Ashton Portnoy '21 Recruiting Profile

Hi, my name is Ashton Portnoy. I am a freestyler and butterflyer; my favorite events are the 100 free and 100 fly. However, my favorite part of swimming is just being part of a team. I think I am a good teammate because I enjoy rooting for my teammates and seeing them succeed. I have been on district winning teams, and on teams that have started as losing most meets and worked their way to a 500 record. While I enjoy winning, seeing my team and myself exceed our expectations is just as good, in my opinion.

My current coach has a saying, "Your performance at meets is a direct reflection of your performance at practice," This is why I think I am a great candidate for your team because I will show up to practice on time and ready to put in all the work I have to to get better and win meets. Also, being a student athlete in high school and attending 11 practices a week while handling a variety of classes and the work that goes with them; I am mentally prepared for the responsibilities, school work wise, being an NCAA athlete. In college, I would love to major in journalism or marketing and hopefully pursue a career in either one of those subjects. I think I am prepared for college level swimming because I am coming from an intensive high school and club swim team which has produced great swimmers. The main reason for that is due to the great coaches at Upper Dublin that made me the swimmer I am today.  At the end of the day, swimming is also an individual sport.  I have seen my times drop ever since I started when I was 7 years old.  While I set goals, I tend to “go with the flow” and try not to overthink my races.  Swimming is complicated- to do good you have to find the perfect balance of technique and fun, but I believe that all that comes with just waking up every day and picking up from where you left off the next day, no matter the results. I feel I have been working on that, and I look forward to finding a coach, a program, and a team at the next level to help me continue to my growth as a leader, a swimmer, and a person.