Amanda Beard has won seven medals in four Olympic Games, but being a mother “is the most amazing thing to ever happen to me.”
“Things that seemed important three months ago now seem silly,” said Beard from her Tucson, Ariz. home this week.
Beard, 28, and her husband, Sacha Brown, had their first child, Blaise Ray Brown, on Sept. 15.
She is also back training at the University of Arizona and not ruling out a fifth Olympics Games in 2012.
<< To see more about Amanda Beard on The Orange County Register’s wiki, click here.
Beard, who was born in Newport Beach, started her swimming career with the Colony Red Hots of the Irvine Swim League and also competed for the Irvine Novaquatics.
The swimmer first gained fame in the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996 at the age of 14 while a freshman at Irvine High School. Beard, a 1999 graduate of Irvine High, was often seen out of the pool hugging her teddy bear.
Many from Irvine cheered when Beard won a gold medal in 1996 in the 4×100 medley and captured silver medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events.
Beard also competed in the Olympics in 2000 and 2004, extending her medal count to seven. She captured a gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in 2004.
In the 2008 Games in Beijing, Beard was co-captain of the women’s team with Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin. But Beard did not make it to the semifinals in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Beard attended the University of Arizona where she captured an NCAA Division I championship in 2001. In 2003, she became the world champion and American record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Beard, who has appeared in FHM, Sports Illustrated and Playboy, has also posed for photos in the near-nude for a PETA anti-fur campaign.
Beard was named American swimmer of the year in 2004 by Swimming World magazine and was described by ESPN as the “hottest female athlete” in 2005.
Beard talked about what is going on in her life today.
Q. Tell us what you’re doing now in swimming. Do you plan to do more competitive swimming and compete in the next Olympics?
A. I got back in the water about five weeks ago with the coaching staff at the University of Arizona and couldn’t be happier to be training with them again. Honestly, I’ve had amazing coaching elsewhere and had a lot of fun training with other teams, but had the most success at the U of A, so if I want to win, it makes sense to be there.
Between now and the 2012 Olympics, I want to compete as much as possible; not necessarily because I need to win again but because I miss competing. I took a lot of time off between 2004 and 2008 for a lot of different reasons, competed sporadically and my swimming was affected by it. The results were hot and cold. When 2012 comes, I think I will be as physically and as mentally ready to compete as I ever have been.
Q. Talk about the Beijing Olympics. What was it like to be the co-captain and give us your thoughts about your performance?
A. The Beijing experience was incredible. Even though my performance was far from where I wanted it to be, I was honored to be a part of an amazing team.
The job of co-captain was a lot of work, but it was really neat to help out the kids who I could see were having some of the same questions and thoughts I had during my first Olympic experience. I think, simply put, my performance in the pool in Beijing was a direct result of inconsistencies in my training and no one’s fault but my own.
Q. Tell us about being a mother for the first time and how your life is now.
A. Being a mother is the most amazing thing to ever happen to me. It’s kind of crazy that I’ve worked so hard for so many years of my life to achieve such great success that has suddenly been overshadowed by something that my husband Sacha and I created in just nine months.
Having my son Blaise has really given me a new perspective on what matters in life. Things that seemed important three months ago now seem silly, and things I never even considered before are now important. Life is very different now but more wonderful than I can describe.
Q. What is new with your modeling career and any future projects?
A. I’m fumbling around with the idea of a reality show. I want to design clothes and swimwear, but other than those things I’m really trying to avoid anything that will take me away from swimming.
Q. What was the reaction of your family to your pictures in Playboy?
A. That’s one of the questions I get most, and it’s the most boring to answer since all of my family was behind me. There was no controversy, no fights or threats to disown me. I know it’s boring but it’s true.
Q. Are you still a correspondent with Fox Sports and are you thinking about being a sportscaster for future Olympic Games?
A. I always enjoy working with Fox and do whenever I can. They are always a lot of fun to work with. Since the Olympics have been such a huge part of my life, if I’m ever not competing in them, I’d love to take part in any way I can. If that means sportscasting, then I’m game.
Q. What was it like growing up in Irvine? What are your fondest memories, coaches or role models who influenced you?
A. Irvine was one of those places that you could just be a kid and didn’t have to worry about anything else. I’m not sure if it’s still that place or if any place like that exists anymore, but I still love Irvine. As far as influence or role models go, I really have to give credit to my dad who got me out of bed every morning for practice. Without him there were plenty of dark, rainy and cold mornings that I would have definitely slept through.
Q. Are you still involved in the ant-fur campaign for PETA and what are you trying to accomplish?
A. As long as PETA raises awareness to better the lives of animals I will be behind them. The anti-fur campaign is trying to stop the unnecessarily brutal methods of raising and slaughtering animals for fur, and the easiest and most effective way to protest these practices is simply not to buy fur.
Q. What are your fondest memories of all your Olympic Games experiences?
A. My fondest memory was definitely winning my first medal. It was a silver medal and so many people kept saying, “You must be really disappointed,” but I wasn’t. I think being so young, I really enjoyed the experience in a pure way. I think if I can get that feeling back before 2012 the medals will follow.
Q. What advice would you give young swimmers who have dreams of going to the Olympics one day?
A. If it is your dream, learn from every failure and enjoy every success along the way and never ever give up.
