World Champion Jessica Hardy Signs Six-Year Contract With Speedo

LOS ANGELES, California, June 27. WORLD champion Jessica Hardy has signed a six-year contract with Speedo. Hardy is coming off a world title run at the FINA World Championships, where she touched first in the 50-meter breaststroke.

Hardy opted to turn pro after her sophomore year at California, where she was a star in the same swim program that produced fellow Team Speedo member Natalie Coughlin. The defending NCAA champion in the 100 yard breast, Hardy finished her collegiate swim career by taking home the title again at the 2007 NCAA Swimming Championships in Minneapolis earlier this year. She is now aiming to make her initial Olympic team in 2008.

Hardy is represented by Evan Morgenstein of Premier Management Group.

"I am very excited to be joining Speedo at the launch of my professional swimming career," said Hardy. "I have a long history with the brand, wearing its suits in the water for so many years and as part of the U.S. National Team. I am grateful for Speedo's support as I aim for Olympic gold in Beijing and beyond."

"Jessica has already accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments," said Stu Isaac, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Team Sales. "Her dedication and her raw talent give her the potential to be a serious medal contender at the upcoming Beijing Olympics and we are very excited to welcome her to Team Speedo."

At the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, as a U.S. National Team rookie, Hardy set a world record in the semifinals of the women's 100-meter breast before ultimately finishing second in the finals to Leisel Jones of Australia. Hardy also won silver in the 50-meter breast and as part of the women's 400-meter medley relay team at Worlds that year. In 2006, at the Pan Pacific Championships in Victoria, B.C., she won gold in the 400-meter medley relay. Hardy currently holds two individual American Records over the long course meter distance – the 50 breast (set in Melbourne in 2007) and the 100m breast (set in Montreal in 2005). She also helped California in a pair of short course yard American Records in the 400 free and 400 medley relays in the 2007 NCAA Championships.

A Long Beach, Calif. native, Swimming World Magazine's 2005 Female High School Swimmer of the Year will train alongside fellow Team Speedo star Amanda Beard under coach Dave Salo at the University of Southern California.

In addition to participating in grassroots promotional programs for the brand, Hardy will also be part of an athlete advisory group to the Speedo Aqualab, the research and development center designed to produce the world's most innovative swimwear and accessories. In 2007, it introduced the world's fastest lightweight swimsuit, the FASTSKIN FS-PRO, which Hardy wore in all her events at both the 2007 NCAA Swimming Championships and in Melbourne at the 12th FINA World Championships.

Team Speedo members include Michael Phelps (USA), Natalie Coughlin (USA), Ian Crocker (USA), Katie Hoff (USA), Kate Ziegler (USA), Ryan Lochte (USA), Klete Keller (USA), Tae Hwan Park (South Korea), Libby Lenton (AUS), Leisel Jones (AUS) and Grant Hackett (AUS).

Special thanks to Speedo for contributing to this report.

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