke at Sewanee, and served as Head Coach at Duke from 2002-2020. As a Junior at Duke, she captured 19 first and four second place finishes, and as a distance swimming specialist, was an honorable mention All-American in the 1650 free. As a Sophomore, Twichell was the first Duke University woman swimmer to go under the 16-minute mark in the mile swim, and broke the University records for the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle events. She was All-ACC and All-American champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle, and qualified for the NCAA Championship all four years. In 2014, Twichell worked for a period as a volunteer assistant coach for the swimming team.

2011

Twichell earned the first international medals of her career at the

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming ...

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 The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

. Duke University Assistant Coach Dan Kane introduced Twichell to Hall of Fame Head Coach Bill Rose of the Mission Viejo Nadadores. Twichell moved to Mission Viejo in the summer of 2011 after graduating Duke, helping her to qualify for her first international team.

2012

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.

2013

In 2013, Twichell won gold in the 10 km open water event at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (; ), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 university athletes from 162 countries participated ...

in Kazan, Russia.

2016 World Swimming Championships

Twichell competed at the 2016 World Swimming Championships held in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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."13th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Windsor (CAN): Women's 800m Freestyle Final Results"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''Louis Brandt et Fils'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. December 8, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2021.

2017 World Aquatics Championships

At the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships () were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

in July 2017 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

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."17th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 5km Results"
''

''. July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2021. 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.Zaccardi, Nick (July 19, 2017)
"Ashley Twichell becomes oldest U.S. swimmer to win open-water world title"
''

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

''. Retrieved June 21, 2021. The day after winning a gold medal in an individual event, Twichell won a silver medal in the 5 kilometer mixed team relay event."17th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Mixed 5km Team Relay Results"
''

''. July 20, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2021.

2019 World Aquatics Championships

In July 2019 at the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, Twichell qualified for her first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

.Spezia, Mark (September 20, 2019)
"Denied three times, Ashley Twichell clinches a spot (maybe more) at 2020 Tokyo Olympics"
''

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

''. Retrieved June 20, 2021. Her sixth place finish in the 10 kilometer open water swim secured her spot on the

U.S. Olympic Team The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United ...

in the marathon 10 kilometer swim for the

.OlympicTalk (July 15, 2019)
"Jordan Wilimovsky qualifies for Tokyo Olympics in open-water swimming"
''

''. Retrieved June 20, 2021. 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. Twichell and her three relay teammates,

Jordan Wilimovsky Jordan Matthew Wilimovsky (born April 22, 1994) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in open water swimming. At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Wilimovsky won the gold medal in the 10 km open water event. Wilimovs ...

Haley Anderson Haley Danita Anderson (born November 20, 1991) is an American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer who is an Olympic silver medalist. She placed second in the 10-kilometer open water event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Personal Anderson's olde ...

, and

Michael Brinegar Michael Brinegar (born September 15, 1999) is an American Swimming (sport), swimmer specializing in distance freestyle and open water swimming who swam for Indiana University and competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 800 and 1500-meter frees ...

, won bronze in the 5 kilometer mixed team relay event."18th FINA World Championships: Mixed 5km Relay Results"
''

''. July 18, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2021."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.

2020

After months of pool closures and a lack of swim meets to compete in due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Twichell returned to racing in the pool in November 2020 at the 2020 U.S. Open Swimming Championships.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 ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Retrieved June 21, 2021. 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.Hy-Tek (November 16, 2020)
"2020 Toyota US Open Championships - Compiled Results"
. ''

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overa ...

''. November 22, 2022.

2021

2021 US Open Water National Championships

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 Fort Myers Beach is a town located on the north end of Estero Island in Lee County, Florida, United States. The town is on the Gulf of Mexico and is accessed from the mainland by a bridge over Estero Bay (Florida), Estero Bay. It is part of the ...

. She finished second with a time of 2:03:01 in the women's 10 kilometer open water swim."2021 USA Swimming Women's 10K National Championship"
''

''. April 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021. 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."2021 USA Swimming Women's 5K National Championship"
''

''. April 18, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021."Twichell Wins Final Open Water Race Before #TokyoOlympics at 2021 Open Water National and Junior National Championships"
''

''. April 18, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.Pecoraro, Nick (April 18, 2021)
"Heron/Twichell Win 5k 2021 National Titles, Pishko/Denigan Win Junior 7.5k"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...

''. Retrieved June 21, 2021.

2020 US Olympic Trials

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."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Women's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.Miller, Nicole (June 14, 2021)
"US Olympic Trials Wave II, Day 2: Walsh, Albiero Scratch 100 Back Semi-Finals"
''

''. Retrieved June 21, 2021. In the 1500-meter freestyle she finished fifth in the final with a time of 16:01.62, not qualifying to swim the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

at the 2020 Summer Olympics."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Women's 1500m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2021."Two Blue Devils Compete on Day Four of Olympic Trials"
''

''. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.Sutherland, James (June 16, 2021)
"2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II: Day 4 Finals Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved June 16, 2021.

2020 Summer Olympics

Twichell was 32 years old heading into the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, making her the oldest first-time American swimmer at an Olympic Games in over 100 years.Marden, Andrew (April 27, 2020)
"Journey to Tokyo: Ashley Twichell"
'' CBS17''. Retrieved June 21, 2021. Specifically, she was the oldest American swimmer at Olympic debut since James Green debuted at age 32 in 1908.Kramer, Lindsay (September 1, 2019)
"Ashley Twichell swims from Fayetteville to Olympics: 'It's been a pretty long journey'"
''

The Post-Standard ''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''Th ...

''. Retrieved July 23, 2021. In the swimming community, only one female U.S. swimmer at the Olympic Games had been older,

Dara Torres Dara Grace Torres (born April 15, 1967) is an American former competitive swimmer, who is a 12-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events. Torres is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Ga ...

who was 41 years old at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. In the 10 kilometer marathon swim on August 4, Twichell placed seventh behind sixth place finisher and American teammate

with a time of 1:59:37.9.Green, Marsha (August 3, 2021)
"Team USA's Anderson, Twichell Finish 6-7 in Women's 10km; Brazil's Cunha Wins Gold"
''

NBC Chicago WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (channel 4 ...

''. Retrieved August 4, 2021.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.

Awards and honors

* 2019 Fayetteville-Manlius Hornets Hall of Fame inductee"Hall of Fame - Ashley Twichell"
'' Fayetteville-Manlius Hornets''. Retrieved July 23, 2021.

Personal

Twichell is married to Derek Wall and in November 2021 she announced they were pregnant with their first child.Rieder, David (23 November 2021)
"Open Water Olympian Ashley Twichell Expecting First Child"
''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. Retrieved 23 November 2021.

References

External links

* *
Ashley Twichell – Duke University athlete profile at Goduke.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Twichell, Ashley 1989 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Westchester County, New York Swimmers from New York (state) World Aquatics Championships medalists in open water swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States American female long-distance swimmers Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Swimmers at the 2011 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in swimming Duke Blue Devils women's swimmers Fayetteville-Manlius High School alumni 21st-century American sportswomen