BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — A pair of Princeton University Tigers will aim to bring another women’s water polo world championship back to the United States as alumna Ashleigh Johnson ’17 and Jovana Sekulic are among 13 American athletes selected for competition at the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
An All-America selection every season she competed at Princeton, Johnson led the United States to the gold medal in women’s water polo at the 2016 Rio and 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, becoming just the fifth Princeton athlete to ever win multiple gold medals.
Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Sports category and a 2017 Princeton graduate, Johnson is among only two Tigers’ athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal (in 2016) and then come back to compete at Princeton (former United States Senator/men’s basketball player Bill Bradley was the other).
The recipient of the C. Otto von Kienbusch and Cutino Awards during her senior season in 2017, she was 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. She was a 19-time CWPA Defensive Player of the Week award winner, a four-time first-team all-conference player and the CWPA Player of the Year.
The 2022 CWPA Rookie of the Year and 2023 Most Valuable Player, Sekulic recently did not compete for Princeton in 2024 as she prepared for a potential berth on the USA roster for the Olympic Games.
Last year, she wrapped up a sophomore season that saw her earn All-America status after she led the team with 76 goals and 93 drawn ejections, producing 14 hat tricks and 24 contests with at least two drawn ejections. She, along with 2023 CWPA Rookie of the Year/goalkeeper Lindsey Lucas (So., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte), were the first players in program history to be named to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship All-Tournament First-Team after scoring two goals and drawing six ejections in the Tigers’ two NCAA games.
The duo of Johnson and Sekulic are among three former/current CWPA student-athletes in the Team USA traveling party as the pair join 2011 University of Maryland graduate/former Terrapins’ water polo standout Allison Beck who will serve as the squad’s Team Manager.
A 2011 CWPA Southern Division Second Team All-Conference selection and the 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women’s Water Polo Championship Most Valuable Player, the Mission Viejo, Calif., native and Santa Margarita Catholic alumnus totaled 125 goals, 51 assists, 63 steals and 118 drawn kickouts in 130 games as a Terrapin during the 2008-11 seasons.
This USA squad heads to Paris as the top-ranked team in the world returning to form at the World Championships in Doha earlier this year with a Gold Medal finish. They had finished off the podium at the 2023 event in Japan, ending a run of four straight world titles. Team USA earned their Olympic berth with a gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
The roster format returns to the prior Olympic Games – 13 athletes rostered for each match, with no need to select a gameday active roster as seen during the Tokyo Games.
Team USA is the only nation to medal in every Olympic Games featuring women’s water polo. The team has previously won gold three times (2012, 2016 & 2020), silver twice (2000 & 2008) and bronze once (2004).
2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Water Polo Team – Olympic Games Paris 2024 (Hometown/College)
Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, Fla./Princeton University)
Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, Calif./University of California-Los Angeles)
Tara Prentice (Temecula, Calif./University of California-Irvine)
Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, Calif./University of California-Los Angeles)
Jenna Flynn (San Jose, Calif./Stanford University)
Maggie Steffens (Danville, Calif./Stanford University)
Jordan Raney (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Stanford University)
Ryann Neushul (Goleta, Calif./Stanford University)
Jewel Roemer (Martinez, Calif./Stanford University)
Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, Calif./University of Southern California)
Emily Ausmus (Riverside, Calif./University of Southern California)
Jovana Sekulic (Haverford, Pa. & Belgrade, Serbia/Princeton University)
Amanda Longan (Moorpark, Calif./University of Southern California)
Head Coach: Adam Krikorian
Assistant Coaches: Molly Cahill and Chris Oeding
Sports Medicine Manager: Larnie Boquiren
Team Manager: Ally Beck
