Para swimmer Noah Jaffe had some mighty big moments in 2023, including winning his first world title and coming home from the Para Swimming World Championships with a total of four medals.

Now, he’s been honored as one of 30 semifinalists for the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, which is given every year to the top American athletes at the collegiate, Olympic or other similar elite level. The nominees include Olympic swimmers Katie Ledecky, Ryan Murphy and Kate Douglass, several Olympic standouts in other sports such as David Taylor (wrestling), Eli Dershwitz (fencing) and Noah Lyles (track and field), as well as a number of NCAA football and basketball stars. The award also recognizes athletes for their leadership, character and sportsmanship. The finalists will be decided via public voting, which is open through midnight on Feb. 21 and can be accessed here.

“I didn’t know until my friend sent me an article that said I was nominated,” said Jaffe, 20, from Carlsbad, California. “I wasn’t even really aware of the award or that I might be eligible. It was definitely a bit shocking at first. It seems crazy to me that I’m on the list with all those famous names. It’s a great honor to be included with those great athletes.”

Jaffe’s success at the world championships last summer led to his decision to take a year off from studying at the University of California, Berkeley, where he’s a biochemistry major, and live full-time at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Having access to all the perks of the state-of-the-art facility as well as Paralympic coaches who are attuned to the unique needs of the athletes is making a difference, he said, as is having the time to devote to swimming without having to balance the rigors of academics.

“I’m a really time-motivated swimmer, so in practice I’ll track my times and remember what I did week to week, and definitely since this summer I’ve seen my times drop,” he said. “That’s motivation and makes me train harder. The numbers don’t lie, and it definitely gives me confidence when it’s time to race.”

Jaffe’s proud of the gold medal he won in the 100-meter freestyle S8 in Manchester, England, but perhaps even more so of his bronze medal in the 400 freestyle. It was the first race of the first day of the world championships, and his first-ever international final. He wasn’t expected to medal based on times coming into the race but ended up surprising himself.

“I went out pretty conservatively the first 200, then really stepped on the gas the back half of the race, which in the 400 is not something I usually have,” he said. “It was a little shocking in the moment, realizing I could go more. I finished and something was going on with the scoreboard, so I didn’t know I got a medal. But then I found out I got the bronze, and it was just a great feeling and really carried me through the entire meet.”

The last swimmer to win the Sullivan Award was Caeleb Dressel in 2021, sharing the honor with Simone Biles. Jessica Long became the first Para athlete to win the award in its 77 years when she was named the recipient in 2007 at the age of 15. No other Para athlete has won the award since. Voting to determine the six finalists closes at midnight eastern time on Wednesday, and the winner will be announced on April 23.

Jaffe said that as the only Paralympic nominee, he feels that he’s representing the community as a whole and would love to move on to the final round if only to continue to have that representation.

“It’s an honor to be chosen out of so many Paralympic athletes in all the different sports, but in that regard it is a little, I don’t know, interesting being the only Paralympic athlete there,” he said.

“Sometimes it can feel like you’re the token Para athlete dropped in the mix, but I think, and I hope, that in the future we’ll have more nominees. I know in the past there’ve been nominees as well. But if I do get a good amount of votes that would be a good sign that more Para athletes should be included in the future because there are definitely many people from the Paralympic movement who deserve to be on that list.”

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Para Representation Is Paramount For Noah Jaffe In Being Named Sullivan Award Semifinalist

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