Swimming Blogs - Chris DeSantis

Reader Brian Church piqued my interest with a request for an article earlier this week. His request was that I try to put something together concerning one Amanda Beard. At first I felt a bit conflicted. After all, I'm trying to give coverage in this space to people and events that you wouldn't here otherwise, or at least offer a fresh perspective. Beard to some extent has been covered ad nauseum. In fact, to non-swimming fans she is probably the most recognizable female swimmer. However, since her outstanding performances in the 2004 Olympics, the majority of coverage has been about her body and not her athletic performance. From her well documented Playboy spread to her GoDaddy endorsement, Beard has been fetishized to a certain extent the way Anna Kournikova was in tennis. Less people cared about how fast she was and more cared about seeing her in a bikini, or less.

So I find myself asking, whither Amanda Beard the athlete? I found in my research there's still a lot of reasons that Amanda Beard remains relevant as an athlete.

For starters, Amanda remains the American record holder in her pet event, the 200 breaststroke. In fact, she's the defending Olympic champion in that event, having defeated the now invincible seeming Leisel Jones. At the time I think you could at least debate who was truly the world's best in the event, since Amanda and Leisel had traded the world record during the previous year. Of course, since then Amanda has been absent from world competition while Leisel has dropped the breaststroke world records to unheard of depths. In Amanda's wake the United States has struggled somewhat in the 200 breaststroke, although Rebecca Soni has emerged as the heir to Beard's throne. Still, Soni's best time, achieved in 2007 of 2:23.3 stands nearly a full second behind Beard's American record.

If Beard is in top form, that leaves little doubt she will contend for a spot on the Olympic Team and a medal. Yet that begs the question of how close Beard is to her top form. In 2007, her LCM best in the 200 breaststroke was 2:28. While that time is still competitive nationally it is a far cry from her peak. In 2008 she swam at the Missouri Grand Prix to the tune of 2:29, again competitive but far from the type of performance she will need in June.

This evidence might lead you to believe that Beard, while still swimming at a high level, just doesn't have it anymore. However, I looked deeper, tracking Beard's results from her swimming prime, 2003 and 2004. In 2003 at the TYR Meet of Champions, Beard would swim her 200 breaststroke in 2:28. A month later she broke the world record with a 2:22.99. Again in 2004 just two months before trials Beard's 200 breaststroke at the Swim Meet of Champions was just 2:27.9 before breaking the world record in 2:22.4 at Long Beach.

Beard has been counted out before. Her first Olympics came when she was just 14 years old. As she struggled to regain her form in the years after, many whispered that she was just another in the long line of mid-teen female phenoms that "burn out". Beard proved doubters wrong by qualifying for the Sydney games. Still, she wasn't any faster than she had been as 14 year old, and whispers started that she was just clutching on to her peak. Beard steamrolled that concept by making considerable time drops to break world records in the 200 breaststroke in 2003 and 2004 and become an Olympic champion. She also branced out and acquitted herself quite well in the 200 IM.

Its hard to believe, but Amanda Beard will enter these trials still just 26 years old. She's not a favorite to make the team, and her recent change of training venues has left some whispering that she did so because she wasn't taking trials seriously. Still, I wouldn't bet against her.