Ashton King '18 Recruiting Profile

My name is Ashton King. I am 17 years old and a senior at Harmony Magnet Academy in Strathmore, California. At Harmony, I am in the Engineering Pathway, which is an accelerated learning program for college bound students at Porterville Unified School District. I really enjoy my engineering classes, math and especially the agriculture mechanics classes.

Because Harmony does not have a sports program, I play sports at the High School next to ours called Strathmore High School. I started off playing water polo Fall 2015 and with the advice from a family friend, joined the Spartan swim team for the first time in February 2016. From there, I was hooked. To improve on my time, technique and endurance, I joined the Tule Nation Tritons (TNT) Swim Club in May 2016. I have been working hard ever since. Now, I normally swim 4 hours a day and spend at least 1 hour in weight training. In the summer, I spent 6 hours in the pool and 1.5 hours in weight training. I compete in almost all of the regional meets through Central California Swimming. My times are “being shaved” in big chunks every meet. I have also attended 5 camps to further educate myself on swimming technique and skills. I am always excited to learn.

While my life is revolved around swimming and school, I have been in and still participate in 4-H (for the past 4 years), Future Farmers of America, FFA (for 2 years) and I am employed. Both clubs have taught me leadership, character and how to connect with my community. I am heavily involved with my community and volunteering my time. I volunteer my time by serving food for fundraiser dinners, stocking supplies for our local food pantry or lending a hand at our local fairgrounds or rodeo grounds. The jobs that I am employed in are taking care of a ranch when the owners are away on vacation & working for an agricultural consultant company inspecting nuts during the harvest season. Over the years, I have definitely developed a strong and steady work ethic to help me in the pool.

I have found that since I started swimming, I like the friendships I have developed, the overall shape I am in and how I mentally/physically compete with myself to make myself better.  Along with my education, I would love to continue and take the next step in what I have found with swimming into my college career.