Swim, Family, Repeat: Ashley Sampson's journey to the top of competitive swimming

Long before Ashley Sampson was dipping below county swim records, her heart was in another sport. Her future was set. She’d be the first Ocala basketball player to be drafted into the WNBA since Jessica Dickson in 2007.

But like parents do when they see something in their child, they faithfully dropped Sampson off at the College of Central Florida’s outdoor swimming pool. Her youth swim coach, Joey Lane, would yell at her to take her basketball uniform off so she could get in the pool. Sampson responded defiantly, “I don’t want to be here!”.

“If you would have asked me in sixth grade, I wanted to be in the WNBA,” Sampson said. “Then something happened in my eighth-grade year. I decided not to play and to hit swimming hard.”

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Present day, taking Sampson away from the water is like taking a fish out of the sea and telling it to walk. It’s so ingrained in her life that it’s the last thing she wants to talk about for the two months she’s away from the pool.

The Sampson’s are a true swim family. Ashley’s father became a USA swim official and started a timing business that services meets around the state. Her mother, Amy, swims masters at FAST, an 18 and older swim league, a few times a week with her friends. She’s also the primary transport for a family of competitors.

The family's love for water started before Ashley’s venture into the sport. Her older brother Riley, a swimmer for Florida State University, was the first Sampson to reach stardom in a pool. He was a junior Olympian before high school.

Riley’s early success may be a reason for Ashley Sampson’s late start in the sport, not because of a sibling rivalry, but because she wanted to be her own person. Getting in the pool before eighth grade meant standing in the shadow of a future two-time state champion and 2021 Florida Boys Swimmer of the Year.

When she left dry land sports to swim full time in the eighth grade, she tweaked her personal outlook. That year, she made a goal: become a collegiate swimmer.

“It’s crazy where it’s taken me,” Sampson said in disbelief. “I was so bad. I was terrible at swimming.”

As a freshman, Sampson didn’t qualify for the state meet. As a sophomore, she finished last. Sampson credits Allie Fogleman’s belief in her as the thing that turned her career around.

“She’s a really big mentor,” Sampson said. “She’s the reason I want to be a coach. I call her my life-changing coach. She made it click.”

Four years after Sampson set her goal, she became a state title holder in the 500-yard freestyle. Riley won the same event as a junior in high school.

The two throw playful jabs at each other about being the best swimmer in the family. Riley holds his pair of gold medals over Ashley.

“He’s had that title for so long that he’s the best swimmer in the Sampson family,” Sampson said. “My mom will tell you; you have to watch out for his little sister because I’m coming for 2028.”

With the high school swim season ending on October 14th, athletes around the state are focusing on the ten-day run to qualify for the state meet. Sampson, a senior at Forest, has locked into the postseason since the summer after a disappointing spring season.

She’s getting back to having fun in the water. That led her to cut five seconds off her 2022 400 free time at the 2023 USA Swimming Futures Championship.

“Ashley won all best times at Futures,” FAST Falcons’ head swim coach Allison Bebee said. “She is a second away from qualifying for Junior Nationals in the mile. It’s a 17-minute race, so to miss it by a second is heartbreaking, but she’s knocking on the door and motivated to make those meets.”

Last year’s focus was winning; this year’s focus is her time. Sampson wants to make a SPEEDO winter junior championship cut. Her goal is a time of 4:53.09. She’s made that mark her phone background. Every time she unlocks the screen, it stares back at her as a reminder.

Ashley’s come a long way from her hoop dreams and lukewarm thoughts on swimming. The water has become her happy place. It’s filled with memories, friends, family, and her future.

“It’s an uphill battle, but I’m definitely glad I took that uphill battle because I’m blessed with the opportunities I have now,” Sampson said.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ashley Sampson left her hoop dreams from swim stardom