OLYMPIC LEGEND SIX TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST
CLASS OF 2007 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME
BIRTHDATE: Feb. 15 EYES: blue/green
RESIDENCE: Scottsdale, AZ/ Keystone, CO
EVENTS: Swimming (retired): - 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 400m Freestyle Relay, 400m Medley Relay Triathlons: Sprint and Ironman Competitions
OTHER CAREER INTERESTS: Radio work
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
• Gold Medallist, Olympic Games, 4x 100m Freestyle Relay, Sydney, 2000
• Gold Medallist, Olympic Games, 4x 100m Medley Relay, Sydney, 2000
• Gold Medallist, Olympic Games, 50m Freestyle, Atlanta, 1996
• Gold Medallist, Olympic Games, 100m Butterfly, Atlanta, 1996
• Gold Medallist, OlympiC Games, 400m Freestyle Relay, Atlanta, 1996
• Gold Medallist, Olympic Games, 400m Medley Relay, Atlanta, 1996
• Gold Medallist, National Championships, 50m Freestyle, Minneapolis, 1999
• Gold Medallist, World Championships, 50m Freestyle, Perth, 1998
• Gold Medallist, World Championships, 100m Freestyle, Perth, 1998
• Gold Medallist, World Championships, 400m Freestyle Relay, Perth, 1998
• Gold Medallist, Pan Pacific Games, 50m Freestyle, 1995
• Gold Medallist, Pan American Games, 100m Butterfly, 1995
• Gold Medallist, Pan Pacific Games, 400m Freestyle Relay, 1995
• Silver Medallist, Pan Pacific Games, 400m Medley Relay, 1995
• Silver Medallist, Pan American Games, 100m Freestyle, 1995
• Gold Medallist, World Trials, 50m Freestyle, 1994
• Silver Medallist, Pan American Games, 100m Freestyle, 1995
• Gold Medallist, Pan American Games, 100m Freestyle, 1995
• Gold Medallist, World Trials, 50m Freestyle, 1994
• Silver Medallist, World Championships, 400m Freestyle Relay, 1994
• Silver Medallist, World Championships, 400m Medley Relay, 1994
• Bronze Medallist, World Championships, 50m Freestyle, 1994
• First American Woman to earn four Gold Medals in one Olympic Games, 1996
On the Coveted 'Wheatie's" box
Took part in the 'Got Milk' ad. Is the only person to have the milk mustache under water
• Inducted into Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, 2001
• Unites States Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Year, 1996
• Associated Press Worldwide Female Athlete ofthe Year, 1996
• U.S. Swimming Athlete of the Year, 1996
• Colorado Athlete of the Year, 1996
• Inducted into Colorado State University Hall of Fame, 1996
• Phillips 66 Performance ofthe Year 1996 (50m Freestyle at the Olympics)
• Women's Sports Foundation Individual Athlete of the Year, 1996
• National Athletic Awards Female Athlete of the Year, 1996
• ARETE Performance of the Year Award, 1996
• Glamour Women of the Year Award, 1996
At the age of six, when the doctor suggested she take up swimming to help relieve her asthma, the thought of becoming an Olympic champion was far from Amy Van Dyken's mind. In fact, she could not even swim the length of the pool until the age of twelve. However, at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Van Dyken won two individual medals and two team medals to become the first American woman ever to win four gold medals in a single Olympics. This feat made her the most decorated athlete male or female, of the 1996 Games.
As 1994's NCAA Swimmer of the Year, Amy was coming on strong toward her first-ever Olympics and she secured her position as one of the sport's best in 1995 with record-setting performances. She twice broke her own 50-meter freestyle American record within eight days at the Pasadena Summer Nationals and the Pan Pacific Games in Atlanta, finishing as the world's best in the event for the second consecutive year. She set the short course world record in the 50-meter butterfly in Finland and she also took a first place finish against the worlds best in the I OO-meter butterfly at the Pan Am Games in Argentina. Van Dyken swam on the record setting U.S Teams that won both the 400-meter freestyle and the medley relay crowns at the 1995 Pan American Games.
As a member of the U.S. Swimming Resident Team, Van Dyken qualified for the 1996 Olympic Team in five events: the 50m freestyle, the 100m freestyle, the 100m butterfly, the 400m freestyle and medley relays. She left the Olympic Games with five career best times, four gold medals and three American Records. Her gold medal finish in the 50m freestyle set a new Olympic record with a time of 24.87. In a triumphant finish, she also captured Gold in the 100m butterfly with a best race time of 59.13. Her 100 freestyle split in the 400m freestyle relay (53.13) was the second-fastest split in women's swimming history and the fastest split by a non Chinese female swimmer. Her extraordinary performances in the 400m medley and freestyle relays, helped Team USA bring home the gold and set two American Records. With all of her accomplishments, Van Dyken has become the third-fastest non-Chinese woman in the history of the 50m freestyle (25.03) and the fifth-fastest American woman ever in the 100m freestyle (55.27) She was named by Swimming World Magazine as the 1995 American Female Swimmer of the Year and as the 1996 Athlete of the Year by United States Swimming. She has also been awarded the title of the Individual Athlete of the Year from the Women's Sports Foundation and has been nominated for the prestigious Sullivan Award for the nation's best athlete.
Amy enhanced her distinguished repertoire of Olympic achievements by adding three Gold Medals from the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia. Amy took first in the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, and the 400m Freestyle Relay. In August of 1999, only five months after months after undergoing her second shoulder surgery, Amy defied all odds by returning to completion and winning the 50m freestyle at the National Championships. Leading up to the 2000 Olympics Games, Amy secured a second place finish in the 50m Freestyle with a season best 24.99. Overcoming two shoulder surgeries and the toughest two years of her career, Amy extraordinary seized two more Gold Medals in the 4x 100m Freestyle Relay and the 4x 100m Medley Relay at the Games in Sydney, bringing her Olympic Gold Medal total to six.
With two historical Olympic Games and the unprecedented Six Gold Medals under her belt, Amy is now retired from the sport of swimming. She was redirected her competitive energy to the sport of the triathlon with the revered Ironman as her ultimate goal. In February 200 I, Amy competed in her first competition in Colorado Springs, Colorado where she finished a respectable sixth.
Outside of the athletic arena, Amy is working in broadcasting and she is excited about having more time to commit to her favorite charities and non-profit events. Most recently, Amy and her husband have put their names on an event to benefit Colorado Youth Outdoors. A charity that gets parents and kids together in the great outdoors of Colorado. Tom Rouen and Amy Van Dyken Celebrity Shoot Out is now in it's 5th year, and is attended by many celebrities. Amy and her Dog, Georgia are the National spokes girls for Paws With a Cause (PAWS), a Grand Rapids, Michigan based non-profit organization that trains and places assistance, hearing and seizure dogs. Amy looks forward to continuing her role as the National Spokesperson for PAWS.
Amy is married to NFL punter, Tom Rouen and the couple currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona and Keystone, Colorado
