BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Princeton University alumna/United States National Team goalkeeper/two-time Olympic Gold Medalist/2025 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame inductee Ashleigh Johnson adds another title to her list of achievements by starring in Public Enemy’s video for “The Hits Just Keep on Comin”.
The fifth Princeton athlete and sixth athlete/former coach from the institution in the CWPA Hall of Fame at the time of her induction joining Adele McCarthy-Beauvais (2013), Goga Vukimirovic (2015), Elyse Colgan (2019), Peter Sabbatini (2024) and former coach Luis Nicolao (2020), the video appearance follows Johnson’s selection as the third best athlete in the history of Princeton athletics in the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s The 25 Greatest Athletes in Princeton History released in December 2024. The highest ranking female athlete and one of five Princeton athletes to ever win multiple Olympic Gold Medals., Johnson was topped by only former New York Knicks all-star/United States Senator Bill Bradley ’65 and college football and hockey Hall of Fame member Hobey Baker ’14 on the list of the best athletes to compete at Princeton in the opinion of a selection committee.
A native of Miami, Fla., she excelled prior to joining the Tigers by leading the Ransom Everglades High School Raiders to three consecutive Florida state championships. The Florida state champion in the 50 freestyle as a sophomore, she helped Ransom Everglades capture the state swimming championship the same year.
An All-America selection every season she competed at Princeton (2013, 2014, 2015 – Honorable Mention; 2017 – First Team), Johnson is among only two Tigers’ athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal (in 2016) and then come back to compete at Princeton (Bradley was the other).
A four-time CWPA All-Conference and All-CWPA Championship First Team selection, the 2013 CWPA Rookie of the Year and 2015 CWPA Championship Most Valuable Player was the recipient of the C. Otto von Kienbusch and Cutino Awards during her senior season in 2017.
A 19-time CWPA Defensive Player of the Week award winner, the three-time United States Olympian (2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Gold Medal; 2020/2021 in Tokyo, Japan – Gold Medal; 2024 in Paris, Francis- Fourth Place) and 2017 finalist fo the American Athletic Union (AAU) Sullivan Award – bestowed upon the most outstanding collegiate, Olympic or similar level athlete in the United States – rates as the first player in Princeton women’s water polo history to be named first team All-America and third ever to be selected All-America in each of her four seasons.
Johnson finished her Princeton career with a 100-17 record, along with a school-record 1,362 saves and a .693 save percentage, while leading the Tigers to CWPA Championships and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship berths in 2013 (Rookie of the Tournament) and 2015 (Tournament Most Valuable Player) to accompany runner-up marks in 2014 and 2017.
