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Amanda Beard Profile |
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Birth Date: October 29, 1981
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Birth Place: Newport Beach, California, USA
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Birth Name: Amanda Ray Beard
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Height: 5'8"
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Biography |
Amanda Beard was born on October 29, 1981, in Irvine,
California, land of perpetual sun and crystalline blue
pools. She grew up admiring her older sisters, Leah and
Taryn, both of whom swam competitively at local clubs. To
impress them, Amanda began jumping in the pool as early as
four years of age. It has been a love affair with water ever
since.
Amanda eventually joined a swimming club herself, and her
talents soon became evident. When she was still a child in
middle school, her coaches could already tell that she was
Olympic material. In 1995, she earned a U.S. National Title
in the 100-meter breaststroke, was named a National A team
member, and took second place in the Pan Pacific
Championships for the 400-meter medley relay. She even tied
for the Phillips Performance Award at the 1995 U.S. Open.
So it was with little hesitation that Amanda's coaches
signed her up for the U.S. National Team that was gearing up
for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Once in the media
spotlight, Amanda was the object of instant adoration; she
was cast as America's newest sports hero, and the nation
lapped her up.
At the Games, Amanda didn't disappoint. She took the silver
medal in both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes, and
the gold for her contribution in the breaststroke leg of the
400-meter medley relay. In doing so, she became the
second-youngest American gold medalist in swimming history
(Pokey Watson still retains the top title from her 1964
win).
But as quickly as Amanda shot to the top, a glimmer-hungry
populace set their eyes on other promising starlets, and the
media let her drop. It would be easy to get discouraged by
this. But Amanda, taking time to reflect on her swimming
aspirations, decided she would swim for herself, not for the
camera lens. She continued cleaning up in competitions,
winning another two U.S. National Titles in 1997 for the
100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes.
Amanda graduated from high school in 1999 and enrolled at
the University of Arizona, where she flourished even more
under a new swimming coach. She took the silver at the 1999
World University Games in the 100-meter breaststroke, and
the following year won the silver in the 200-meter at the
NCAA Championships. She would take the event's top medal in
2001.
In spite of the accumulation of all these accolades,
Amanda's performance at the 2000 Sydney Games was largely
ignored. She took the bronze in the 200-meter breaststroke
-- her fourth Olympic medal -- but this latest
accomplishment didn't grab any headlines.
Nonetheless, the sporting world continued to view Amanda as
a hero. When she took a year off school in 2001 to travel
the world to swim professionally, clubs throughout the world
invited her to lead clinics and give motivational speeches.
She wasn't just a pretty swimmer. She was a smart, inspiring
pretty swimmer.
As she grew older, Amanda continued to develop her form,
until it was better than it had ever been. In 2002, she
broke the American record in the 200-meter breaststroke at
the Swimming World Cup, and bagged two gold medals in the
Pan Pacific Championships. In 2003, she scored the highest
honor of her still-burgeoning career. At the World
Championships in Barcelona, she broke the world record in
the 200-meter, becoming the No. 1 breaststroke swimmer
throughout the world and history.
If breaking the world record couldn't prepare Amanda for the
2004 Olympics, nothing would. She had also seized the media
spotlight again. Leading up to the Games, she was no longer
America's darling, but a foxy pin-up, a sex symbol of the
hard-bodied athletic world. She appeared in FHM with other
Olympic hotties; posters of her in swimming garb sold like
hotcakes.
Suddenly, Amanda was the Internet's most downloaded female
athlete, surpassing mega-babe Anna Kournikova. With her
visibility at an all-time high, Amanda jacked it up even
further, winning the gold in the 200-meter breaststroke at
Athens.
Today, event organizers continue to battle to land cameo
appearances from Amanda, which, to date, have ranged from
opening the NASDAQ and a Dodgers game to appearing at a
NASCAR race and on The Howard Stern Show.
Amanda, however, has not lost sight of what landed her in
the public eye to begin with. She continues to swim five
hours a day when she's not studying business at the
University of Arizona or speaking in defense of endangered
species. |
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Other
Information |
Holds the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Won her first gold medal at the 1996 Olympic games in
Atlanta, Georgia when she was 14-years-old.
Won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Won a gold (her first individual gold in the 200-meter
breaststroke) and 2 silver medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic
Games.
World-record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke, which she
set at the Olympic Trials in July 2004.
Attends the University of Arizona where she trains with her
coach Frank Busch & is majoring in Retail & Consumer
Sciences
Ranked as #79 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005"
special supplement. (2005) |
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She's pretty on the outside but, UGLY on the inside! And there will come a time, when the OUTSIDE, starts to fade and all she'll have left, is the inside and that's when she'll be in trouble.
No one wants to be with a Witch.