COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, February 13. THE U.S. Olympic Committee has honored Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long as its January Female Athlete of the Month.
Long (Baltimore, Md.) set two world records at the 2006 Blazesports Georgia Open Swimming Competition. Her time of 2:51:36 in the women's SM8 200 individual medley lowered her own world mark set in December in Minneapolis. Long's second world record came in the SB7 women's 100 breaststroke, where she shattered the existing standard by more than three seconds, finishing in 1:32:52. Both swims also set new American and International Paralympic Committee swimming Pan-American records.
Meanwhile, Paralympic swimmer Roy Perkins (Del Mar, Calif.) placed third in the vote for men’s January Athlete of the month, behind skier Daron Rahlves and figure skater Johnny Weir. Perkins broke both the American and IPC swimming Pan-American records in the men's S5 50-meter butterfly, finishing in a time of 38.94, at the 2006 Blazesports Georgia Open Swimming Competition. The outcome moved Perkins to the top of the current world rankings in the event.