Amanda Beard: Adult Swim
She was a gold medalist at 14. Three Olympics later, she's the former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke and a 7-time medalist going for her fourth straight Olympics. She’s also become a quite the sex symbol. In between training for Beijing and posing for magazine shoots, Amanda Beard brainstorms with us on how to make competitive swimming more "risqué," surveys the field of other sexy athletes and may serve legal papers on Mr. Buttwasher.
Amanda Beard courted controversy with her cover photo and pictorial in Playboy last July. "I thought the pictures came out great and it was a good experience," she says. "And I'd love to do it again."
Mary Altaffer, AP
The swimming star, who has been dubbed the "world's sexiest athlete" by two magazines, doesn't consider herself the hottest one just "one among many."
Business Wire/AP
Beard, who believes the new Speedo performance suits help you go faster and is certain they hold "everything in so nothing is jiggling," will attempt to make her fourth straight Olympics this year.
Mike Stobe, Getty Images
The 26-year-old has talked to her agents about producing her own "risque" swim meets so fans would talk about the sport of swimming more than every four years at the Olympics.
Clive Mason, Getty Images
Beard became a household name as a 14-year-old at the '96 Olympics, capturing two silver medals and a gold. She has won seven total medals at the Olympics.
Doug Mills, AP
Beard has also had plenty of success out of the pool, becoming a model, entrepreneur and spokesperson for several companies.
Thomas Concordia, WireImage.com
DAVE HOLLANDER: So I hear you're a big UFC fan.
AMANDA BEARD: Yes I am! A very big fan. I order all their pay-per-view events and try to follow it as much as possible. Yeah, I get really into it. I just started boxing a little bit with my trainer. It's been fun.
DH: Nice. How much MMA training have you done?
AB: Just boxing. I've never done any MMA training. My boyfriend actually did some jiu-jitsu wit the Gracie family for a little while but personally I don't think I could handle that kind of stuff. It's pretty intense.
DH: UFC’s success is due in part to a lack of excitement in boxing. How can we make swimming more exciting?
AB: Maybe put an octagon fence around us, and let us just go at it? I think you have to create a really great fan base. They want personalities to show through. People need to be able to connect that way to certain swimmers like they do with certain fighters. Right now I don't think we have a lot of swimmers who are really willing to put themselves out there and shine through and be a little more of a showman. We need some Chuck Lidells and Tito Ortizes and all those crazy people.
DH: What if we made each swimming race like an obstacle course where you have to swim past other people trying to stop you?
AB: I’ve actually talked to my agents a lot about producing my own swim meets where we’d do a couple different swim meets in different locations and mix it up like that -- not having your traditional races and having someone like Budweiser or Go Daddy be big sponsors and make it more risqué, make it more fun for the fans to get really into it. That kind of stuff could really draw a lot more people to swimming and then, maybe, they’ll continue watching year-round instead of every four years for the Olympics.
DH: The NHL and NBA are playing games outdoors. What about swim meets in natural water like the Colorado River rapids?
AB: Yeah! You see these are all great ideas. I like them. I’m gonna steal them from you.
DH: Oh yeah? Let's try another one then. What if you raced fish?
Race a fish? That would be pretty interesting. Raced like a big ol’ shark or something?
DH: Right. With the shark we’d give you a head start.
AB: Uh, yeah. (laughs) For all these things we just need to find good sponsors that can back us up. Right now it’s hard for me because I’m trying to train and do all my outside work. I can’t be the only one doing this. I need the backing of other swimmers and for them to be motivated to do these kinds of things. So, we’re trying to spice it up.
DH: You've done your share to make competitive swimming more attractive. Your Playboy pictorial last summer got a lot of reaction. Do you look back on that now and say, "whatever"?
AB: Totally. I mean, I thought it was a lot of fun. I thought the pictures came out great and it was a good experience. And I’d love to do it again. I’d be honored to do it again. It’s funny the kind of reaction that it does stir up in the swimming community. That is a good thing for me. I think it’s fun to get people talking. It’s not the usual thing the swimming community is always talking about so I think that’s a good thing.
DH: That July 2007 Playboy cover called you the "world's sexiest athlete." The August 2006 issue of FHM, called you that too, and you were ESPN’s Hottest Female Athlete in 2005. Who do you see as your competition for world’s sexiest athlete?
AB: (laughs) You gotta look at someone like Maria Sharapova, Anna Kournikova, Danica Patrick. You have tons of beautiful athletes out there. So I don’t really consider myself the hottest one. I just consider myself one among many. It’s a cool honor, it’s fun, it’s flattering but on a day-to-day basis it’s not the most important thing to me.
DH: Just so you know, in 2007 AOL's Hottest Female Athlete Tournament you were a No. 1 seed but upset by Paula Creamer, a No. 9 seed, in the round of Sweet 16. What's the explanation for that?
AB: (laughs) I have no idea. I think I heard something briefly about that but hey, you win some you lose some. That’s how things go.
DH: The new Speedo LZR racer performance suits were designed in collaboration with NASA. How much faster do they really make you?
AB: You know what? It’s really different material than we’ve ever had before. It just really slices through the water. The best way to describe it is it doesn’t absorb any water. So you’re literally gliding through the water. The material is faster than you’re own skin so if your covered from shoulder to ankles in this swimsuit ideally you’re going to be a lot faster.
DH: Over the years in swimming, I’ve seen the trend go from less suit to more suit to grease on the skin to no grease on skin. Do you think sometimes they’re just putting you on?
AB: There have definitely been some phases in there where I don't really think the swimsuits were that much faster or people had different theories I didn't really buy into, but with the technology of NASA backing it’s hard not to believe. And I have tried on the swimsuit and I really like it. For me it’s just a matter of getting used to that sort of suit. It’s a very tight suit that holds everything in so nothing is jiggling. It’s kind of a different experience for me.
DH: You've got great sponsors like Speedo, Red Bull, Go Daddy but what’s this I saw you and many other celebrities endorsing something called Mr. Buttwasher?
AB: (gasping) I have no idea what that is.
DH: Apparently, it’s some type of hygienic device to be used after one’s scatological activity. You’re on their website.
AB: Oh really? I’m gonna have to get my lawyer involved on that one.
(editor's note: Her photo has since been removed.)DH: Its dirty business if you asked me.
AB: I’m gonna have that looked into but I have nothing to do with that!
QINHUANGDAO, CHINA - AUGUST 06: Natasha Kai of the USA controls the ball during a Women's Group G preliminary match between Norway and the USA at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 6, 2008 in Quinhuangdao, China. Norway defeated the USA 2-0. (Photo by Noriko Hayakusa/Getty Images)
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QINHUANGDAO, CHINA - AUGUST 06: Shannon Boxx of the USA controls the ball during a Women's Group G preliminary match between Norway and the USA at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 6, 2008 in Tianjin, China. Norway defeated the USA 2-0. (Photo by Noriko Hayakusa/Getty Images)
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QINHUANGDAO, CHINA - AUGUST 06: Amy Rodriguez of the USA controls the ball during a Women's Group G preliminary match between Norway and the USA at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 6, 2008 in Tianjin, China. Norway defeated USA 2-0. (Photo by Noriko Hayakusa/Getty Images)
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QINHUANGDAO, CHINA - AUGUST 06: USA players react after the defeat of Women's Group G match between Norway and USA during the football event on Day -2 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 6, 2008 in Qinhuangdao, China. Norway defeated USA 2-0. (Photo by Noriko Hayakusa/Getty Images)
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Uighurs play cards near a billboard displaying the Beijing Olympic Games mascots in Kashgar, China, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008. Kashgar is 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) west of Beijing, in the far western region of Xinjiang _ a vast, rugged territory home to a Muslim minority called the Uighurs. They have a long history of pushing for independence, and Chinese authorities have blamed a series of sporadic bombings, shootings and riots in recent years on Uighur extremist groups.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
AP
TIANJIN, CHINA - AUGUST 06: Canadian Women's team coach Even Pellerud looks on during Women's Group E match between Canada and Argentina during the football event on Day -1 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 7, 2008 in Tianjin, China. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
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TIANJIN, CHINA - AUGUST 06: Canadian Players pose for photographs before Women's Group E match between Canada and Argentina during the football event on Day -1 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 7, 2008 in Tianjin, China. Canada beat Argentina 2-1. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
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TIANJIN, CHINA - AUGUST 06: Mariela Coronel of Argentina (R) and Clare Rustad of Canada compete for the ball during Women's Group E match between Canada and Argentina during the football event on Day -1 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 7, 2008 in Tianjin, China. Canada defeated Argentina 2-1. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
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TIANJIN, CHINA - AUGUST 06: Christine Sinclair of Canada and Vanina Correa (L) and Eva Gonzalez of Argentina compete for the ball during Women's Group E match between Canada and Argentina during the football event on Day -1 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 7, 2008 in Tianjin, China. Canada beat Argentina 2-1. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
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Canada's Tyler Christopher attends a training session for the Canadian Olympic athletics squad in Singapore August 6, 2008. The Canadian athletics squad is training in Singapore in preparation for the Beijing Olympics 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash (SINGAPORE)
Reuters
DH: One of the most coveted Olympic endorsements is the Wheaties box. Is it overrated?
AB: No, something like that is a really high honor. I mean, I'd love to be on the cover of a Wheaties box. It's kind of like bragging rights. But there's only one box and they only have one or two people every box. I don't know, you gotta work really hard to earn the right be on a Wheaties box.
DH: I remember Marion Jones did Frosted Flakes but look what that got her?
AB: Yeah, I probably won’t be doing that one.
DH: There is some concern about food safety in Beijing. Would you bring your own food?
AB: What we usually do as a team is bring a lot of our own food. Just bars and cereals and stuff like that. We’re pretty good about it. When I’m at any Olympics I don’t test the water with any food. I go for the basics. I eat just the pastas and the breads and things I feel would be very, very safe.
DH: At the 1996 Atlanta games you were 14 and often photographed clutching you teddy bear. You even brought it with you on the medal stand. Whatever happened to that teddy bear?
AB: My dad has it at his house. It’s in my old bedroom in the closet. It’s still around. It’s just hanging out collecting some dust.
DH: Today you are model, entrepreneur, spokesperson, world record holder and seven-time Olympic medalist. What would you take up to the medal this time?
AB: That’s a good one. (pauses) Shoot, I’ve never been asked that before. Maybe a newly updated teddy bear?
DH: Like some taxidermy or like a real bear?
AB: (sarcastically) Oh yeah, we’ll bring a real bear up onto the stand. That’ll shake up the swimming community for sure.
Dave Hollander is the author of 52 WEEKS: Interviews with Champions! Info
at: www.davehollander.com
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