High Springs woman raising funds to compete in Olympic trials
By Mike McCall
For The Herald

High Springs resident Ashley Carusone races from one end of the pool to another as part of her daily routine of two to four hours of swimming drills, abdominal and core exercises, running, cycling and more.

HIGH SPRINGS -- As she laid on the pavement after a car jolted her from her bicycle for the second time in 10 days, Ashley Carusone wasn’t thinking about the numbness in her now-fractured back or her already-broken jaw.

She wasn’t wallowing in self-pity or thinking, “Why me?”

That would be dealt with later because there was only room in her mind for one thought then, the dream that had driven her since she was 7 years old: to swim in the Olympics.

“I was just worried about training and going back to practice,” she said. “I was supposed to start swimming again later that day, and I was sad that I couldn’t and I had to wait longer.”

After overcoming her injuries, the 23-year-old High Springs native has a chance to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, and the only thing keeping her from the U.S. time trials in late June is the $7,500 it will cost to make the trip to Omaha, Neb.

Before the accidents, Carusone qualified for the trials in the 200-meter individual medley, 400-meter individual medley and 200-meter butterfly, but she needs to raise money to cover her travel, lodging and other expenses.

Last week, after asking family members for help, Carusone turned to the community for donations, posting fliers in High Springs.

“Omaha isn’t the easiest place to get to, and we just decided that we needed another way,” said Chris Carusone, Ashley’s father. “It’s expensive trying to get all that money together. One of the things they say for sponsorship is to go to your family, friends, neighbors and people you know in the community and see if they’re interested in giving back and helping out.”

Carusone still has a long way to go in terms of fundraising, but after the tough times she has already overcome in her athletic career, it’s doubtful that money will stop her.

Quick Start

Ashley Carusone now needs to raise $7,500 to be able to attend the Olymic Trials and compete in three events. If she finishes in the top two in any of those events, she'll be competing in the Olympics in Beijing.

“It was a lot of driving,” Chris Carusone said of his daughter’s swimming career.

Ashley Carusone started swim lessons at 6 months old, trudging back and forth to Gainesville almost every day until she ran out of lessons as a 4-year-old.

From there, she joined a swim team and later attended Gainesville High for the school’s swim program.

She had to apply to Alachua County every year for rezoning so she could make the half-hour trip from High Springs to GHS.

“I basically just went there to swim,” she said.

Carusone set five school records and was a 4-time state champion in the 200 IM and 500-meter freestyle while also taking the 2001 state title in the 200 IM.

She stayed active in triathlons, too, winning the 16-19 age division of the International Triathlon Union World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, at age 16.

Those accolades led to plenty of scholarship offers, and she chose to further her swimming career at the University of Florida over Auburn and Southern Cal.

As a Gator, she competed in a wide variety of events but was consistently an All-Southeastern Conference performer in the 400 IM.

“I was the go-to girl,” she said. “Wherever they needed someone to swim, that’s where I went. I still swam my best events at the end of the year, but during the season I swam my worst stroke, the breaststroke, and the 500 and the mile.”

Her ability to swim in a multitude of events was a product of her success in medley races, which include four strokes: the backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly.

At the 2005 and 2006 ConocoPhillips U.S. Nationals, she qualified for the Olympic time trials in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 fly, but there was one more part of her repertoire that was left out during her UF career – triathlons.

Out of Action

Carusone took a break from triathlons to focus on her college swimming duties, but with her four years of eligibility finished at UF, she refocused and entered the Triathlon One O One race in Bradenton on May 6.

The race consisted of a 1.86-mile swim, 80.6-mile bike ride and 18.6-mile run and carried a $50,000 purse, $10,000 to the winner.

Carusone completed the swimming portion and was out in front about 20 miles into the biking event when a sedan crossed into the lane designated for the competition and struck Carusone’s Cannondale racing bike.

The accident left her with lacerations on her face and a broken jaw that still isn’t connected on one side. Carusone’s father, Chris, said his daughter’s mouth could open just 24 millimeters after the accident compared to 55 before.

“I mostly swallowed my food whole because I was tired of just drinking stuff,” she said.

The accident didn’t keep her out of action for long, though, and she was riding her mountain bike down the sidewalk on Northwest 34th Street in Gainesville 10 days later, returning home from a workout, when she relived her nightmare in Bradenton.

Two blocks from her house, Carusone was peddling through an intersection when a Chevrolet S-10 pickup ran a stop sign and slammed into her from the side, flipping her over the hood and fracturing her back.

She couldn’t sit up for nearly 10 weeks, and medical bills piled up as she needed treatment on her jaw, back and other minor injuries from the crashes.

Chris Carusone said car insurance covered about $10,000 of the costs.

“That doesn’t even come close,” he said.

Ashley still has to visit doctors twice a week, and she missed Olympic qualifiers for open water races and the triathlon because of the time off.

She said she is still uneasy when riding a bicycle or running beside a road.

“Even in the car, whenever someone comes out of a side street or something, I get a little nervous that they won’t stop,” she said.

Back to Basics

After three months of lying down, Carusone returned to the pool. She was swimming laps before she could run again, and having already qualified in the three swimming events, she turned her attention solely to the water.

She said she’s back in the range of times she swam before the accidents, but she’ll need to finish in the top two of the events in Omaha to earn a trip to Beijing.

“I feel pretty good,” she said. “I’ve been top five in the U.S. before.”

Every day, she goes through two to four hours of swimming drills, abdominal and core exercises, running, cycling and various others preparations.

“We’re trying to find those little areas that maybe she didn’t notice before that could make a big difference now,” said Chris Carusone, whose company, State of Mind Sports, provides coaching and hosts triathlons.

Aside from the physical aspect of her training, there’s still the issue of the money.

Carusone works as a personal trainer to pay her living expenses, and the family is still shelling out money to doctors. Lawsuits are pending with the two accidents, but it could be several years before the Carusones see any results.

Chris Carusone said if the fliers don’t work out locally, he may approach other companies to sponsor Ashley. She is set to graduate from UF in early May with degrees in sports management and applied physiology and kinesiology, and a minor in business.

“The way we look at it is, this is her best chance, and she’d kind of regret it if she didn’t give it her best shot now,” Chris Carusone said.

With a new development in the swimming world, Carusone’s best shot may not be good enough without some help.

Since Speedo introduced its new LZR Racer swimsuit in February, 35 world records have been broken by swimmers wearing the new suit.

It retails for around $550, and its high price tag has sparked controversy over whether it should be allowed in the Olympics.

If her competitors don the superior equipment -- NASA helped design the suit -- Carusone knows she won't have a chance without one.

"If I have to, I can get one," she said, wincing at the high cost.

She has come too far to let money get in her way now.