Sport: Swimming

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Biography:  Swimmer Jessica Long was honored as the recipient of the 77th AAU Sullivan Award, presented to the USA's top amateur athlete and the first paralympian to win the award.

Long, at age 15, a bilateral below-the-knee amputee, had a spectacular 2006 season, highlighted by her performance at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa, in December, where she won nine gold medals and set five world records in the S8 classification: 100m freestyle (1:07.03), 400m freestyle (4:53.14), 100m butterfly (1:13.25), 200m Individual Medley (2:43.60) and the 34-point 4x100m freestyle relay.

She had 18 world record-breaking performances on the year and holds the record in 12 events.

Long also won the award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability at the 2007 ESPY Awards in Hollywood, Calif. She also was honored as the U.S. Olympic Committee's 2006 Paralympian of the Year and Swimming World Magazine's 2006 Disabled Swimmer of the Year.