Ashley Twichell realized her athletic dream when she lined up for the 10 km marathon swim at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but after leading the pack for some time, she faded to 7th in the warm waters of Tokyo Bay, only 7 seconds behind Olympic gold medalist and long-time rival Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil.
She took off time in her post-Olympic career and had a baby (son) with her husband Derek Wall. But now that her son Lochlan is older, Twichell went back into training – and competition. She finished fourth in the qualifying race at the USA Swimming Open Water Championships in April 2023 (when Lochlan was only 11 months).
While the 35-year-old from North Carolina, swimming under John Payne of the TAC Titans, won the 2023 Pan American Games 10 km marathon swim, beating Olympic champion Ana Marcela Cunha, she was now focused on pool swimming.
At the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Indianapolis this week, Twichell swam the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyles. In the 400m freestyle, she did not make the finals, finishing in 4:13.31, good for 21st place. In the 800m freestyle, she got into the final heat. But in the 1500m freestyle, she had a good shot at making her first Olympic team in the pool. Her lifetime best is 15:54.19 that she did at the 2019 FINA World Championships where she placed fourth, just off the medal podium.
Could she repeat – or come close to – that lifetime best and be a threat for an Olympic medal in the pool?
In the heats in Indianapolis, Twichell swam comfortably to a fifth place in 16:18.06 – and was right in the mix for a tough race against the younger women. She did improve to a faster 16:08.07 in the finals, but she placed third behind Olympians Katie Ledecky and Katie Grimes and will head home with Derek and Lochlan rather than to Paris with the swim team.
But on Instagram, Twichell posted that she was the “happiest 3rd place finisher at Olympic Trials. I knew I needed to show up for myself to show up as the best mom…what a full circle moment and gift being able to have Loch(lan) watch his mom swim in an Olympic Trials final in an NFL stadium with 22,000+ fans.
As of 4 months ago, I wasn’t even planning on competing here. This has now been the most relaxed, fun and fulfilling Olympic Trials I’ve experienced, and coincidentally (or not) also my highest placing finish...I’m proud of myself too, and so grateful for the support system that helped me figure it all out along the way.“
Prior to the finals, Twichell explained her approach to training and competing as a mother, “I’ll swim the 1500 at my 5th Olympic Trials, almost exactly two years after having our son, Lochlan.
I stayed in the water throughout pregnancy (at a much lesser volume and intensity), but really had no idea what things would look like after Loch was here. And then, to be honest, the first couple months after having Loch were quite difficult. I craved independence I felt like had been stripped from me, but also had anxiety leaving my baby for any amount of time. Add in sleep deprivation and nursing on demand.. things felt overwhelming.
Once I was cleared to exercise, my sister-in-law would meet me at the pool to watch Loch while I swam for an hour. This became a game changer for how I felt mentally and emotionally, and eventually Derek and I got into a rhythm where I would swim early in the morning and then we’d swap and he’d go to work. About 9 months in, I started to add in a double or two, and this proved to be the happy medium that we continued to use up until now.
Training and competing postpartum with a newborn, now toddler, in tow has been a wild, exhausting, thrilling journey. Lochlan has already traveled to South Africa, Italy, France, Monaco and Portugal to watch me compete. I’ve had to travel to Paris and Chile without him. I breastfed him for 21 months, something I never envisioned doing, but ended up working for both of us. I’d either do Peloton or do dryland during his nap; the rest of our day is spent playing, running, swimming…basically the only time he (and therefore me) sits still (sort of) is story time at the library. Traveling with him while competing is a bit more difficult logistically, but traveling without him makes my heart ache.
I know he’s too young to understand it now, but I hope in the future Loch realizes that it’s important to go after your goals and dreams, even when (actually, especially when) you don’t know what the outcome is going to look like. To work hard and have fun doing it. To take the trip, even if it looks like a 17 hour flight with an 8 month old.“
Women’s 1500m Freestyle Results at US Olympic Trials
- Katie Ledecky 15:37.35
- Katie Grimes 15:57.77
- Ashley Twichell 16:08.07
- Kate Hurst 16:09.77
- Aurora Roghair 16:09.79
- Rachel Stege 16:10.03
- Erica Sullivan 16:29.88
- Mariah Denigan 16:34.19
Grimes will have an unusually tough racing schedule in Paris as she will swim the preliminary and final heats in both the 400m individual medley and the 1500m freestyle as well as the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the Seine, together with American teammate Mariah Denigan who finished eighth in the same 1500m race.
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