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27 May 2008 10:39 AM

Focus on the Olympics: Jessica Hardy (2008 Swimming Hopeful)

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

Welcome to our Focus on the Olympics articles that introduces you to our Olympic athletes and hopefuls that will be competing in Beijing this summer. Jessica is a great girl who may be relatively new to the world of competitive swimming, but she comes by it honestly: her mother was a swimmer, too.

Meet Jessica Hardy

Jessica Hardy is the daughter of George Hardy, a chemical engineer, and Denise Robinson, a clinical social worker who was a former swimmer at Indiana State University. She has a younger sister, Amanda, who swims and plays water polo. Her grandfather, John Tourtellot, was on the crew team at Columbia University.

Aside from swimming, Hardy considers herself a "typical Southern California girl" and enjoys other water sports such as surfing, water polo and scuba diving. Outside of the pool, she enjoys listening to good music, traveling and relaxing as much as possible

Why Root for Her?

At the 2005 World Championships, in which she was a U.S. National Team rookie, Hardy set a world record in the semi-finals of the 100m breaststroke before ultimately finishing second in the finals. She also earned silver in the 50m breast and was a member of the 400m medley relay team. At the 2007 World Championships, she won the 50m breast and captured silver in the 400m medley relay. She won her second U.S. national title in the 100m breast at the 2005 U.S. Nationals. She won her first NCAA title in the 100y breast at the 2006 NCAA Championships, and has been working hard since finishing fifth in the 100m breast at the 2004 Olympic Trials.

Performance Record

• 2007 World Championships 50m breaststroke champion, 400m medley relay silver medalist
• 2006 Pan Pacific Championships 400m medley relay gold medalist
• 2006 NCAA 100y breaststroke champion
• 2005 World Championships 50m & 100m breaststroke and 400m medley-relay silver medalist

The U.S. Swim team trials take place from June 29th to July 6th in Omaha, Nebraska.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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