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Great Athletes

Amanda Beard

by Sheri Woodburn

Sport: Swimming

Early Life

Amanda Ray Beard started swimming when she was four years old. Her parents, Gayle and Dan Beard, wanted her to be water safe. She wanted to be like her older sisters, Leah and Taryn, who swam on a team. Throughout elementary school, she swam recreationally and played soccer. When Amanda was about twelve years old, her parents suggested she concentrate on one of her favorite sports.

Amanda Beard posing next to a poster of her picture in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.

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(AP/Wide World Photos)

In January, 1994, she joined the Irvine Novaquatics swim team coached by Dr. Dave Salo. Amanda’s favorite stroke was butterfly, and her least favorite was breast. Salo’s coaching philosophy was perfect for Amanda: He emphasized the swimmer’s stroke technique and speed rather than concentrating on swimming for distance. His “minimal model” approach searched for the most efficient way to produce a swimmer’s peak performance. As a result, Amanda neither felt burned out nor wanted to quit swimming.

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The Road to Excellence

Coach Salo began working with Amanda’s breaststroke. His “component-trained” breaststrokers swam drills that focused not only on pull and kick but also on all the components that accelerated those stroke mechanics. The drills were swum at race pace before the whole stroke was put together to work on timing. The technique worked for Amanda. In December, 1994, she was named Swimming World magazine’s age-group swimmer of the month. Her breaststroke times improved so rapidly that after only one and one-half years of learning correct breaststroke technique, Amanda had earned bronze medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events at the 1995 Pan-Pacific Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.

Amanda became known both for rising high out of the water with each breaststroke pull and for beating her opponents in the last lap of the race. She thoroughly enjoyed competing. As a freshman at Irvine High School in Irvine, California, she had been a year-round swimmer for only two years before going to her first Olympic trials.

Amanda was given a “good luck” teddy bear that she took to the starting blocks at the 1996 Olympic trials. She swam that year’s fastest 200-meter breaststroke and the year’s second fastest 100-meter breaststroke. Interestingly, she had only two long-course workouts in a 50-meter pool prior to the Olympic trials. Coach Salo preferred his swimmers to train at race pace in American short-course pools of 25 yards.

The Emerging Champion

Amanda’s teddy bear, “Harold,” went on to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, where Amanda became the second youngest Olympic medalist in American swimming history. She earned silver medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke and a gold medal for the 4 100-meter medley relay. Her Olympic Village roommate was three-time Olympian and distance freestyle world-record holder Janet Evans.

Amanda continued to swim through high school but also tried to lead a normal life outside the pool. During this time, she grew 8 inches and gained 30 pounds. She had to rework her breaststroke and get used to her new body in the water. She even experimented with swimming the 200-meter individual medley to take her mind off the breaststroke.

Amanda entered the University of Arizona in 1999. The new environment suited her, and her times began to get faster. She surprised the swimming community by qualifying for the 2000 Olympic team. She went on to win a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.

In 2001, Amanda decided to swim professionally, giving up her collegiate eligibility. Paid for how well she finished races, Amanda carefully chose her meets. At the same time, she worked as a model and motivational lecturer. She continued training with the University of Arizona under Coach Frank Busch. By the 2003 World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, Amanda was faster than ever before. While there, she tied the 200-meter breaststroke world-record time and won her first individual gold medal at a world-championship event.

At the 2004 Olympic trials in Long Beach, California, Amanda swam a world-record time of 2 minutes 22.44 seconds in the 200-meter breaststroke. Her performance at the 2004 Olympics Games in Athens, Greece, earned her an Olympic record and the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke. Amanda was the first American woman since 1968 to win an Olympic gold medal in that event. She also won silver medals in the 200-meter individual medley, setting an American record, and in the 4 100-meter medley relay.

Continuing the Story

After Athens, Amanda turned her attention to other pursuits, including modeling, television commentary, product endorsement, corporate speaking, and finishing her degree at the University of Arizona. Her primary business goal was to launch a line of “Amanda Beard” fragrance, skin, and hair care products. She was also a spokesperson for animal-rights groups.

In 2006, Amanda decided to concentrate once again on her swimming and moved back to California to train with Coach Salo, then the head swim coach for the University of Southern California. Two months before the 2008 Olympic trials, Amanda began training with Coach Cyndi Gallagher of the University of California at Los Angeles.

At twenty-six years old, Amanda qualified for her fourth consecutive Olympic team by placing second in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2008 Olympic trials. Inspired by her performance, Amanda’s teammates voted her a team captain along with Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Amanda finished eighteenth overall in the preliminary heats of the 200-meter breaststroke. That same day, Amanda’s four-year-old American and Olympic records in the 200-meter breaststroke were broken by her American teammate Rebecca Soni, who went on to win the gold medal.

Summary

The second youngest Olympic medalist in American swimming history, Amanda Beard swam in four consecutive Olympic Games and amassed seven Olympic medals. She was a three-time Olympic medalist and world-record holder in her favorite event, the 200-meter breaststroke. Amanda, one of the world’s most gifted and competitive breaststroke swimmers, proved her longevity with near-world-record times throughout her swimming career.

Additional Sources

1 

Montville, Leigh. “Kid Stuff.” Sports Illustrated 85, no. 4 (July 22, 1996).

2 

Morales, Tito. “The Resilience of a Champion.” Swimming World and Junior Swimmer 44, no. 11 (November, 2003).

3 

Wallechinsky, David, and Jaime Loucky. The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press, 2008.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Woodburn, Sheri. "Amanda Beard." Great Athletes,Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Athletes_1880.
APA 7th
Woodburn, S. (2009). Amanda Beard. Great Athletes. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Woodburn, Sheri. "Amanda Beard." Great Athletes. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.