Jessica Long's Journey: 16-Time Para Swimming Champion Reflects Upon Her Long, Prosperous and Winding Road

PARIS – Jessica Long’s outstanding record speaks for itself: six Paralympic Games, 16 Paralympic Gold Medals. Twenty-nine Paralympic Medals in total.

The 32-year-old Para swimming sensation from Baltimore is the second most decorated U.S. Paralympian in history. Long prepares to enter the pool at the La Defense Arena in Paris – competing in four individual events – with a slightly different perspective and mindset this time around. Undoubtedly, Long has delivered an incredible body of work over an illustrious career spanning two decades.

It all began for Long at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, as she shocked the Paralympics world and beyond, swimming to two individual gold medals and one relay gold as a precocious 12-year-old. Not yet a teenager, she immediately had a vision to not only win races, but also serve as a game-changing ambassador for the movement.

“At my first Paralympics, the first thing I noticed was that the Paralympics needed to grow,” Long said, at a swimming news conference in Paris, on Tuesday. 

“A lot of people didn’t understand how incredible the Paralympic movement was and I remember as a 12-year-old saying to myself that I was going to change that, somehow I was going to try and grow the Paralympic movement.

“It’s been really amazing to see just how much that it has grown – I think we really took off after London 2012 with the ‘Superhumans Campaign,” she noted. “Especially in the U.S., we’ve done so many incredible things to make sure that it’s not just the Olympics, but also the Paralympics now.”

Long intends to race in four events at the Paris Paralympics – the 100m backstroke, 200m individual medley, 400m freestyle and concluding with the 100m butterfly.

The veteran adaptive swimmer welcomes taking on the least amount of events across her Paralympic career. At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, then age 20, Long competed in nine events – the most events of her six Paralympic Games.

The highly decorated athlete says that she’ll be fine if she doesn’t add to her collection of 16 gold and 29 total medals over the coming days.

“I don’t need to win another medal to prove myself to anyone – it’s just icing on the cake,” Long said.

“I want to go out there, I want to see my family in the stands, my husband, my friends and just know that I am enough, everything I’ve done is enough and swimming is just something that I love to do.”

Long, as always, sees at the bigger picture and the tremendous strides that the Paralympic Games and adaptive sports movement have made, ever since she entered that pool at Athens 2004.

“Being here in Paris, it’s been so exciting – everywhere I look, it’s the Olympic rings and the Agitos and that’s huge for us,” Long said.

“I am so exciting to compete – the last couple of years were really tough and I didn’t think I would be here and I’m so grateful to be here, and be part of Team USA.

“More than anything, it’s continuing to grow the Paralympic movement where everyone gets excited,” Long continued. “So far, what I’ve seen in Paris is phenomenal and just want to continue the growth and have that ripple effect for the next generation.”

Long was born in Russia and adopted by American parents at the age of 13 months.

Due to fibular hemimelia, her lower legs were amputated when she was 18 months old. She learned to walk with proteses and gradually took up numerous sports.

Queried by Team USA, the 32-year-old Para swimming icon reminisced and briefly compared and contrasted her five Paralympic Games, highlighting the highs and lows.

“Going into Athens, I was not expected to make the team – I was 12 years old and had only been swimming for two years. Somehow, I won a gold medal at age 12. I believe I’m the youngest ever to win a Paralympic Gold Medal.

“I was super excited to be the underdog,” Long added. 

Four years later at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, she swam to five medals, including three gold. Long said she didn’t meet her extremely lofty expectations

“I put a lot of pressure on myself – for me, all of my worth came from the gold medals. I definitely didn’t feel like I was enough unless I won and I told everyone that.

“I didn’t have the performance that I thought I would, but I still did well,” she said, reflecting upon her second Paralympics, having competed at just age 16. “For me, I felt like I disappointed people.”

An entirely new attitude and mindset paid huge dividends at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, her third. She was a dominant force in the pool, bringing home seven medals, including four gold.

“Going into 2012, I just decided to have a lot of fun and it was honestly the most successful Paralympics. I was there with my best friends and I remember just thinking that I have nothing to lose,” she said.

However, for Long, her performance at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Gameswould take a downturn in both the lead-up to and in Rio. For most observers, the performance didn’t appear all that bad. Despite a slew of difficulties, she still managed to captured three silver and two bronze medals. 

“Then 2016 was the hardest games that I ever had – I had two shoulder injuries, I had a really bad eating disorder, I was just really weak,” Long candidly admitted. “I wasn’t strong mentally and I remember I just wanted Rio to be done.

“After Rio, I even thought about retirement and I’m so glad that I didn’t, because I decided I love Paralympic swimming, I love swimming, it’s something that I always wanted to do and I’m not just a swimmer."

Now an experienced veteran that had dealt with a myriad of highs and lows, Long rebounded in fine fashion at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. She actually thrived coping with and training successfully under difficult and restricted COVID-19 conditions. The Baltimore swim star won six medals, including three gold.

“Going into Tokyo 2020, I definitely had some really big goals and I’m just really proud of the outcome,” she said. 

Long admits that her lengthy career in the water has been a dreamy and unexpected 20-year Paralympic journey.  And it isn’t finished just yet, as after Paris, the sunny Pacific Coast of the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games await.

“When I started at 12, I was like ‘this is really fun’ and I didn’t think I would be here twenty years later as a 32-year-old,” Long said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. What I get to do is truly is the best job in the world.

“I do plan to end my career in Los Angeles in 2028 on home soil. I think that it will be really special having my next four years as my farewell.”