Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry was born on March 12,1987 and is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events.
33 Facts About Jessica Hardy
1.
2.
Jessica Hardy has won a total of twenty-eight medals in major international competition, fourteen gold, nine silver, and five bronze spanning the Olympics, World and the Pan Pacific Championships.
3.
From 2008 to 2009, Jessica Hardy served a 12 month suspension from swimming competition due to an anti-doping rule violation at the 2008 Olympic Trials.
4.
Jessica Hardy maintained her innocence, stating that tainted supplements resulted in the positive test.
5.
Jessica Hardy returned to competition in 2009, setting new long course world records in the 50-meter breaststroke and 100-meter breaststroke at the 2009 US Open Swimming Championships.
6.
Jessica Hardy was born in Orange, California, in 1987, the daughter of George Jessica Hardy and Denise Robinson.
7.
Jessica Hardy is a 2005 graduate of Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach and was Swimming World's Female High School Swimmer of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
8.
Jessica Hardy attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she competed for coach Teri McKeever's California Golden Bears swim team for two years.
9.
Jessica Hardy was a four-time NCAA Champion, and met her husband Dominik Meichtry, a Swiss swimmer and 3-time Olympian, at Berkeley.
10.
Jessica Hardy gave up her eligibility and turned professional in 2007, to train with coach Dave Salo for Trojan Swim Club of the University of Southern California.
11.
Jessica Hardy completed her Bachelors of Science degree from Arizona State University in 2016.
12.
In 2015, she released an autobiography, titled Swimming Toward the Gold Lining: How Jessica Hardy Turned Her Wounds Into Wisdom.
13.
Jessica Hardy has a long history of philanthropy work with organizations such as the USA Swimming Foundation, the Jessie Rees Foundation, the Special Olympics, Surf Aid International, the Long Beach Water Department, and volunteering as an athlete representative on the Olympic Internal Operations Committee, the USA Swimming Steering Committee, and the USA Swimming Athletes' Executive Committee.
14.
Jessica Hardy won a gold and silver medal at this competition.
15.
At the 2008 Short Course World Championships in Manchester, England, Jessica Hardy won a total of three gold medals.
16.
Jessica Hardy's attorney confirmed on July 24,2008, that Hardy's "A" and "B" samples from a test administered on July 4 were positive for clenbuterol.
17.
Jessica Hardy claimed innocence and said she had never even heard of clenbuterol.
18.
In May 2009, it was announced that Jessica Hardy would be banned from the sport for one year for the positive test.
19.
At the World Cup on October 17, Jessica Hardy broke her own 50-meter breaststroke record set in April 2008 with a time of 29.45.
20.
Jessica Hardy was the overall winner in the female division for the 2009 FINA Swimming World Cup.
21.
Jessica Hardy received $100,000 in prize money for her efforts.
22.
At the 2010 National Championships, Jessica Hardy made the American team that competed at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships after finishing second in the 100-meter freestyle.
23.
At the first 50, Jessica Hardy came in first in 30.92, but faded badly at the end.
24.
Jessica Hardy did not blame her poor performances on her physical condition but rather her mental state.
25.
Jessica Hardy won the 50-meter breaststroke at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, China.
26.
Jessica Hardy won a silver medal with the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
27.
Jessica Hardy competed in the 100-meter breaststroke, and placed third in the final behind Olympic newcomer Breeja Larson and veteran Rebecca Soni.
28.
Swimming the second leg, Jessica Hardy had a split of 53.53 seconds and the team finished with a total time of 3:34.24, an American record.
29.
Jessica Hardy won a gold and two bronze medals at the long course 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
30.
Jessica Hardy won gold in the 100 breaststroke at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, as well as a silver in the 4x100-meter medley relay with Missy Franklin, Kendyl Stewart, and Simone Manuel.
31.
Jessica Hardy was voted team captain of the 2014 Pan Pacific USA team, along with Caitlin Leverenz, Matt Grevers, and Anthony Ervin.
32.
Jessica Hardy placed 4th in the 4x100 medley relay, and 10th in the individual 100 breaststroke.
33.
Jessica Hardy was again voted team captain of the 2015 World Championships team along with Elizabeth Beisel, Cammile Adams, Matt Grevers, Anthony Ervin, and David Plummer.