Long had a phenomenal year with a long list of impressive accomplishments. She set five world records and earned nine gold medals at the 2006 International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa in December. Her gold medal performances were in freestyle relay (world record), 100-meter backstroke, 100-meter freestyle (world record), 100-meter fly (world record), IM relay, 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter IM (world record), 400-meter freestyle (world record), and 50-meter freestyle. She also set three world records at the 2006 U.S. Paralympic National Championships in August; two world records at the GTAC Open in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in May; two world records at the Belgian Open in Antwerp, Belgium in May; and four world records at the Spring Can-Am in London, Ontario, in April. She currently holds world records in 12 events, one as part of a relay. She is Swimming World’s 2006 Disabled Swimmer of the Year and was named a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year. Jessica was born in Siberia and was adopted from a Russian orphanage at 13 months. Because of lower leg anomalies, her legs were amputated when she was 18 months old. She burst onto the international stage at the 2004 Paralympic Games at age 12 with three gold medals and as the youngest athlete on the U.S. Paralympic Team. Long’s distinction as Paralympian of the Year is the second time in three years that a swimmer has been recognized (Erin Popovich, 2004).
The USOC SportsMan and SportsWoman of the Year awards have been presented annually since 1974 to the top overall male and female athlete from within the USOC member organizations. The team award was added in 1996 and the Paralympian of the Year was awarded for the first time in 2004. Winners are selected from the individual female and male athlete of the year and team of the year nominations of the USOC and National Governing Bodies for the Olympic, Pan American, Affiliated and Disabled Sports Organizations within the U.S. Olympic Movement.
