Ashleigh Elizabeth Johnson (born September 12, 1994) is an American

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world. She was part of the American team that won the gold medal at the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia host ...

. In 2016, she became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

woman to make the US Olympic team in water polo. She was part of the gold-medal winning 2016 and 2020 U.S. women's water polo Olympic teams.

Early life

Johnson was raised by her mother, Donna Johnson. Johnson grew up with four siblings (three brothers and one sister), all of whom play water polo. Her brothers are Blake, Julius and William. Her younger sister Chelsea, is a 2 Meter player and played with Johnson at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

. Chelsea graduated from Princeton in 2018 and continues to be involved with water polo in Miami. Ashleigh Johnson graduated from Princeton in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. About her decision to play goalie in water polo, Johnson shared with ''

Princeton Alumni Weekly The ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'' (''PAW'') is a magazine published for the alumni of Princeton University. It was founded in 1900 and, until 1977, it was the only weekly college alumni magazine in the United States. Upon changing to biweekly ...

'' her goalie origins trace back to her sister Chelsea:

Water polo career

High school

Johnson was raised in Miami, Florida and attended

Ransom Everglades School Ransom Everglades School is an independent, non-profit, co-educational, college-preparatory day school serving grades six to twelve in Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida. It formed with the merger in 1974 of the Everglades School for Girls and the ...

for high school. At Ransom Everglades, she was a four-year letter winner and starter on her school's team guiding them to three consecutive Florida State Championships. She also earned All-Dade honors throughout career, while also earning all-county honors twice in swimming. As a senior, Johnson committed to play water polo at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Collegiate career

In her first year she was named Third-Team All American, while earning Honorable Mention as a sophomore in 2014, and Second Team as a junior in 2015.

2016 Summer Olympics

Johnson was the first

woman to make the US Olympic water polo team when she made the team for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. The geographical diversity Johnson brought to the team, she was the only team member not from California, was highlighted by ''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

'' before the Olympic Games.Lepesant, Anne (June 17, 2016)
"Interview With World's Top Goalkeeper: Team USA's Ashleigh Johnson"
''

''. Retrieved July 17, 2021. Her age, 21 years old, and with her sub-Saharan African ancestry, she identifies as Black, were highlighted by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' leading up to the 2016 Olympic Games.Chavez, Chris (July 29, 2016)
"USA eyes double gold in water polo at Rio Olympics"
''

''. Retrieved July 17, 2021. She helped the team win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the Olympic Games.

Orizzonte Catania, Italy

From January 2018 she has been hired by the

Orizzonte Catania Associazione Sportiva Orizzonte Catania Waterpolo, also known as Ekipe Orizzonte for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional women's water polo club from Catania. Founded in 1985, Orizzonte has dominated the Italian championship in the ...

, the most titled club in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in recent times. She lives and trains in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

for Orizzonte Catania during the season, training in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the off-season.Randazzo, Michael (January 5, 2020)
"Di Fulvio, Johnson Are Swimming World's Top Men's and Women's Water Polo Players for 2019"
''

Swimming World ''Swimming World'' is a US-based monthly 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'', (known ...

''. Retrieved July 17, 2021.

Ethnikos Piraeus, Greece

For the 2021-22 season, she is the goalkeeper of Greek

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλ ...

, a club with big tradition in Greek waterpolo. On March 30, she won the

Women's LEN Trophy The Women's LEN Trophy is LEN's second-tier competition for women's water polo clubs. It was first held in 2000 as the LEN Women's Cup Winners' Cup. It was contested for many seasons by around 15 teams, which could qualify for it either directly d ...

with Ethnikos Piraeus. That was the second time Ethnikos has won the title, thus becoming the Greek team with the most in the competition. Meanwhile, that was Johnson's first European club competition title.

Awards

* ''

'' 2014 Female Water Polo Player of the Year"Johnson Named Swimming World Magazine Female Water Polo Player of the Year"
''

''. January 5, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2021."Ashleigh Johnson Named Swimming World Magazine's Female Water Polo Player Of The Year"
''

USA Water Polo USA Water Polo is the governing body of the sport of water polo in the United States and is a member of the United States Aquatic Sports. USA Water Polo is responsible for fielding national teams and hosts 20 annual tournaments. The Organization h ...

''. January 5, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2021. * ''

'' 2015 Female Water Polo Player of the Year * ''

'' 2016 Female Water Polo Player of the YearBrien, Taylor (January 4, 2017)
"Swimming World Presents the 2016 Aquatic Athletes of the Year"
''

''. Retrieved July 17, 2021."Ashleigh Johnson Named Swimming World's Female Water Polo Player Of The Year For 2016"
''

''. January 12, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2021. * ''

'' 2019 Female Water Polo Player of the Year * ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'', Sports 30 Under 30: 2022Sutherland, James (December 2, 2021)
"Simone Manuel Named To Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports Class Of 2022"
''

''. Retrieved December 2, 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ashleigh Living people 1994 births Sportspeople from Miami American female water polo players Water polo goalkeepers Water polo players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in water polo World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo Water polo players at the 2015 Pan American Games Water polo players at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in water polo Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Water polo players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Princeton Tigers women's water polo players Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Ethnikos Piraeus Water Polo Club players