“She never has a bad day,” explained her coach Bill Rose of the Mission Viejo Nadadores of Ashley Twichell.

Ashley, who recently received the USA Swimming Female Open Water Swimming of the Year Award, moved to California after her graduation from Duke University. Ashley joined Olympian open water swimmer Chloe Sutton and fellow national team member Christine Jennings at the famed Mission Viejo pool where the trio pounds out mile after mile of hard training.

“They constantly push each other. If one is off, the others keep going, especially Ashley,” said Coach Rose. “She is really a hard worker and a joy to coach.”

“I am new to open water swimming, so I have a lot to learn,” admitted Ashley. By going head-to-head with Olympians and FINA World Cup winners on a daily basis, the learning curve of the two-time world championship medalist will certainly be accelerated.

Photo by USA Swimming shows Ashley Twichell with her gold-medal teammates Andrew Gemmell and Sean Ryan after winning the 5K Team Event at the 2011 FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China.

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