PRINCETON, N.J. — Though Ashleigh and Chelsea Johnson joined the many siblings to go to Princeton University and compete for the Tigers, it almost never happened.
Ashleigh was down to USC and Princeton and called then-Tigers’ head coach Luis Nicolao to tell him the news.
“I’m going to USC.”
“I was devastated,” said Nicolao. “I called Derek (Ellingson) and was like, what happened?”
That’s right. One of the greatest athletes in Princeton history was almost a University of Southern California (USC) Trojan.
So, what did happen?
Well, mom stepped in.
“Her mother called me the next day and said ‘I didn’t work this hard in my life to have my daughter say no to a Princeton degree’,” Nicolao expressed reliving the conversation.
Ashleigh Johnson was suddenly going to Princeton.
“I kind of made the decision on my own,” recalled Johnson. “I didn’t really consider the facets of how each school fit me. I didn’t fully discuss it with my mother, but I could tell she was really leaning towards Princeton and I was like I was going to make this decision. I hung up and told my mom, who said no. We talked about what each school had to offer in the bigger sense, a macro sense. I realized I didn’t make that decision with me in mind.
I called the USC coach and got an earful about how I’d never amount to anything in water polo and I knew that was the right decision.”
Ashleigh certainly lived up expectations right away as Princeton went 28-6 in 2013, winning the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) title and securing fifth place at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships. At the NCAAs, Johnson set a tournament record with 38 combined saves.
While it seemed easy in the water for Ashleigh at Princeton, Johnson had to make adjustments out of the pool. She credits the Freshman Scholars Institute (FSI) as a huge help.
“I actually had an intro (FSI) to Princeton before going there,” Johnson said. “I got to experience school at my own pace with people of different backgrounds. I got to ease into it. It was overwhelming at first, but FSI helped make it easier.”
The 2014 Princeton squad is one of the best teams in program history. The Tigers went 31-2, losing to Indiana, 11-10, in the CWPA title contest. Princeton was expected to receive an at-large bid to NCAAs before an upset in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament prevented that.
Johnson stopped 367 shots, breaking her own record from the year prior, and was an All-American.
Meanwhile Chelsea was in the process of searching for a college.
“I always wanted to go to school with my sister, but I looked at Harvard (University), SDSU (San Diego State University) and (the University of) Hawaii,” said the younger Johnson sister. “I wanted to see if they changed my mind, but I really wanted to go to Princeton when Ashleigh got in. At Princeton it’s academics first and water polo second, but it’s the opposite at some of the schools I looked at. Ashleigh also told me stories about Luis, and I thought that guy was crazy.”
Chelsea was a freshman on the 2015 Princeton unit that posted a 31-5 mark and rebounded for a CWPA crown, defeating … you guessed it, Indiana. She contributed right away, adding 34 goals and 34 drawn ejections that year.
The Tigers finished sixth at the NCAAs while Ashleigh broke her own record with 50 combined saves at the tournament. She also set the individual game record with 22 stops.
“They were two characters that loved playing together,” said Nicolao. “It was awesome to have them. Chelsea was wise beyond her years, but also a prankster and jokester.”
“It was fun,” stated Chelsea about playing with Ashleigh again. “When we were in high school, we played teams, but it wasn’t really a competition with Ashleigh in net. It was fun to step up a level with that security (Ashleigh) and still have fun.”
2016 was a unique year for the Johnson sisters in a number of ways.
Ashleigh took a year off of school to play with the U.S. National Team while Chelsea was a sophomore on a team looking to defend its CWPA crown.
“That year was kind of weird,” mentioned the younger sister. “I was so used to Ashleigh being there. It took a lot of getting used to both in the pool and out. My freshman year, I spent so much time with her, so not having her there, it was like who should I hang out with now? It was cool to be able to get to know my teammates on a different level. In the pool, it was also different because we had a new goalie. We had to learn how to play different style of defense that wasn’t goalie dependent.”
“It wasn’t that weird to not be around my sister, but it was weird to not be with Chelsea at Princeton,” Ashleigh said. “I was super proud to see Chelsea taking a lead while I wasn’t there. The first year, people would see Chelsea after referencing me and I feel she really had a lot of growth as a player and student in the Princeton environment.”
The Tigers finished 19-7 in 2016, placing third in the CWPA. Chelsea had 21 goals with 23 steals and 18 drawn ejections.
“We were playing with house money,” said Nicolao about the 2016 campaign. “Everyone thought we weren’t going to be good, but we were right back at the top in championship contention.”
What was Ashleigh up to in 2016?
Well …
How about winning an Olympic Gold Medal?
The United States went unbeaten at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, dropping Italy, 12-5, in the gold medal game. Johnson made 51 saves in the tournament and was named the top goaltender.
“My first impulse is to celebrate with my team,” the gold medalist remembered. “The first thing I did after this game was look into the stands to see my mom and my entire family. I haven’t gotten that feeling since I played a final at Princeton. My family can’t afford to go see us play in Russia. It was amazing to know they were getting to experience Brazil. We didn’t really get to go on family vacation before so getting to see them enjoy a new culture in a foreign country was rewarding to me.”
“It was awesome,” Chelsea said. “It was so cool to see not just our family, but the entire world cheer for Ashleigh. My aunt came with us and she’s never seen a water polo game. She’s from Jamaica and usually comes in the summer and had never seen one before. It was almost overwhelming because everyone’s emotions were flying everywhere.”
How do you follow up the best summer of your life?
Going to back to school, obviously.
It was difficult for Ashleigh at first to go back to life as student. There is class, your duties as a student-athlete and, of course, your thesis.
“It was not easy to be in the incubator of high-pressure system that our training environment was,” explained Ashleigh. “It was hard to not be around the women that I trained with for this goal for so long the people who held me accountable, the people who I saw for eight hours a day every day for 18 months. When I went back my whole class had graduated. I had Chelsea, who was a pillar for me.”
“I remember trying to make the most out of it,” Nicolao said of the 2017 season. “We had so much fun out of the water, just enjoying the moment.”
The final season for Ashleigh finished with an impressive 24-4 mark and a berth in the CWPA Championship game again.
Ashleigh wrapped up her career with 100 victories and a program record 1,362 career saves. She was the team’s first-ever first-team All-American and won the Cutino Award (considered the most prestigious award in collegiate water polo).
Chelsea completed her career one season later with a personal-best 51 goals. The younger Johnson collected an impressive 151 tallies in her four campaigns.
Two wonderful careers filled with individual and team accolades.
What were their favorite games and moments at Princeton?
“My favorite times at Princeton don’t have anything to do with the games we won or lost,” mentioned Ashleigh. “I can remember practices and jokes we played on Luis. Games are fun for me to play in and are really exciting to be a part of, but there is so much work that goes into that and it’s reflected by the game or the end the season. That matters more for me.”
“There is so much hard work and so many other things that help you get to that point,” Chelsea agreed. “You remember the struggle of getting there and the journey that pushes you to the end of that game.”
After graduating, Chelsea is now a law student at the University of Miami. Ashleigh will try for another gold medal with the U.S. National Team at the Tokyo Olympics.
While they don’t play together anymore, the impact of playing with her sister will always stick with Ashleigh even as she plays on the international level.
“My coach now will say give me that Ashleigh who yells at Chelsea for a full game,” the gold medalist revealed. “I read Chelsea the way I read my teammates and that’s fun and challenging. It was so exciting to be able to play with someone at that level. When we were having fun, we had fun together.”
“When one of us was down, we picked them up or compensated where they needed some help. The dynamic is really hard to build, and of course we’re going to have it because we’re sisters and we’ve played the sport together all of our lives. That relationship with my sister is what I strive for with my teammates now.”
Release courtesy Princeton University Athletics Communications
