Jessica Hardy
Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relays at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
She 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.
From 2008 to 2009, Hardy served a 12 month suspension from swimming competition due to an anti-doping rule violation at the 2008 Olympic Trials. She returned to competition in 2009, setting new long course world records in the 50-meter breaststroke and 100-meter breaststroke at the 2009 U.S. Open Swimming Championships.
Early life
Hardy was born in Orange, California, on March 12, 1987, the daughter of George Hardy and Denise Robinson. Her mother swam in college for Indiana State University for one week and is currently a psychotherapist. Jessica 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. In High School she participated in several sports. Hardy swam for the Seal Beach Swim Club, but at 16 transferred to the larger and more competitive Irvine Novaquatics program in April 2003, where she was managed and trained by Hall of Fame Head Coach Dave Salo. She remained with the Novaquatics through her high school years.Wilson High swimmer
Representing Wilson Classical High at the Southern Section Division I Championships, in May of 2005, Hardy became the first High School student to go under the minute for the 100-yard breaststroke event with a time of 59.20. At Wilson, she swam for Coach Maggie Twinem. Twinem coached the girls swimming team at Wilson Classical High's strong program for 29 years, leading the program to two CIF Southern Section team championships, which included Jessica's 2005 championship. Wilson High's women's team also won consecutive Moore League titles under Coach Twinem from 2001-2005, during Hardy's tenure as a member of the team.Hardy held a fourth place world ranking in the 100-meter breaststroke event in 2005. Swimming for Wilson High School in 2005, she swam the breaststroke leg of a 200-meter medley relay that won the CIF Division I title with a time of 1:43.84. At the same CIF championship, Hardy also won the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:01.68, and swam last as part of a 4x100 freestyle relay team that placed second at the championship with a 3:32.39. Her efforts at the championship helped her Wilson Classical swim team win the CIF team championship for Division I for the first time since 1995.
Collegiate era
Hardy attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she competed for coach Teri McKeever's California Golden Bears swim team for two years. She was a four-time NCAA Champion, and met her husband Dominik Meichtry, a Swiss swimmer and 3-time Olympian, at Berkeley. She gave up her eligibility and turned professional in 2007, to train with the Trojan Swim Club part of the University of Southern California with Trojan Club coach Dave Salo, her former High School coach at the Novaquatics. Salo started as a USC and Trojan Swim Club Coach in 2006. In 2016, she announced that she would now be training with former University of Southern California Women's swim coach Mark Schubert, at the Golden West Swim Club in Huntington Beach, CA. Schubert received International Swimming Hall of Fame Honors in 1997.She married Dominik Meichtry on October 5, 2013. In September 2017, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, to be born in the spring of 2018, and the couple later had a second child.
Arizona State University
Enrolling in 2014, primarily as an online student, she completed her Bachelors of Science degree from Arizona State University in 2016, with a focus on Communications. Her online status accommodated her demanding training program.In 2015, she released an autobiography, titled Swimming Toward the Gold Lining: How Jessica Hardy Turned Her Wounds Into Wisdom. The book "covers her journey from trials to triumph, from wounds to wisdom, and from setbacks to comebacks. You know her name, but you won’t know her true story until you’ve read book."
2005–08
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, a long course meet, Hardy competed in two individual breaststroke events and in the 4×100-meter medley relay. She won silver in all of those events. Hardy broke Leisel Jones' world record in the semifinals of the 100-meter breaststroke on July 25 before ultimately finishing second in the finals two days later. In the 4×100-meter medley relay, on July 30, Hardy won a silver medal with Natalie Coughlin, Rachel Komisarz, and Amanda Weir. On July 31, Hardy placed second in the 50-meter breaststroke, finishing behind Jade Edmistone of Australia.At the 2006 Short Course World Championships in Shanghai, Hardy competed in two individual breaststroke events and swam in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay. At the conclusion of the meet, she won a silver and bronze medal. In the 50-meter breaststroke on April 6, Hardy won a bronze medal, finishing behind Jade Edmistone and Brooke Hanson of Australia. Hardy then competed in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay on April 7, and won a silver medal after the United States placed second in the finals. On April 8, Hardy finished in fourth place in the 100-meter breaststroke.
At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, a long course meet, Hardy competed in two individual breaststroke events and in the 4×100-meter medley relay. She won a gold and silver medal at this competition. In her first event, the 100-meter breaststroke, on March 27, Hardy placed fourth. Hardy then swam in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay on March 31, and won a silver medal after the United States placed second in the finals. On April 1, Hardy won the gold in the 50-meter breaststroke.
At the 2008 Short Course World Championships in Manchester, England, Hardy won a total of three gold medals. In her first event, the 50-meter breaststroke, on April 10, Hardy won gold with a world record time of 29.58. In the 4×100-meter medley, on April 11, Hardy teamed with Margaret Hoelzer, Rachel Komisarz, and Kara Denby to win gold in a world record time of 3:51.36. Going into the final of the 100-meter breaststroke, Hardy was the clear favorite for gold. She topped the heats with a time of 1:05.31 and broke the championship record in the semifinals with a time of 1:04.63 both on April 11. In the final of the 100-meter breaststroke, on April 12, Hardy won gold with a time of 1:04.22, and broke her own championship record.
2008 Olympic trial drug test ban
At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Hardy qualified for the USA Olympic Team. A few weeks later, on July 23, 2008, Hardy was notified that the second of her three tests from the Trials came back as positive for low levels of clenbuterol; this notification subsequently leaked to the media. Her attorney confirmed on July 24, 2008, that Hardy's "A" and "B" samples from a test administered on July 4 were positive for clenbuterol.Hardy claimed innocence and said she had never even heard of clenbuterol. Media coverage of the issue noted that tainted supplements have played a part in some previous instances of bans, and this was the case this time as well. A tainted supplement occurred with American swimmer Kicker Vencill, who won a lawsuit against a company that provided him with tainted supplements that resulted in a positive test and two-year ban from the sport. Under both American and international regulations, a lack of knowledge of the source of the substance ingested is not considered to be a defense against a positive result.
On August 1, 2008, following Hardy's hearing before the United States Anti-Doping Agency, USADA released a statement stating, "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced today that U.S. swimmer, Jessica Hardy, of Long Beach, CA, tested positive for the prohibited substance clenbuterol at the U.S. Olympic Trials on July 4, 2008, and has agreed to withdraw from the 2008 United States Olympic Team in the best interests of the team." On August 1, 2008, Hardy officially, and voluntarily, left the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. In May 2009, it was announced that Hardy would be banned from the sport for one year for the positive test.
On May 21, 2010, the Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed with the 2009 decision of the American Arbitration Association and dismissed the appeal by WADA to increase the suspension from one to two years. However, CAS did not entertain Hardy's request to have the International Olympic Committee join this arbitration nor her request to make a recommendation on her eligibility for the 2012 London Olympic Games. In April 2012, it was announced that Hardy would be eligible for the 2012 Olympics.
2009 comeback
Hardy returned from her suspension on August 5, at the U.S. Open National Championships. On August 6, she broke Yuliya Yefimova's world record in the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.95 to become the first woman under 30 seconds in the event. On August 7, Hardy lowered the world record for the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:04.45. En route to this world record, she also lowered her own world record in the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.80.At the World Cup on October 17, Hardy broke her own 50-meter breaststroke record set in April 2008 with a time of 29.45. On November 7, Hardy again bettered her own world record in the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.36. On November 12, Hardy broke her own world record for the third time with a 28.96, the first woman to go sub 29 in the 50-meter short course breaststroke. On November 15, Hardy bettered her record for the fourth time with a time of 28.80, 0.16 seconds faster than her previous record. Hardy was the overall winner in the female division for the 2009 FINA Swimming World Cup. She received $100,000 in prize money for her efforts.