Amanda Beard went to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games a veteran at just 22. She has already achieved more than most of us would dare to dream of in a lifetime. Beard has ridden the perilous rollercoaster of success and failure, climbed to dizzy heights and plunged into dark defeat only shake herself off and get back onboard for that upward climb. Such a person does not come along every day.

Beard, who has now proved she is one of the all-time great swimmers, went to her first Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta. The weedy 14-year-old, who took her teddy bear along and was often ‘baby-sat’ by some of the other team members, came home with three medals – a gold medal (400m Medley Relay) and two silvers (100m & 200m Breaststroke). Overnight she was a household name.

- A maturing experience

”Looking back I think it was real good for me to be successful so young. At that age, you don’t understand the real meaning of the Olympics and how intense it is,” she has told reporters.

Then nature took its course. Beard left behind her child’s frame and began to grow and grow – and grow. Almost overnight she inhabited a body that was a stranger to her, one that was an entirely different shape and 15 cm taller. By the time the young adolescent stopped growing she had shot up to 175 cm and had to relearn how to propel her new form through the water with the same speed and efficiency that she had deployed at 14.

It was a very hard struggle.

Multi-Olympic medalist at 14, disappointing at 15, considering retirement at 16, Beard turned the corner and steadily climbed the road back up to the summit of her sport.

Ranked only sixth in the country in 2000, Beard put in an exceptional performance to make the US squad for the Sydney Olympics and brought home a bronze medal for the 200 m in her favorite discipline, breaststroke. The critics were silenced. Her confidence was refueled and she rediscovered her love for her sport.

- Busy in the Pool

Beard, now based in Tucson and enrolled at the University of Arizona, has again established herself as a champion. She was a silver and double gold medalist at the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships, and at the 2003 World Championships, she claimed her first individual gold in a world meet when she tied the world record to win the 200m breaststroke. Beard logged stellar performances at the 2004 Spring Nationals, winning the 100m and 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley, and she also brought home gold from the Speedo Championship Series and Swim Meet of Champions events that followed Nationals. An old pro at 22, she was up for the Olympic challenge, but before the Games she was still a little awed by the prospect.

”The Olympics are a huge deal, especially for a sport like swimming,” she said in an interview. “People take notice of our sport during this time, so it feels really special to have a lot of support from your country. Plus, it’s a great chance for athletes to come from all over the world and have an amazing competition. It is just very special – you look around and see some of the best athletes in the world and it makes you really in awe.”

Finally, Amanda Beard took home two silver medals (Women 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay & 200m Individual Medley) as well as a gold medal (200m breaststroke) from the Ahtens 2004 Olympic Games.

- Coping with first race nerves

Although Amanda Beard is blessed with an engaging and fun-loving personality and has the wisdom of experience in and out of the pool to support her, she does admit that she might have a few first race jitters.

“After the first event,” Beard says, “you get some of the jitters out, and from then on you relax and take each race as it comes.”

The 175 cm frame she now inhabits stands her in good stead both in and out of the pool. She also works as a model and is sometimes likened to film star Angelina Jolie. Beard is flattered by the comparison, but she’d rather be compared to Jolie for the actress’s charity work. “I’m involved with a group called Defenders of Wildlife. I’m an animal lover, and it’s great working with people who are so passionate about protecting animals and habitats. They’re educating me, and I’m trying to help them out,” she explains.

Finally, Amanda Beard has no plans to stop swimming. Having regained a natural feeling for her sport, this athlete has truly hit her stride. “I haven’t ruled out the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,” she says. “I just take it year by year.”

She's the world record holder in the 200 LCM Breastroke.

Won a gold medal in the 200m Breastroke at the 2004 Olympic Games as well as a silver in the 400m Medley Relay