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Natalie

Jess, it's so good to talk to you and it's go time for you.

Jessica Long

yes, yeah we are about to leave for Paris in next week, so getting so excited.

Natalie

That's so exciting. I'm enjoying just following the stories, of course, of the Olympians. But your story is unique in many ways. And I want to start by you introducing yourself a little bit more, a little more in depth and why this, your sixth games, right? Why this one is bigger and better if I can put those words in your mouth than ever or how it's different.

Jessica Long

Yeah, well, my name is Jessica Long. I'm a Paralympic swimmer. I was adopted when I was a baby from Siberia, Russia. I was also born with a birth defect in both of my legs called fibular hemimelia. So when I came to the US, my parents were incredible. They had two children. adopted to my brother and I from Russia, not biological, and then they had two more children. So I'm one of six kids, but they made the really difficult decision to amputate my legs when I was 18 months old. And I think for me, I've just wanted to be unstoppable. You I never wanted my disability to define me in any way. And it wasn't long after that, I joined a swim team at the age of 10, and fell in love with the water, just the freedom that the water gives me and it led me to the Paralympic movement and I've been a part of it. I made my first team when I was 12, surprised everyone. think I was the youngest, I'm one of the youngest to go but the youngest to ever win a gold medal and here I am, 32, getting ready for my sixth Paralympics and I could not be more excited and I can't even believe I'm still a part of it. But just so enjoying the ride and definitely trying to grow the Paralympics.

Natalie

Wow, you've lived now a majority of your life as an Olympian.

Jessica Long

Well, Paralympian, yeah.

Natalie

They're Olympian. Well, and do you see it any differently? I mean, when I hear the amount of work and probably even more so for you, I think it's important that we distinguish that because you do have different obstacles. But when people hear that, they think the same thing. They think the best of the best.

Jessica Long

Yes.

Jessica Long

Yes, and I love that mindset, the best of the best. I think there was a long time that it was always hard for me to correct people if they said I was an Olympian. And I'm so proud to be a Paralympic athlete just because I've had to overcome, obviously, so much. And you're hearing my story, but every single Para athlete has this incredible story. And I love showing this, too, just the word Para, it's Para because it's parallel to the Olympic Games.

So obviously like their counterparts were Team USA and I've had such a fun time. I love watching the Olympics, but we often say as para -athletes we're like, for the warmup and we'll see you soon.

Natalie

to help people understand. for those who haven't followed the Paralympics and haven't followed stories like yours, what is it like? What does your life look like? What does training look like? What is the day to day of you as an athlete?

Jessica Long

Yeah, mean, it's definitely, it's a full -time job, right? I am a professional swimmer. You know, a typical week I'm swimming, you know, now that I'm older, there's definitely a lot more quality work that I'm doing, but I'm still swimming anywhere between four, about four hours a day. I have weight training, Pilates, lots of recovery, ice baths, Epsom salt baths, Theragunning, just trying to get my body ready for the next workout.

And that definitely is super challenging, but it truly is one of the best jobs. It's also so hard, right? I've learned so much over my career, you know, from the time that I was 12 to being the underdog to here I am the very seasoned veteran. And my mindset is different, right? My perspective is different with Paralympics or just what I'm doing. And I love the training day in and day out, but it definitely is very taxing, but it's also rewarding. And there's lots of sacrifice that goes.

goes into it and even here I am living out at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center away from my husband and our puppy the last six months just just to trace a dream and to have no regrets.

Natalie

Yeah. What advice and inspiration, and I know you've written about this and you tell your story, but we all go through challenges in life, some much bigger than others. What inspiration do you impart on people?

Jessica Long

Yeah, such a good question. I think for me, just with my whole life, I was born without legs. I've had so many surgeries on my legs and found swimming. And I've been adopted and I've worked through the feeling of abandonment or just wanting to prove myself, maybe carrying that over into my athletic career. I've definitely gone through so many emotions in so many things. And I think for me, the inspiration that I just draw from is just that life is hard. Life is going to continue to be hard.

But I love this idea that we can face it head on and no matter what our circumstances are, right, we can find ways to move forward. And I think it's so important that, you know, not every day is gonna be super positive. Like, it's okay to have bad days, right? I certainly have bad days and every day I still wake up and I'm an amputee. But I think if we can continue to shift our mindset, right, our mindset absolutely will dictate where our life will go.

And you know, for me, I can't change my legs. And I have every reason to quit. I have every reason to make my legs an excuse. And I think for others, I just want to really teach them that, like, why not you to do extraordinary things instead of the why me mentality.

Natalie

Yeah, that's a really neat one. I've heard that before, but not often enough of why not you? Why not you? It can be you. But let's talk a little bit more about wanting to give up, because it's easy. In the long run, it's not. But it's easy to just throw in the towel and just, done. Too much. It's too hard. Do you face that? Do you remember that as a child and even now as a professional swimmer?

Jessica Long

Yeah. You know, it's so interesting. I see giving up is like, I don't know, I think obviously there's so many choices we have in our lives and from an early age, you know, I was just determined. I also didn't have a choice at that time with giving up, right? Like I had to keep moving forward and I think for me, people are so, it's like, I love that one of the quotes too where it's like, you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take, right? Like I never want to live my life with regrets. And I really, really try not to, right? I'm not really afraid of failure. And I think that's something I want to teach people too. Like you can't be afraid of failure. Just starting is a success. And you know, I think for me giving up, know, I especially, I think if I truly viewed my legs and my life as such a negative, I don't think I would be where I am, right? If I just felt sorry for myself all the time and felt ashamed. And I definitely felt those emotions, right, as a kid. I was very confused. I couldn't understand why I was born without legs, especially when my little sister's had legs. And I think often it can feel like I must have done something wrong. And I think just I'm so grateful for the people in my life and the perspective and just how I found ways to navigate it. I'm super, know, therapy really helped me just open up into, I think there's so much vulnerability in being just sharing your story, right? That's such a power. Where there was a time I never wanted to share my story. I never wanted to show my legs. And I think for me, want, know, when I do a lot of public speaking, it's so amazing just to be able to talk about so many different topics, right? I don't just talk about the professional side. It's, I can talk to people who are adopted and who have felt, we have felt very similar things, right? And abandonment's real. Or being different in the world that wasn't designed for me, right? just competing and winning medals, but also knowing that that's not where my worth comes from. So I love public speaking. I think that's why I'm so excited for this book to come

Natalie

Wow. Where does your worth come from? You mentioned that and I wanted to go a different direction, but I want to ask you

Jessica Long

Yeah!

Yeah, well, I mean, I'm a Christian, so I love the Lord. That's where my worth comes from. And oftentimes it can get, it can be hard, right? I've definitely had a really long battle just with that feeling, you know, like why would God make me this way? But I gave my heart to Christ, my whole heart, when I was 22. It's so dry here in Colorado, I always forget.

Natalie

It's the best it is.

Jessica Long

But yeah, just, know at the end of the day swimming is just something I love to do. It's a talent that God gave me and you know, I've been able to touch so many lives through this, through this talent that God gave me. So truly that's where that's come from.

Natalie

Yeah, go ahead and grab some water. We can pause here for a second.

Jessica Long

You would think that water is not anywhere near, but I just might need a minute.

Natalie

I can take it. can cut this out if you want to go grab water. Do you want to get up? Okay. Okay. That's so funny. That's a big place. my gosh. my goodness. Okay. Well, we'll cut this little banter out about it anyway. so I'll just jump into the next question. do you think that you were born with a drive?

Jessica Long

it's actually so far. I think I'll be okay. If it happens one more time, I'm just going to get it all out. I either have to go up to like the third floor or run over all the way down to the calf through all this. So I think we'll be good. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Natalie

to succeed or do you think you were taught that as a child?

Jessica Long

You know, this has been such a good question, and especially just with doing media for the new book. It's something I've worked really hard to try to figure out in therapy, right? Like, it's that like nature versus nurture type thing. Was I always just determined or was that truly just a response, like a trigger or a trauma response, right? Like all my life I've been told I was so determined, but I also was fueled with anger, right? And I think something that's also really interesting, right? I was fueled by anger and

so angry with the fact that I was given up for adoption. But years later I found out that maybe it wasn't even my birth mom's choice. But also I never thought of her perspective, right? So, I mean, obviously it's, it's a hundred percent has made me who I am today. And I don't really know. I don't believe I had any other choice but to just be determined. But I do definitely have this competitive determination that I don't always see everyone having. And that can sometimes be so confusing for me because I'm

Am I the only one that's just this way? But I also think there was a fight, right? There was a fight in me to prove, I've always been proving myself, right? To prove that I wasn't just a girl with no legs, that I was worth it, that I can find a way to forgive my birth mom and that truly was the best thing. And it doesn't have to be black or white, right? I used to think, what would my life be like in Russia? My whole life I've been told it wouldn't.

wouldn't be good, and it wouldn't be good. I definitely know that it would be very different. But also sometimes when I think about my family that I was adopted into, nobody asked a 13 -month -old me what I wanted. I didn't have a choice. So it's okay to live in just the middle, the gray area, that I love my family, that I'm along, but I also have this story and I wouldn't be who I am today without going through all the circumstances or being an amputee. So I think I developed.

I don't know, there's not many times I look at my life and think that I gave up, but I don't know. I just think I'm determined.

Natalie

Yeah. It's just always interesting to me to hear where determination comes from. And for a lot of people it is, I have to prove something. And that's OK if that's your motivation and it helps you be successful. It actually can be really beautiful. You come from a big family, so six kids, right? How are they in watching you compete and them athletes? And how has that played into your success?

Jessica Long

Yeah, so I come from such a wonderful family. My parents have been married, I think, 42 years now. So I have an older sister and older brother, and then my brother Josh who was adopted, he's older, and then two little sisters. So just such a good family. We were all homeschooled. You know, I especially was homeschooled because of all the surgeries that I had to have. So, you know, I go in for a surgery and have to rest and recover for up to a month and get fitted with a new set of prosthetics.

My siblings were just amazing with watching all the movies that I wanted to watch or all the popsicles I could eat. My parents got us a big trampoline so I didn't have to run around the grass and cut up my knees. Because when I'm not wearing my prosthetics, I walk on my knees. But they were just super great. And I definitely don't think, there wasn't anything I heard that I couldn't do. I would climb on top of a refrigerator. I was always doing somersaults and flips. And I think at times though, it was really hard just because I was the one that was different.

I'm the blonde in the family and I was also the one born without my legs. And I do remember sneaking into my little sister's, like looking into her crib when she was little and looking at her legs and being so confused as to why I didn't have legs. But my parents would explain it to me over and over and over again. And I think when I look back, I had a really hard time with comprehending, right? Comprehending why I was different. Why was I not born with legs? you know, so they

We went over it a lot as a family, but I definitely know there was nothing that I couldn't do. None of my family were swimmers. My little sisters tried out for the swim team for a few years. But my parents just made sure that every kid had something they felt good at. And I am positive that if my parents forced me into swimming or became obsessed with my success, I would have been like, Because no was my favorite word when I was little. But they just let me do my own thing, and they were just proud of me no matter what.

and they allowed me to dream with them and we dreamed big, but it was never, it was never just like, you know, I never, I don't know. I wanted them to love me when I started swimming, but I always knew that they never really made me feel like they cared. That was more me, but yeah, it was great.

Natalie

Yeah. Do you think, OK, so you're going here to the games. You're leaving in a week. What does that look like? You've done it before. How do you set yourself up for winning?

Jessica Long

Yeah, you know, I think for me this time going into it, I'm not, you know, I was talking with my coach today about this, like this morning. I don't know if I'm super concerned about winning this time around, right? I was just thinking, you know, I've won all the races that I've ever wanted to win. And I'm so grateful for the support I've always had over the years, right? Everyone has gotten me here. It's, often say, you know, when I get a gold medal, it's incredible, but it's, I'm the one receiving the gold medal for so many people who helped me.

But I think for me, it's like the first time that I'm like, I think I'm just gonna do this for myself. But I also often feel like I just have one person in the audience that's watching me and I just try to think of like God being there with me. And I think that really helps me just especially being a Christian, just like, okay, like, you you can't give up and there's, the last three years have been really hard, right mentally, just like, why am I still doing this? And it's, I don't have the same joy as I once did the same sparkle.

but I have the same love. I've always loved swimming. But I think for me, I just know that my worth, whatever happens, the sun will rise. And I think that's been really reassuring even watching the Olympics, just knowing that, you know, I've worked so hard, but it doesn't take away what I've already done and that's okay.

Natalie

Yeah, yeah. I know you have a dog, so you'll have grace for mine who seems to really like you. Just kind of sitting here barking a little in the back. There's nothing even to bark at. But I've read about your special dog, your sweetie. So tell us about that. That's your small little family, your husband.

Jessica Long

yeah. my gosh. Yeah, so I got my husband Lucas. We got married in October. This October will be five years. Super great. One of the best people I've ever met. Obviously, best friend, love him. But I ended up, I never grew up with dogs and I was not a dog person actually. Now it's completely different, but I got him a dog. I know.

Natalie

It changes fast.

Jessica Long

I got him a dog for our second wedding anniversary and it's a little, it's a cute little golden doodle and his name is Goose. And Goose of course loves me. I spent the first eight weeks really taking care of him because my husband at the time was working in D .C. and I was like, have no idea what I'm doing. But it's been the most, it's just taught me so much. Just selfless love, I can't even, I think that's been one of the hardest things being out here at the training center, just not being with my husband or not seeing Goose.

Natalie

Thank

Jessica Long

You know, we love doing our walks every night after dinner and just stuff that I can't, I think that's why I'm so excited for Paris to kind of get moving along just so I can move back home and, yeah, my whole family's coming to Paris and I think it will be really great, know, especially since in Tokyo, no one could come with the pandemic. So this will be really, really sweet and I'm so looking forward to just getting a big hug no matter what, right? Obviously I want to win. do have that, I love competing and I want to win.

Natalie

Yeah, are they coming to Paris?

Jessica Long

but also understanding that I'm gonna be okay no matter what happens.

Natalie

Yeah, I have a daughter who played, she wrapped up her career in college lacrosse And so much of what you're saying in my audience listening here will be a lot of moms, a lot of families. And I say that about my daughter because your sport can be taken away from you at any time and having your worth be in something else. Because I mean, even I changed careers after 28 years. If that's what you live your life for, then it's going to be hard to find happiness.

Jessica Long

Yeah.

Jessica Long

Yes, yeah. And I think what the best advice I've ever been given was just, Jess, you're a person who loves to swim. You're not just a swimmer. And I think that's really helped my mentality that, like, okay, whatever happens, whatever results, it doesn't take away the sacrifice. It doesn't take away the hard work. It doesn't take away the fact that I am loved and that my parents are gonna be there no matter what. My husband's gonna be there no matter what. But I love this idea. And one of the girls who's competing in Paris right now just wrote this

You know, I think she was expected to win and she ended up getting sixth place and she just said, hey, you know, the sun is still gonna rise tomorrow. And I think we put such an expectation that if you're not winning gold, you're a failure. And it's like, I'm so proud of some of those bronze medals that I've won because I still got a medal. But yeah, it's definitely, I'm just super grateful for my parents and that perspective, but I do think every athlete.

or anything that you go through, you almost have to learn that, right? Where does your identity lie? And maybe that's just finding purpose, right, in your life. And I think for me, I know that I have purpose after swimming, right, to inspire others. And I think that gives me a little bit more joy to keep moving forward.

Natalie

Tell me about the book. me about writing it. Why did you decide to write a book and what can we expect to see in it as it's not out yet, right?

Jessica Long

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's called Beyond the Surface. I actually have two other books, one for Ten and Unders, and I just had a children's book come out last year called The Mermaid with No Tale. But this one was kind of alongside The Mermaid with No Tale. But this one really dives deep into just so many vulnerable pieces of my story and memories and just some of the hardest parts of my life that I wasn't always super open or sharing with people. And I think, you know, I hope that

people reading my story or things that I've gone through that it's so real and vulnerable that they feel something also, like they can resonate with it. Whether it's the adoption piece, right? Or not feeling loved, right? It's a gold medalist's guide to finding and loving yourself. And it takes a lot of time. And it takes a lot. You can climb one mountain and realize that there's always gonna be another mountain to climb, another peak. But I think for me, it's

It's very, very vulnerable and my sister actually helped write it with me. So that's super special and she's someone that I absolutely trust. She's the one that came back to Russia with me when I met my birth mom. There's some tricks in there, some exercises, know, one of them just, sometimes when I have negative thoughts about myself or my body or my legs or just self -image, right, you know, definitely have this idea of seeing little Jess

I walk you through different exercises and stuff, but it's very vulnerable and it really just dives deep into ways to love yourself through this journey of life.

Natalie

Yeah, I didn't realize that you went back to Russia with your sister and how did that go? You talk about that in the book, but

Jessica Long

Yeah, mean it was yeah, it was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever done. My birth mom was 16 when she had me and I think my whole life right I was just so confused as to you know why wasn't I enough and to top it all off my birthday I'm actually a leap year birthday so I remember thinking you know I only get a birthday every four years confused, bored without legs like you know just I couldn't be more different and thinking that okay well literally the calendar just skips over

Natalie

my, yeah,

Jessica Long

Like I don't even exist. And I think we can feel, I think we as humans or even just anyone listening or reading the book, we can so often feel like that one little thing does have an impact. My birthdays are so hard for me, but I also love to be celebrated. It's so weird. birth was a time that it was like, okay, well I was born, it doesn't show on the calendar, I just don't exist. She just doesn't think of me. But I ended up going and meeting her when I was

one T1. A Russian reporter went and found her for me and I dreamed about meeting her my whole life. You she named me Tatiana, which is my middle name, but I never thought that she would actually marry my birth father, right? Because we were, my parents were given a note just as she was too young and her parents, I think, were alcoholics and just she couldn't take care of a disabled baby. But she ended up marrying my birth father and I went back to Russia and it was crazy. I went to the orphanage I was adopted from.

And they said I was the only orphan to ever come back. And I met the woman who handed me over to my dad, because my dad was the one that went to Russia while my mom stayed home with the other two kids. To get both of us, it was like a two or three week process with paperwork. But yeah, I'll never forget I heard her crying when she came outside of the house. And I remember hugging her. And I mean, at this point, my story was all over Russia. So there was probably about 30 cameras in their tiny little village.

and she came out in her purple house and I just remember hugging her and thinking like this is my mom, my birth mom. And then I met my birth father and they have three children after me. But it was just pretty wild, you know, I green eyes with like a gold, gold in them and they have the exact same colored eyes and I got to show them my legs. But I think the biggest thing for me was just the power of forgiveness. Right, I think there's so often we can hold onto things so tightly, right? And I often think of like, could you imagine squeezing your fist so hard like.

Oftentimes I feel like I'm just like, okay, just let go Jess, like release. And I think I talk a lot about that, but the book, but, and the book's been a couple years in the making, so I'm trying to remember everything, but it was just such a beautiful moment. And truly from that moment, I just forgave her and it just completely changed my perspective. And I remember thinking, how do I swim now when I'm not as angry, right? Cause anger is such a powerful emotion that can fuel you.

Jessica Long

So is the whole thing, but anyway, you can go and watch it. It's a documentary on peacock and it's called A Long Way Home. So my whole, it's like 25 minutes.

Natalie

story. Yeah, do you keep in touch with them now at

Jessica Long

Yeah, I do. Through Facebook, when I met her there was about three translators, so it was a little difficult to hear or to understand, but we translate a lot on Facebook and my sister after me, Anastasia, has two kids, so it's pretty wild. I didn't think that would come that early on in my life. I thought I would maybe find my birth mom years down the road, just maybe when I was married or had kids.

Truly amazing, truly not all adoption stories are like that though. And I've definitely learned that with my public speaking and sharing my story and just what it felt like. just having that experience I hope to give back and to talk to other adoptive people.

Natalie

You know, I just finished a book, maybe you're familiar with Brene Brown, and I think it's from the Rising Strong book. But you've touched on something that is not easy for people and yet so, powerful, and that is vulnerability. Like, when you're able to actually talk about it, because we hide much, and you talk about these things so openly and with such confidence. And I know they're probably still not easy,

Jessica Long

Yeah.

Natalie

being able to actually talk about the hardships, it's like it opens this door to power.

Jessica Long

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you know, I truly don't think I would have ever gotten to this place if it wasn't for therapy. you know, it just takes time and I've been in therapy since 2016 just to process everything, right? You know, we all have normals, we all have our own normals, right? We all have our own stories. But that vulnerability piece when I was little I thought was weakness. I literally remember being like, I'm tough all the time and I'm not weak.

Natalie

Mm -hmm, many people do.

Jessica Long

Honestly, I just have gotten to a point where it's like, I want you to love me for me, all of me, right? You I think maybe that comes from the adoption piece. Just take it or leave it. This is me, and I want you to love me for me. But just going to therapy, I've been able to just connect all these dots and just truly just know myself and find confidence in my story. And to not look at my story and see all the bad parts, but see all the progress I've made. And I think that's so important for everyone because

There's stuff I didn't even think of that I've been able to dig up, but I'm like, my gosh, I never even connected that. Even just something so silly or as simple as sometimes people will be like, my gosh, you have blue eyes. And I'm like, no, they're green and gold, which is because my birth family has the green and gold. Little things where I'm like, why am I always defensive with the blue eye? I don't know, it's just been so crazy to be able to connect the dots or.

Homeschooling, know homeschooling, did not like homeschooling and I think it's because I just wanted to be competitive and I always wanted to prove myself and but I truly think therapy is so incredible and so powerful and the more that we can open up with each other and share our stories and talk and connect I just think that people would they just don't feel as alone.

Natalie

When they think of the people who might be listening, thinking, I should do that, or maybe I can be that way, or just finding, you never know how someone is connecting with you when they hear your story and how that can completely change someone's life.

Jessica Long (26:55.419)

Yeah, yeah, especially in the athletic world, right? We talk a lot about, you know, finding your worth and your identity. And the more I talk to athletes about it and we just kind of laugh, like, it's so comforting. Or the fact that I'm in the Paralympics, right? Just to be near people who look like me, their bodies look like me, right? That has changed everything for me and given me confidence. But when I was a little girl, right, I couldn't, I didn't even like wearing shorts in the summer, right? I didn't understand, I didn't want people to stare.

And it's amazing because again, when we go back to that why not you? you know, it's so easy to fall into that, well I could have, or why me? Or this feeling sorry for, I don't wanna be a victim in my life. I don't want that for me. And I don't wanna teach that to the next generation of young girls or just the next generation. And that's why I'm still swimming, right? I'm not swimming because it, I mean, it hurts every single day, it's hard, I'm training all the time, but there's a bigger purpose.

Natalie

Yeah. Yeah. What thread have you found? I could ask this of athletes at any level, but especially your level. What thread have you found in the Paralympians that is unique or inspiring? You have a lot of friends in that community.

Jessica Long

Yeah, just, don't, just how powerful our bodies are. Maybe I think just that there's so much confidence in these girls, these women with differences, but it doesn't take away that we still have hard days, right? Just that the world sees us as so many, it's so inspiring. And I wanna be inspirational for my athletic career and what I've done and what I can do with this body that I've been given. But I don't think it's that inspiring to go grocery shopping or.

fill up my gas or anything like that. But I also think that, you know, I can't really dictate where people draw inspiration, right? I think that's why I do love social media and I love, you know, seeing videos of amputees do things. I think it's so encouraging, but I don't know, I definitely want people to be more inspired and I think that's how a lot of us feel, just be inspired by our athletic abilities versus, I don't know, it's a hard one though. It's a very fine line of, you know, I don't want people to think that.

It's inspiring if I just do simple tasks, but that's the theme.

Natalie

Yeah, but I think that of athletes at any elite level, and that's why I ask that question of like a thread. And often, it's they're able to let things go, or they have firepower, or these things that we can use in everyday life. We can use them in our hardships, in our competitive parts, and getting jobs, and all of that. It's just interesting to me to hear where people draw that fire.

Jessica Long

Yeah.

Jessica Long

Yeah, well on Team USA, for the Paris swimming team, we do have a saying that it's just shock the world, right? Shock the world. Because I think again, this world is not designed really for amputees, right? We are a minority. I mean, I see it all the time with my friends who are in wheelchairs, right? It's just stuff you don't think about until it happens to you, right? My husband in March tours Achilles and had to navigate, you know, just going through that surgery and being on crutches. And I'm like, have friends on crutches.

because they're a one -legged amputee and a prosthetic doesn't fit good. It was a really good interest, just to hear his perspective, but I would say for us, we really talk a lot about shocking the world and proving to others that we can do it, and we can do it really fast or shock you. I'll never forget there was one time I was swimming and I wanted to share a lane. I was just getting my workout in at a local pool. And the guy was like, not swimming. We can split lanes, right? I swim, you know.

And I just said, hey, would you mind splitting the lane? And I think he just said something like, well, I'm going to swim really fast. And I was like, you're not even going that fast. This is my warm up. But yes, I love this idea of shocking the world.

Natalie

Yeah, well, I can't wait to watch you do that again. And I'm sure people ask you this all the time and maybe you don't even know, but is this going to be the last one or are you just going to keep going?

Jessica Long

Thanks.

Jessica Long

I would love to end my career in LA in 2028. I'm not swimming as many events this time. I'm actually kind of swimming half, so I normally swim about nine events, it feels like. This time going into Paris, I'm swimming four. So I would love to end my career on home soil and kind of have my farewell, my goodbye. So I definitely plan to swim in LA, but probably just one event and then just excited to start the next chapter.

Natalie

What's your favorite of the four that we'll watch you in and which of those which are your favorite? What is your favorite?

Jessica Long

Yeah, so going to, I'm swimming, I'm opening up with the Hunter Backstroke, which is one of my harder events. I've gotten like bronze in that a few times. I have the 200 IM, which I have for the last four games, one gold. So I have a four -peat. It's gonna be pretty hard to get that fifth gold, but obviously I'm gonna try. I have the 400 Free, which I won, I won an individual gold in that when I was 12. And then I have the Hunter Fly that I should be the defending gold medalist.

So we'll see, but it's a great group of girls, super competitive, and that's what I love about the Paralympics. But I don't know, I just love racing and I'm just gonna try my best.

Natalie

can't wait to watch you coming up here in Paris. Best of luck. Yeah, and God bless. And thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for being vulnerable.

Jessica Long

Thank you. Thank you.

Jessica Long

Thank you for having me.