All About Change - Season 3, Episode 11: Twenty-Three Time Paralympic Medalist, Jessica Long

Episode Date: August 30, 2020

On this episode of All Inclusive, Jay has special guest, twenty-three time Paralympic Medalist, Jessica Long! Join Jay and Jessica as they discuss how quarantine is impacting her training, the cheating scandal in the Paralympics, her training with Olympians,  and why she dedicated her life to swimming. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many changes to everyone's lives. In many locations, you cannot go out to eat, see a movie, or gather with friends. Most sporting events have been canceled or postponed, including the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Hi, I'm Jay Ruderman, host of All Inclusive. Hi, I'm Jay Ruderman, host of All Inclusive. Today, we have the second most decorated Paralympian in U.S. history and someone who's directly affected by the postponement, Jessica Long. All Inclusive, a podcast on inclusion, innovation, and social justice with Jay Ruderman. Jessica, thank you for joining us on All Inclusive. You have had a very impressive life and a very successful athletic career.

So maybe you can just start by telling us a little bit about your beginnings and your history and how you got into athletics. First, thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be a part of this and to share my story, which happens to be all the way back in Russia. I was born to a 16-year-old Russian girl, and due to a birth defect, she just wasn't able to take care of me. So she made a really difficult decision and decided to put me up for adoption in hopes that I would be adopted by a good family. And during this time, there was an American couple here in Baltimore who had two children but were told that they couldn't have any more.

So they looked into adoption, and when they saw a picture of me and another little boy in the same orphanage, they just knew we were And when they saw a picture of me and another little boy in the same orphanage, they just knew we were the children they were meant to adopt. So my dad went to Russia in 1993, got me and the little boy and named us Jessica and Joshua. And then it's pretty crazy and amazing how everything works out because after we were adopted, they had two more little girls. So I'm one of six kids, really big family. I love it. I love being a part of such an incredible family dynamic. I was really truly in such an incredible family unit. They didn't let my disability define me. They, you know, I had incredible parents, Stephen Beth

Long, who taught me to, you know, if I fell down and I lost a prosthetic leg to get back up. And I certainly had a lot of moments in my life that I really questioned why, you know, why me? Why did I have to go back in for another surgery? And what they ended up finding out after I was adopted is that I was born with this birth defect called fibular hemimelia, which basically means I was missing all the bones in my lower legs. And they amputated a foot that I had on both of my legs with three toes so I could wear the prosthetic legs. And that took about a six-month decision on whether or not to amputate this little foot,

which I'm really glad they did because I'm able to wear all sorts of different prosthetic legs. But, you know, I was a really active child. I wanted to be just like everyone else. My parents one time told me, you know, there was a group of kids at my brother's baseball game and they were going up and down this hill and just playing. And I saw the kids and I just wanted to be like them. So I decided right then and there that I was going to try to walk up and down that hill. But for me and two prosthetics, that was really difficult because anything that's not level, I would fall down,

I would lose a leg, but I just always had this determination. And it really worked out when I joined a swim team and I started getting involved with that sport. You've obviously excelled at swimming. You are the second most decorated Paralympian of all time. Maybe talk a little bit about swimming and how you were drawn to swimming and how you became such an accomplished swimmer? You know, for me, I was always a really active child. I think that goes back to all the surgeries I've had. Every time I grew, I had to get a surgery. And I think I really learned to appreciate just being active, right? Just being like a normal kid. So when I was really little, I would climb on top of a refrigerator. I would jump around. I would do somersaults and flips. And my parents decided to

get me involved in gymnastics. And over time, my parents were really afraid I would damage my knees in gymnastics with all the jumping. So they sat me down and they gave me an ultimatum and they said, you know, you can continue, but you have to wear your prosthetics. And I didn't really like my prosthetics at the time. They weren't as high tech as they are today. So we decided to try a new sport and I had always loved to swim. It just seemed like the perfect fit. In swimming, in Paralympic swimming, you are not allowed to wear any form of prosthetic. So, and I think I love that about the sport is that I'm able to take these two heavy prosthetic legs that I walk in every single day and I just leave them on the edge of the pool and I jump in and I

feel completely and totally just capable and strong and confident. And I think that's why I'm still swimming to this day. And so what do you attribute your success to? I mean, is it just, you know, really hard work and determination and just staying with it for years? Do you have a natural athletic ability that has made you a great swimmer? Yeah, I think it's a combination. I think it comes within to set goals and to want to reach them. I think for sure being adopted from Russia and somewhat that desire to prove myself that I was worthy, that I was worth it, probably comes into play. I also think wanting to be just like the other kids and having a very

visible difference on the swim teams that I've been a part of I have been on swim teams that you know I was the only girl missing legs and they didn't treat me like that you know they treated me like a friend at a competitor first and I loved when I could beat these boys or girls without with legs and I just always worked on the details and the technique. And I think that really helped give me that edge. And what about other sports? Because you've you've you do many other sports and are the sports that you like to do other than swimming. And there are things that you've excelled at other than swimming, really love swimming, it takes a lot of my time, especially at this level. I like being creative. I you know, I definitely think when I'm not swimming, I like interior design, I like going to a coffee shop and writing and um really inspiring the next

generation for sure and swimming has given me that platform I don't know what sport I want to try next but I I would love to try triathlon um but for now I'm just focusing on my swimming career. So let's talk a little bit about the Paralympics because the foundation was involved in creating an organization called Link20, which are self-advocates, people with and without disabilities. And one of the success stories they had is they approached the U.S. Olympic Committee and said, listen, there is disparity between the pay that Paralympians are receiving for receiving medals as opposed to Olympians. And they were successful. Ultimately, the U.S. Olympic Committee agreed that Paralympians and Olympians should be paid the same amount for their Olympic medals. But the viewership for Paralympics is much less than

the Olympics. And, you know, just give me your thoughts about being a Paralympian and competing and the tension between maybe the Olympics and the Paralympics and your thoughts on that. I think bottom line, we compete for Team USA. There should be no gap. And I was super excited to see that Operation Gold happened when it did. And of course, as an athlete, I can learn to appreciate where we're at. And I know the Ruderman family, you guys had a huge role in helping push that Operation Gold. But that's what we need, that people who care and want this Paralympic movement to grow and to become even bigger. And I think here in the United States,

we're still catching up. And I'm excited to see progress. And I hope to continue to help that. You know, I remember being a little girl standing kind of in the corner. And it was we were at a media summit, which happens before every olympic and paralympic games and they invited maybe three paralympic athletes and then the rest i mean it was maybe it was over a couple hundred olympic athletes and i was one of the paralympic athletes and i just remember looking over in the corner and it was a whole bunch of swimmers and i remember thinking one day they're gonna know who we are like we're not gonna ever have to explain what a paralympic athlete is.

And I'm super excited. I see it growing. I get excited for the next little boy or girl who happened to be born without an arm or a leg or was born with CP or had an accident that they know that they can be an elite athlete. And I really think that as I've gotten older, that's become my motivation. You know, I used to swim to win gold medals. Now I swim to prove to the next little boy or girl that they can do it too. You've won 23 Paralympic medals, 13 gold, six silver, and four bronze. You've competed in four Paralympics competitions in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016. And I was really interested to find out that you were the youngest athlete on a U.S. Paralympic swim team in Athens, age 12. I didn't know someone could be a Paralympian at age 12, but that's quite impressive. You've also received the ESPN Best Female Athlete with a Disability, the ESPY Award in 2007, 2012, and 2013. And you were named Sports Illustrated among the best

female athletes in 2006 and 2011, named Disabled Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine. Those accomplishments, in addition to be a member of the Forbes 30 under 30, with all of those accomplishments as an athlete, how have you taken that and used that celebrity to advocate for sport and for people with disabilities in sports? It's been really incredible to share my story. I think number one is sharing and just giving someone hope or an inspiration that they can do it. I know growing up, I had my own role models within the Paralympic movement. But I think one of the best things about sport is it teaches confidence. And I think growing up without legs where you know you're different and you see it, you know, you can't hide this insecurity.

It's very helpful to be a part of something that builds that confidence. And ways that I try to give back and help is just here within my own community and Baltimore whether that's speaking at different schools or coaching a swim team I coached a swim team for three years it was out of my comfort zone but it was one of the biggest learning experiences in my swimming careers thus far Paralympics we do different things where we give back to the up and coming generation where we go and we swim at these swim meets and we just were there, you know, we're just there to cheer on the athletes who are really scared and intimidated and they don't even know how to

approach their, their challenge or what they happen to be facing. But when they see the older generation, the older, the um just coming up and talking to them you can see this light and how excited they get and how they want to be not just an olympic athlete but they want to be a paralympic athlete and i think that for me um it is incredible i remember there was one time i was at a swim meet and this dad came up with his daughter and said that she had just lost her leg from cancer. And that moment has been stuck. Like just, I will never forget this moment that it was never really about winning gold medals that yes, the gold medals are incredible and,

and being a part of team USA, but that moment where this little girl had this role model and hero really touched me in this way. That is probably why I'm still a part of this and, and aiming for my fifth Paralympics. And I think right now my job is still to keep swimming and to still keep proving that others can do it. But I get really excited for what's to come when this chapter of my life comes to an end, this swimming career, where I want to take it and where I want to see change,

even within the Paralympic movement. So is there much interaction between Olympians and Paralympians? Is there training together? Do you work on strategy together? Not as much as I would like. We actually are separate. So there's USA Swimming and we have our own NGB within Paralympics. So we don't do a ton. We actually, we don't do anything really together, which is a thing I would like to change. I would love to see us do more swim meets together. In other countries, they have meets together. They have their Olympic and Paralympic trials together. And that's something that I would love to see happen within my lifetime of swimming.

But for me, when I was swimming in Paralympics, I would tell people, people would brag or say, oh my goodness, she's won some Paralympic medals or she's won Olympic medals. And someone would turn to me and say, oh my gosh, you're an Olympian. And I'd be like, well, yes, yeah. I mean, I'm a Paralympian. It's the same thing. And as soon as I said I was a Paralympic athlete, you could just tell that they went from this respect to this amazing, oh my gosh, an Olympic athlete to, oh, what's's wrong with you? Like, or, oh, you're, you're a Paralympic athlete. And, and that, I just, I always had this itch and this drive to prove that Paralympic athletes were elite athletes too. And I moved from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado to Baltimore in 2013. And I trained with Michael Phelps. I trained under

Bob Bowman. I think that proved to me that, you know, every day I had to give 110%, but just to compete or just to train with the Olympic athletes to prove that I never have to tell someone if I'm just as good as an Olympic athlete. I trained with them. I did the work that Michael Phelps did. We were teammates. discrimination you've faced in your life outside of sport, being a person with a disability, stigma that you've faced, how you've dealt with that stigma, how you've overcome it. You know, I've had wonderful parents who, when I was growing up, they really taught me that kids were curious and if they stared, that was okay. I always had a harder time when adults would stare and point. And something that I face on the daily, I would say is just parking in handicap. People parking in handicap might have a heart disease. It could be an invisible disability. And for me, I park in handicap parking because I'm missing two legs. If it's warm out, I start to sweat. If it's snowing, if it's raining, these are all elements that I notice walking in two

prosthetic legs. And I get a lot of pretty nasty comments and that's not really cool. And I try to really remain calm or try to share, Hey, like I'm an amputee. That's kind of why I'm parking. And that's something that I would really love to change and just teach people that, you know, you don't always see, you don't always know what's going on and to not judge before you, you, and you don't even need to really know, but that's one thing I face all the time. And even to the point where I've thought, maybe I don't want to park in handicap because it can just be so exhausting. But I've decided that if I don't park in handicap, it's kind of giving into what they're saying. And I do need it. I just decided to, to just continue to talk

and talk calmly and just say, Hey, like, you don't know. That's okay. But I do park an handicap because I need it. You're listening to all inclusive with Jay Ruderman. You can learn more view the show notes and transcripts at Ruderman foundation.org slash all inclusive. Please remember to subscribe rate and review us wherever you are listening. I mean, there's obviously a great deal of stigma about disability out there. Let me ask you something a little bit that you've been very outspoken on, which is an issue that's important. And Sports Illustrated and other publications have written about this, about cheating that goes on within the Paralympics and maybe athletes who are

posing as Paralympians, but are not truly disabled. I'm just curious as your point of view on it. You know, going into the 2016 Rio Games, it was very evident it was going to happen. And I was kind of scared. I was, you know, I was 24. I was still learning my voice, learning that people would even listen, you know, that I had a voice to begin with. It really was an issue back then. I mean, it's been an ongoing issue. It really started affecting my classification in the 2016 games. What we're dealing with right now is just that the IPC hasn't really addressed it. Instead of acknowledging that there was an issue that I understand, you know, it's never going to be this perfect system. And it's really hard to classify so many different types of challenges or disabilities. I think there's different ways to be able to look at it. And the big picture is, is ruining Paralympics. I think ultimately it's ruining for the next

generation to come up because what will end up happening is, you know, you'll have a person right now in my classification who's an S10, so two classes higher. Sometimes S10s look completely able-bodied. You don't really know what's even wrong. So that means they could have two arms and two legs. Drop down from two classes, nothing's changed. And she'll break all the world records. Right now she's breaking every world record by, I mean, smashing these world records. And then if she gets, she's up for review in 2021, she'll move, but the records remain the same or they don't change. And she gets to keep her medals. And I mean, I, I think it's the new doping within Paralympics is kind of what's going on and people are doing it intentionally, but they're not calling it. And even though there's records of athletes swimming slower in the review swim and then dropping 10 seconds at night, once they're confirmed and breaking the world record, I think that's a pretty big indication. And what I really wanted to address

with that article is, you know, if, if not me, then who, and again, swimming has given me this platform and you don't have to love me. You don't have to like what I'm doing, but this is such a bigger issue than, than me. And the amount have to like what I'm doing, but this is such a bigger issue than me. And the amount of support that I've gotten through this article, I didn't even know I had people who were supporting me in the way that they have, just reposting, especially through social media.

I've gotten a lot of great messages that just like, thank you. Like now that you're saying this, like I want to say something too, but it's a really big issue and it's hard to put it all within a couple of minutes, but I would love to see it changed. And I'm really thankful that the Paralympics can't take away what I've already done, you know, winning those medals, but I am a really strong

voice. And I don't back down easily. And I'm going to keep fighting for the next little girl or boy that wants to compete in the 2028 Games. How can it stop? Bigger crackdown by certain committees, better oversight. How do you stop this problem? Yeah, so we actually have something in place that's, you know, it talks about misrepresentation. And it's a two year ban, which is just as serious as doping, if you happen to take a substance, that it's a very serious thing. And we've never used it in swimming. We used it, they used it in archery, maybe in 2006 was the last time. And we have cases that we had presented to the IPC that say, hey, look at the records,

look at the way that people are swimming. But also I think it would be really great to try surprise. We have surprise drug testing. Drug testing needs to know where I am every single day for one hour. But I think we should do some surprise classification where throughout the entire year, you don't know when you're going to be up for review. Because the problem is these athletes know when they're being reviewed by the classifiers. So they know that tonight I'm going to be looked at. So I'm going

to swim slower. I'm not going to kick or I'm going to add time or it's a way of knowing. And I think we maybe should try a little bit more of a surprise kind of attack. Like, Hey, we have a world series. There's five swim meets in one of these world series that you compete in. We're going to be kind of testing out and reviewing, but you don't know, you have no idea. And also informing the classifiers. A lot of the classifiers don't really understand the history of some of these athletes. And I think just as long as we're talking about it, that's a good start. From the outside, it would seem, you know, you either are competing with a disability that is a visible disability or you're not. But I guess it's not as

simple as that. And the classifications are much more complicated. And that's what I'm hearing. Yes, it's pretty complicated, but there'll be stuff like people with CP will take cold showers before their review swim, or just people swimming extremely slow. And as athletes, we have seen these athletes or these swimmers swim for years. So when all of a sudden you're swimming significantly slower and then drop down a classification and win gold and everything, I think that's a little bit of an indication that, wait a second, there's a red flag here. Also, I think if you get moved from a classification, then your records go with you and your gold medals and everything. And especially if it's misrepresentation. But I think the big thing is right now in the SA category, there's

not a lot of amputees. Most amputees can't, and we're losing athletes. And I think that's really the sad thing is that, you know, I've had a few girls write me and decide to retire because there's no point in competing. In their eyes, there's no point in competing because it's a fight that they just feel like they can't fight. Well, first of all, thank you for your advocacy and thank you for trying to keep sport more pure and honest, which I think is what people are looking for. Let me ask you, we're living in the time of a coronavirus pandemic. How are you doing during this time and how's your family doing? Are you able to train? Are you able to keep yourself physically fit during this time?

I'm doing okay. Swimming. We're going on week three now that we've been quarantined. My husband is working from home. I have not been able to swim. I did find a pool that was about two hours away and I drove to that pool a couple of days before it got shut down as well. Family's good. We're all just kind of hanging in there and doing our part. But yeah, it is tough. You know, I worry a lot about, you know, the disabled community. And I had this crazy thought the other day, just, you know, I need a lot of rubbing alcohol for my legs, my prosthetics to clean them deep clean. And I just realized it's completely gone. I have no idea where to even go to get it. And I was just thinking that something as small as rubbing alcohol that I need, you know, it brings light to what are others doing. And someone who's in a wheelchair or who might be missing both arms or who really is struggling.

And I think that that really hit home that, goodness, we all just need to really do our part and help each other and not take more than what we need. I think that's been a huge thing that just seeing that. Is it throwing your training schedule off? The fact that we're now under quarantine? I'm used to swimming about five hours a day. And if you miss a day in swimming, it takes about two, two and a half days to get back into it. So right now, it's been about three weeks since I've really been able to swim. So I'm trying to do my best to do home workouts, stay mentally strong,

taking care of my mental health as well as my physical, and just trying to stay in a routine. I think that's been the best thing for me. What is your recommendations for people who are at home to keep themselves active? What should they be doing in terms of physical and mental health? I think journaling is incredible. I think if you can just write your thoughts. We all have cell phones these days. Even just going to your notes and writing how you're feeling that day, what you phones these days, even just going to your notes and writing kind of how you're feeling that day, what you're grateful for, what you want to work on. And I think just understanding that you don't have to be an Olympic athlete training, right? You can just, you can do abs 15 minutes. And there are so many amazing websites. YouTube is incredible. There's

so many things that you can do online and find these quick little workouts just to get your heart rate up. And I think that really, you know, exercise really helps with even the mental health and just feeling better, just feeling more alive or awake. And I noticed that if I feel sluggish, as soon as I do a little 15 to 30 minute workout, the day seems better and brighter. I really am big on gratitude and just being thankful that, you know, I'm still at home. I've got some food and I understand that not everyone has that and just, yeah, doing the best, the best that we can. Most people in this world will never win a gold medal. What does it feel like to win the medal, to represent your country? In that moment when you're standing up there and you're hearing your national anthem, it's like not even about, it's not even about that moment it's so crazy

it's about the coaches or your coach who pushed you on that practice that you're you fought him or you didn't want to do it or your parents for all those years of driving back and forth to swim practice with other kids my parents had six kids and they found a way to drive me morning and night to swim practice and your friends and your and your supporters and your sponsors it's every single person who believed in you and it's like this moment is your supporters and your sponsors. It's every single person who believed in you. And it's like, this moment is for all of us. You know, it's everyone who believed in me. Yes. I I'm standing here with this gold medal, but it's, it's so much bigger because you realize that no, I can take it away from you. You're standing up there and you're

getting the gold medal and your heart is beating so fast and you're looking over the pool that you just won the race. I mean, I want to do it again. So I'm sure you'll be successful. One of the more sort of mundane questions, but I'm just curious, what does a Paralympian eat before you compete? Yeah, it's a lot of pasta, but it's not too much pasta, a lot of fruits and veggies, protein. If anything, it's eating every couple hours to make sure that our body is constantly burning the fuel but just being the healthiest that you can be and that and that means sleeping a lot and recovery and staying strong and and at the same time you're putting in so much work in the pool that you feel it if you're eating bad stuff but i do allow myself to eat like sushi i would say sushi is probably like the worst thing i eat so when you're when you're training how many calories

a day are you consuming it's not as many it's it's good calories i would say sushi is probably like the worst thing I eat. So when you're training, how many calories a day are you consuming? It's not as many. It's good calories. I would say probably around 3,000, 3,500 in heavy training, which I'm probably swimming about 50 miles six days. So I swim a lot. It's just the preparation takes a long time. In 2014, in the Sochi Olympics, the Winter Olympics,

you were a commentator for NBC. What was that like? And maybe, you know, once your career is over, what are your plans? I mean, is that something you're looking to get into more? Yeah, that was a pretty incredible experience. When these crazy opportunities come up, I've always wanted to just say yes to them. You know, I want to try new things. I want to get out of my comfort zone. And that was definitely something that was really out of my comfort zone. You know, I don't know if many people knew this, but two months prior to going there to commentate, I just met my birth family in Russia.

So I'd just been back to Russia and then decided, then commentated for the Sochi game so it was kind of cool how it you know it all kind of played um a role but um it was hard it was so hard to be behind the camera and to ask the questions and to think ahead and if they answered the question or you know within the question and it was my next question asked how do you you know come up with the next question and I loved it it was hard, but I like doing hard things and something I really would love to do and get more into. I like watching different YouTube clippings and just trying to learn body language and how to hold and just learning the best that I can. And again, right now I'm still swimming. And now that Tokyo has pushed back another year, got some extra time, you know, still, still training. But once swimming is done, and I don't know what

that could look like. I don't know. I have this weird goal and desire to end my career in LA in 2028. But that's another, that's another what, like eight years. So we'll see if maybe I'll commentate that, that games. But for now, I still love swimming. I still, you know, it's been really great. But I love motivational speaking, or just being a life coach type thing. I think people really need hope and encouragement and teaching, you know, how to be number one in the world or number one at what you're doing. I love, you know, talking about those topics or giving back to the community. And especially my heart is within the disabled community for sure. You know, I, I know firsthand what that's like to feel different and to, to just be different, but to also learn that, you know I I know firsthand what that's like to feel different and

to to just be different but to also learn that you know we were born to stand out and there's a reason and that is really exciting to me any interest in acting never have done acting but my sister's the actor but um but yeah who knows that could be fun too because we we've been very engaged as a foundation in the entertainment industry and we've gotten to meet a lot of champions of of you know people in the industry who are looking to cast people with disabilities we just honored the um the farley brothers who are directors and have produced many you know successful comedies and you know i think that that if it's something you're interested in, I'm sure there's opportunities to make the right connection.

So it's been a pleasure speaking to you. You're by far one of the most accomplished individuals we've had on this broadcast. And I know the disability community has many, many people who are great spokespeople, but you're amongst them. And I think that, you know, you can be a great advocate as well as a great athlete. So thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you for having me. All Inclusive is a production of the Ruderman Family Foundation. All Inclusive is a production of the Ruderman Family Foundation. Our key mission is the full inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society. You can find All Inclusive on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher. To view the show notes, transcripts, or to learn more, go to rudermanfoundation.org slash all inclusive. Have an idea for a podcast? Be sure to tweet at Jay Ruderman. Thank you.