By Devanshi Rathi
Jessica Hardy’s inspirational swimming career began accidently. She fell into the pool at a birthday party at a time when she didn’t know how to swim, which can now be referred to as a stroke of golden luck! Past this incident, her mother enrolled her for training lessons. From then on, there was no looking back. Jessica was engaged in a variety of sports as she grew up, but swimming remained her constant, especially during the summer months. It wasn’t until when she was a sophomore in high school at 16 that she decided to focus completely on her swimming career.
Sprinting is Hardy’s specialty in the sport. Although a naturally suited breaststroker, she gained more strength in her early 20s and became a freestyler. Hardy came to Cal when she heard about the trainer being known as a “sprint coach.” She liked the fact that Berkeley offered her an opportunity to combine academics and athletics as well as allowed her to stay fairly far away from her Southern Californian home but still offered her a chance to visit her family often. Hardy describes the Cal women’s swim team coach Teri McKeever as the one to make her think "outside the box" and try new things. Even though her stay at Cal was short, for only two years, she credits the immense support that she received from the staff for student athletes - the mentors, tutors, nutritionists, psychologists, and physical therapists. She did find the balancing act of being a student athlete challenging but alludes to the encouragement received from these additional resources as extremely beneficial.
Jessica turned professional after her two years at Cal in 2007, as a four-time NCAA champion. She returned to her childhood coach in Southern California and trained as a competitive swimmer for the Olympic Games, even though she missed her Cal team. This move, she says, was for her own personal enhancement as she progressed further in her professional career as a swimmer.
The year 2008 was extremely tiring for Hardy when she was declared ineligible to compete in the Beijing Olympics due to a positive drug test at the U.S. Olympic Trials. However, she exclaims that what motivated her throughout this period was that she wanted to prove to herself what she was worth. She made a strong comeback at the 2009 World Cup, where she won the overall title in the female category. Thereon, her career graph showed an upward trajectory for most of her competitive swimming life. To talk about her challenging times, Jessica says, “My experience at Cal taught me a lot, about not taking ‘no’ for an answer and speaking up for what is right. It absolutely helped me survive the difficult points of my career, and I am forever grateful.”
At the 2012 London Games, Jessica came back home with a gold and a bronze in the freestyle relays. In her professional swimming journey, Jessica has won a mammoth twenty-eight medals, including fourteen golds, at various prestigious events like the Olympics, World Championships and the Pan Pacifics. She proclaims that breaking two world records in one race, being named team captain of the National team for three years, and her Olympic medals are her favorite swimming memories of which she is most proud.
Hardy’s last competitive swimming race was in 2016. In the same year, she managed to complete her degree from Arizona State University. On her retirement, she says, “I now work for a sports equipment and apparel distribution company, helping them launch a swimming division. I get to talk about my favorite sport all day, every day, and work with other athletes/sports fans. I have the best job in the world!”
Women face issues in the sports world and Jessica’s response to the question on gender equity in sport was one to learn from. “I understand that men have more muscle mass and are perhaps more interesting to watch from a performance standpoint, but there is something magical about any person competing to be the best they can be. I love seeing women’s sporting events supported and hope that continues to grow.” Coming to her own growth aspirations after swimming, she says that she hopes to raise her two children healthy and happily, continue moving the needle for her company, and keep finding happiness and success in all realms of her life. She advises everyone that Olympic gold medalists are normal people just like you, the only difference being that they didn’t give up. They didn’t take no for an answer, followed their passions relentlessly, and believed in themselves to no end.
Remembering her Cal journey - her College Writing class that was filled with entertaining football players, the Golden Bear Café, and her American Studies and linguistics professors - Jessica Hardy says that the one word that would describe her would be passionate. Drawing inspiration from learnings in diverse autobiographies and her favorite book The Secret, Jessica Hardy continues to grind it out in her glorious career, and one can truly call her a Golden Cal Bear.
