Amanda Beard quotes

I concentrate on preparing to swim my race and let the other swimmers think about me, not me about them.
- Amanda Beard

Sometimes success is simply being willing to give it your all.
- Amanda Beard

Almost religiously, I step away from everything and close my eyes and breathe deeply for a few moments. It helps solidify my focus and aligns everything in my body to take care of the task at hand - which is winning, of course.
- Amanda Beard

Breaking composure, confidence, and speed in the water makes you lose the race, not the goggles that fell off your head when you dove in.
- Amanda Beard

If you want me to swim fast, you have to let me enjoy my life.
- Amanda Beard

Life is all about balance: sprinting hard and fast, breathing deep and slow. Working out with my coaches, playing with my kids. Eating whole foods for fuel, enjoying a glass of wine with friends.
- Amanda Beard

To look good in the water you have to pick the right swimsuit. I own close to 500.
- Amanda Beard

I don't underestimate the power of mental preparation throughout all of my training. I'm in a much better state of mind about competition.
- Amanda Beard

Obviously, the competitor in you, you want to be in the top three every time in the pool.
- Amanda Beard

Some people like to focus on other aspects of my life, but first and foremost I am a dedicated and top swimmer.
- Amanda Beard

I'm a firm believer in slowing down to improve my state of mind when I'm training, and yoga and meditation have been paramount to my success in this way.
- Amanda Beard

Malfunctions are inevitable. It's important to push through them during practice - versus stopping to fix and restart - so that you're prepared for one mid-competition.
- Amanda Beard

Like anyone, I stress and get hard on myself from time to time, but it's minute compared to the pressure I used to put on myself to perform and succeed. To my kids' credit, they've probably helped me the most here: I'm more worried about what they're doing than what I'm doing!
- Amanda Beard

I have kids. Unbeknownst to them, they are quick to snap me back to reality when I start feeling the pressure of being an athlete! It's a breath of fresh air to have two people to focus on; their happiness erases all the pressures I have on myself.
- Amanda Beard

I know that I do deserve good things.
- Amanda Beard

I protect my skin with sunscreen and am religious about keeping my face moisturized and properly protected all day, so I also use a face lotion with SPF 30.
- Amanda Beard

I get scared when I approach teachers and tell them that I'll probably be able to attend only half the classes, .. I'm scared that they're going to drop me. In the fall of 2002 I signed up for five classes and had to drop three of them.
- Amanda Beard

People wanted to be friends with me for not the right reasons. They'd introduce me to somebody else as the Olympian or the swimmer. I didn't want to stand out. I wanted to blend in.
- Amanda Beard

In swimming, everyone calls me grandma, because I'm the oldest there. Then with my friends, I'm the youngest and I'm the baby. It's definitely bizarre.
- Amanda Beard

When people say that kids change your life, it's no small feat what they do. I've stressed about competition my whole life, but the minute I held my son Blaise in my arms for the first time, those stresses diminished.
- Amanda Beard