Jessica Long

Jessica Tatiana Long

Personal information
Full name	Jessica Tatiana Long (born as Tatiana Olegovna Kirillova)
Nationality	Russian
Born	February 29, 1992 (1992-02-29) Irkutsk, Russia
Height	5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) (2009)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	All
Club	Paralympic Swimming Resident Team (Olympic Training Center)
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for United States Paralympic Games Gold 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle S8 Gold 2004 Athens 400 m freestyle S8 Gold 2004 Athens 4×100 m freestyle 34pts Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle S8 Gold 2008 Beijing 400 m freestyle S8 Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly S8 Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m indiv. medley SM8 Silver 2008 Beijing 100 m backstroke S8 Bronze 2008 Beijing 100 m breaststroke SB7

Jessica Long (born February 29, 1992) is a United States Paralympic swimmer.

Early life

Long was born in Siberia and was adopted from a Russian orphanage at the age of 13 months. Because of lower leg anomalies (fibular hemimelia), her legs were amputated when she was 18 months old. She learned to walk with prostheses. Long has been involved in many sports including gymnastics, cheerleading, ice skating, biking, trampoline, and rock climbing. She began swimming in her grandparents' pool before joining her first competitive team in 2002. The next year, Long was selected as Maryland Swimming's 2003 Female Swimmer of the Year with a Disability.

At the 2004 Paralympic Games, Jessica Long exploded onto the international scene. As the youngest athlete on the U.S. Paralympic Team, a 12-year-old Long won three gold medals. In 2008, with expectations of a huge medal haul at the Paralympic Games, Long delivered one incredible performance after another to win six medals, including four gold. In addition to her four gold medals, Long set three new world records. One of her gold medals was the 100-meter freestyle, which she swam just .19 seconds ahead of Paralympic-record-holder and world-record-holder Israeli Keren Leibovitch.

Long had 18 world record-breaking performances in 2006 and is the current world record holder in 20 events (one as part of a relay). Her stellar performance at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships – nine gold medals in nine events (seven individual, two relay) and five world records – drew attention from outside the world of Paralympic sport. In 2007, Long became the first Paralympic athlete selected as the Amateur Athletic Union's Sullivan Award winner, given to the best amateur athlete in the United States.

International swimming career

Long entered the international stage at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, winning three gold medals in swimming. Only 12 years old at the time, Long was the youngest competitor on the U.S. Paralympic Team.

In 2006, Long won nine gold medals and set five world records at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa. Overall, she had 18 world record-breaking performances in 2006 and is the current world record holder in 20 events (one as part of a relay). She was honored as the U.S. Olympic Committee's 2006 Paralympian of the year and Swimming World Magazine's 2006 Disabled Swimmer of the Year. She became the first Paralympic athlete to win the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the USA's best amateur athlete.

Major Achievements:

• 2011: Named Disabled Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine
• 2011: Six gold medals (100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley) - Can-Am Open Swimming Championship, La Mirada, California
• 2011: Nine gold medals, four world records (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle - WR, 400m freestyle - WR, 100m butterfly - WR, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley - WR, 34pts 4×100m freestyle relay, 34pts 4×100m medley relay) - Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships, Edmonton, Canada
• 2010: Seven gold medals, two world records (100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley – WR, 34pts 4×100m freestyle relay – WR, 34pts 4×100m medley relay); two silver medals (50m freestyle, 100m breaststroke) – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
• 2010: Six gold medals (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 100m breaststroke) – Can-Am National Championships, San Antonio, Texas
• 2009: Four gold medals and world records (100m freestyle – WR, 400m freestyle – WR, 100m breaststroke – WR, 100m butterfly – WR); four silver medals (50m freestyle, 100m individual medley, 200m individual medley, 34 pts 4×100m freestyle relay) – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships 25m, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 2009: Seven gold medals, world record, S8 100m breaststroke – Summer Can-Am Championships, Edmonton, Alberta Canada
• 2009: Seven gold medals (100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 400m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 100m freestyle) – Spring Can-Am Championships, Gresham, Oregon
• 2008: Four gold medals, three world records (400m freestyle - WR, 100m freestyle - WR, 200m individual medley - WR, 100m butterfly); silver medal (100m backstroke); bronze medal (100m breaststroke) – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) - Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
• 2008: Recipient of Juan Antonio Samaranch IOC Disabled Athlete Award
• 2008: World record, S8 100m butterfly – Can-Am Championships, Victoria, Canada
• 2007: First place, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly; second place, 50m freestyle – U.S. Paralympics Open Swimming Championships, College Park, Md.
• 2007: Selected as USA Swimming's Disability Swimmer of the Year (Trischa L. Zorn Award)
• 2007: Recipient of the ESPN Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award
• 2007: Three world records (50m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 1500m freestyle) – GTAC Disability Open, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan
• 2007: Three world records (200m backstroke, 400m individual medley, 800m freestyle) – Spring Can-Am Swimming Championships, Montreal, Canada
• 2007: Named winner of 77th AAU James E. Sullivan Award
• 2006: Second place Rock Climbing Speed Climbing – Extremity Games
• 2006: Named U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympian of the Year
• 2006: Named Disabled Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine
• 2006: Selected as USA Swimming's Disability Swimmer of the Year (Trischa L. Zorn Award)
• 2006: Nine gold medals (100m freestyle – WR, 100m butterfly – WR, 200m individual medley – WR, 400m freestyle – WR, 34pts 4×100m freestyle relay – WR, 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 34pts 4×100m medley relay) – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships, Durban, South Africa
• 2006: Two world records (100m butterfly, 200m individual medley) – Belgian Open, Antwerp, Belgium
• 2006: Five gold medals, silver medal, four world records (50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, 400m individual medley) – Can-Am Championships, London, Ontario, Canada
• 2006: U.S. Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Month – January 2006
• 2006: Two world records (100m butterfly, 200m individual medley) – Blaze Sports Georgia Open, Atlanta, Georgia
• 2005: Five gold medals, bronze medal, two world records, and named Swimmer of the Meet – 2005 U.S. Paralympics Open Swimming Championships, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 2004: Three gold medals, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay - Paralympic Games, Athens, Greece

See also

• List of IPC world records in swimming
• List of Paralympic records in swimming

External links

• Official website
• US Paralympics biography
• Women's Sports Foundation biography
• A Step Ahead Prosthetics – Designer/Builder of Jessica's Custom Prosthetics