Amy Van Dyken

Amy Van Dyken

Personal information
Full name	Amy Deloris Van Dyken-Rouen
National team	United States
Born	February 15, 1973 (age 42) Denver, Colorado
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	163 lb (74 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, freestyle
College team	University of Arizona Colorado State University
Coach	Bill Boomer

Amy Deloris Van Dyken (born February 15, 1973) is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and national radio sports talk show co-host. She has won six Olympic gold medals in her career, four of which she won at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making her the first American woman to accomplish such a feat and the most successful athlete at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She won gold in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and 4×100-meter medley relay.

Van Dyken suffered from severe asthma throughout her childhood and into adulthood. She began swimming on the advice of a doctor as a way to strengthen her lungs to cope with her condition and prevent future asthma attacks.

She was named Swimming World's American Swimmer of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

On June 6, 2014, Van Dyken was in a severe ATV accident that severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

Early life

At the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials, she placed 4th in the 50-meter freestyle, just missing the Olympic team. After high school, Van Dyken attended the University of Arizona for two years before transferring to Colorado State University, where she broke her first (of many more to come) United States record with a time of 21.77 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships in 1994. She also placed second in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard freestyle to Olympian Jenny Thompson. In 1994 she was named the NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year. After college, she moved to the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to train full-time for the 1996 Olympics.

Olympic competition

1996 Summer Olympics

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Van Dyken became the first American female athlete in history to win 4 gold medals in a single Olympic games. Her success in swimming won her a wide variety of awards and accolades, including: the ESPN Awards (ESPY) Female Athlete of the Year award; Swimming World magazine's female Swimmer of the Year award; induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame; induction into the US Olympic Hall of Fame;^[2] named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, USOC Sports Woman of the Year, the Women’s Sports Foundation Sports Woman of the Year and USA Swimming Swimmer of the Year. She was also featured as one of Glamour magazine's Top 10 Women of the Year, named one of 25 most influential females in sport by Women’s Sports and Fitness magazine and received the ARETE Courage in Sports award. She has graced the cover of several newspapers and magazines, including USA Today, Newsweek, Time,Swimming World magazine, and Sports Illustrated. Van Dyken was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and the Today Show. She was featured in a milk ad with a photograph taken by world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, and she was honored with her own Wheaties box.

2000 Summer Olympics

She continued to compete after the 1996 Olympics, but was plagued by injury, including a shoulder injury which required several operations and which left her unable to train for over a year. She staged a comeback, however, and made the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in the 50-meter freestyle, the 4×100 medley relay and the 4×100 freestyle relay. At the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Van Dyken won two gold medals in these latter two events, and placed 4th in the 50-meter freestyle. This brought her total career Olympic medal count to six gold medals. In addition to her Olympic accomplishments, Van Dyken won several world titles and set numerous American and world records.

Van Dyken has the distinction of being one of the few Olympians whose medals are all gold.

Sportsmanship

Van Dyken lost public support when she spat in the lane of rival Inge de Bruijn at the 2000 Summer Olympics. After losing to de Bruijn, Van Dyken responded by saying she, too, could have won a gold medal "if I were a man."

Performance Enhancing Drugs

In 2003, Van Dyken was called to testify before a grand jury regarding the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative(BALCO) steroid scandal.  While Van Dyken was a regular client at BALCO, she has never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Life after swimming

Van Dyken retired from swimming after the 2000 Olympics and married former NFL punter Tom Rouen not long after. They split their time between Colorado and Arizona.

Since her retirement, Van Dyken has toured on a number of speaking engagements to groups as varied as schools and multi-national corporations, she has been a disc jockey on a sports radio show in Arizona, served as the side-line reporter for the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos football teams, and even played in the award-winning stage-play the Vagina Monologues. She is actively involved in a number of charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and along with husband Rouen runs an annual celebrity fundraiser in Evergreen, Colorado, to raise money for disadvantaged youth. She was the head coach of the varsity swim team at Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. On May 12, she was the only American swimmer to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Class of 2007. She was inducted to the Olympic Hall of Fame in July 2008. She was a morning drive-time host on 98.7 The Peak FM in Phoenix, Arizona, as a part of "Chris and Amy in the Morning" from 2010 to 2011. She resigned from 98.7 The Peak FM on July 12, 2011, to 'attend to some family issues that are going to take her back to Denver.' She was the co-host of Fox Sports Radio's Fox Sports Tonight with Rob Dibble until December 2013.

ATV accident

On June 6, 2014, Van Dyken was in a severe ATV accident and severed her spinal cord at the T11 vertebra. She was conscious when rescued and airlifted to a hospital where she had emergency surgery to stabilize her spinal cord and vertebral column. Following the initial surgical measures, she was in satisfactory condition. The injury to the area came within millimeters of impacting and potentially rupturing her aorta. However, the accident did leave her paralyzed from the waist down.  After two months of rehabilitation, Van Dyken left Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, saying, "I’m a better person than before the injury," and took her first steps.

Medal Record


Woman's Swimming 

Competitor for the United States


Olympic Games


Gold: 1996 Atlanta - 50 m freestyle

Gold: 1996 Atlanta - 100 m butterfly

Gold: 1996 Atlanta - 4x100 m freestyle

Gold: 1996 Atlanta - 4x100 m medley

Gold: 2000 Sydney - 4x100 m freestyle

Gold: 2000 Sydney - 4x100 m medley


World Championships (LC)


Gold: 1998 Perth - 50 m freestyle
Gold: 1998 Perth - 4x100 m freestyle
Gold: 1998 Perth - 4x100 m medley
Silver: 1994 Rome - 4x100 m medley
Silver: 1994 Rome - 4x100 m freestyle
Bronze: 1994 Rome - 50 m freestyle

Pan Pacific Championships

Gold: 1995 Atlanta - 50 m freestyle
Gold: 1995 Atlanta - 4x100 m freestyle
Silver: 1995 Atlanta - 100 m freestyle
Silver: 1995 Atlanta - 4x100 m medley

Pan American Games

Gold: 1995 Mar del Plata - 100 m butterfly
Gold: 1995 Mar del Plata - 4x100 m freestyle
Gold: 1995 Mar del Plata - 4x100 m medley
Silver: 1995 Mar del Plata - 100 m freestyle

Caitlin Leverenz

Caitlin Leverenz

Personal information
National team	United States
Born	February 26, 1991 (age 24) Tucson, Arizona
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Breaststroke, individual medley
Club	California Aquatics
College team	University of California, Berkeley

Caitlin Leverenz (born February 26, 1991) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and medleyevents. She was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team, and won the bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley events at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early years

Leverenz was born in Tucson, Arizona. She attended Sahuaro High School in Tucson, and was a member of the Sahauro Cougars high school swim team and was one of the top college swimming recruits in the nation as a high school senior. She also trained with and swam for the El Dorado Aquatics Club in Tucson.

College career

Leverenz received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where she currently swims for coach Teri McKeever's California Golden Bears swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. At the NCAA national championships in 2011, she swam the breaststroke legs for the Golden Bears' winning relay teams in the 4x50-yard and 4x100-yard medley relay events; the Bears set a new American and NCAA record time of 1:35.03 in the 4x50 medley. At the 2012 NCAA national championships, she again was a member of the Bears' winning 4x50-yard and 4x100-yard medley relay teams, as well as winning individual national championships in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke events. She has been a key contributor to the Golden Bears winning two of the last three NCAA national team championships, and will be a senior during the 2012–13 school year. She was the recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of 2011–12.

International career

Leverenz represented the United States in Brazil for World Youth Championships, and in the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool. She won the gold medal and broke the meet record in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2007 Pan American Games.  At the United States Swimming National Championships in 2007, she won the U.S. championship in the 400-meter individual medley.

At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, she placed fourth in both the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. She also finished third in the 200-meter breaststroke, just missing out on making the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team

2012 Summer Olympic Games

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Olympics, Leverenz made the U.S. Olympic team by finishing first in the 200-meter individual medley and second in the 400-meter individual medley. Leverenz also competed in the 200-meter breaststroke, but finished in eighth place in the final.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she won her first Olympic medal, a bronze, in the finals of the 200-meter individual medley. She also competed in the 400-meter individual medley, and tied for sixth in the finals.

Medal Record

Woman's Swimming

Competitor for the United States

Olympic Games

Bronze: 2012 London - 200 m medley

Pan Pacific Championships

Bronze: 2010 Irvine - 200 m medley

Bronze: 2010 Irvine - 400 m medley

Bronze: 2014 Gold Coast - 200 m medley

Pan American Games

Gold: 2007 Rio - 200 m breaststroke

Gold: 2015 Toronto - 200 m medley

Gold: 2015 Toronto - 400 m medley

Dana Vollmer

Dana Vollmer

Personal information
Full name	Dana Whitney Vollmer
National team	United States
Born	November 13, 1987 (age 27) Syracuse, New York
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	150 lb (68 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, freestyle
Club	California Aquatics
College team	University of California, Berkeley; University of Florida

Dana Whitney Vollmer (born November 13, 1987) is an American competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay that set the world record in the event.  Eight years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Vollmer set the world record on her way to the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly, and also won golds in the 4×100-meter medley relay and 4×200-meter freestyle relay.

Vollmer has won a total of thirty two medals in major international competitions, including nineteen gold medals, eight silver, and five bronze, spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, the Pan American Games, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Goodwill Games.

Early years

Vollmer was born in Syracuse, New York, and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex region in Granbury, Texas. As an age group swimmer, Vollmer swam for coach Ron Forrest at the Fort Worth Area Swim Team (FAST).

In 2003, Vollmer underwent heart surgery to correct a condition called supraventricular tachycardia, which produces a quickened pulse rate of about 240 beats per minute. After that surgery, an electrocardiogram indicated to her cardiologists that she might have the Long QT. Then, further testing ruled out this condition. Her physicians recommended that she always have a defibrillator at the poolside whenever she swims in case of a heart emergency.

College career

Vollmer first enrolled in the University of Florida, and swam for coach Gregg Troy's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition in 2006. As a freshman, she earned four honorable mention All-American honors. After her first year, she transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, where she finished her NCAA and Pacific-10 Conference career competing for coach Teri McKeever's California Golden Bears swimming and diving team from 2007 to 2009. Vollmer was the Bears' most valuable swimmer for three consecutive years, the Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year in 2009, and the 2008–09 recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year.  She earned 20 All-American honors as a Golden Bear swimmer, won an individual NCAA championship in the 100-yard butterfly in 2007, and led the Bears to their first NCAA team championship in 2009.

Swimming career

Early career

At the age of 12, Vollmer was the youngest swimmer to compete at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials, but did not qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. She was also the youngest swimming competitor a year later at the 2001 Goodwill Games.

2004 Summer Olympic Games

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Vollmer won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in 4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper and Kaitlin Sandeno. In addition to winning the gold medal, the U.S. relay team broke the previous world record in the event that had stood for 17 years.

2005–2008

At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, Vollmer won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She also won the silver medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay.

Vollmer just missed making the 2008 Olympic team, placing seventh at the 2008 US Olympic Trials in the 200-meter freestyle with 1:58.67, 0.51 seconds behind the 6th place finisher, 5th in the 100-meter butterfly with 58.64, and 9th in the 100-meter freestyle with 54.84, 0.03 seconds behind 8th place qualifier Amanda Weir.

2009–2011

On February 25, 2009, she set her first individual American record, breaking Natalie Coughlin's 200-yard freestyle record with a time of 1:41.53.

At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy, Vollmer won two medals, a silver and a bronze. In the 200-meter freestyle, Vollmer set an American record in the semifinal with a time of 1:55.29. In the final of the 200-meter freestyle, Vollmer placed third, and her American record was broken by Allison Schmitt.  In the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Vollmer swam the lead off leg in 1:55.29. The American team finished in second place behind China with a time of 7:42.56.

At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Vollmer won a total of three medals, two gold medals and one silver. In her first event, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Vollmer won a silver medal with Natalie Coughlin, Jessica Hardy, and Missy Franklin. After setting the national record in the semifinals of the 100-meter butterfly (56.47), Vollmer won the gold medal in the final with a time of 56.87. In the 4×100-meter medley relay, Vollmer the gold medal along with Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, and Missy Franklin with a time of 3:52.36, better than three seconds ahead of second place finisher China (PRC). Swimming the butterfly leg, Vollmer had a split of 55.74.

The final time of 3:52.36 for the medley relay was the second-fastest mark of all time, just behind the Chinese-held world record of 3:52.19.

2012 Summer Olympic Games

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Olympics, Vollmer qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for the second time (the first being in 2004) by finishing first in the 100-meter butterfly and third in the 200-meter freestyle. In the final race of the 100-meter butterfly, Vollmer won in a time of 56.50 seconds, better than one second ahead of second-place Claire Donahue. In the semifinal, Vollmer had broken her own American record of 56.47 with her time of 56.42. Vollmer also competed in the 100-meter freestyle, but just missed a spot on the 4×100-meter freestyle relay by finishing seventh (54.61).

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she again broke her American record and set an Olympic record with a time of 56.25 seconds in her 100-meter butterfly qualifying heat. In the 100-meter butterfly final, she won the gold medal and set a new world record with her time of 55.98.  Vollmer also competed in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She swam the second leg with a time of 1:56.02, as the U.S. team won gold with a time of 7:42.94. In her final event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Vollmer won another gold with Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni and Allison Schmitt. Swimming the butterfly leg, Vollmer recorded a split time of 55.48, as the U.S. team set a new world record with a time of 3:52.05, bettering the previous record of 3:52.19 set by China in 2009.

Life outside swimming

Vollmer is an ambassador for the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" program.

She is married to Andy Grant, a former swimmer for Stanford University.  The couple announced they were expecting their first child on October 10, 2014.

Personal best times

Long course

Event	Time	Venue	Date	Notes
50 m butterfly	25.80	Charlotte	May 12, 2012
100 m butterfly	55.98	London	July 29, 2012	AM, NR, WR
200 m butterfly	2:09.86	Indianapolis	March 31, 2012
50 m freestyle	25.09	Indianapolis	March 4, 2011
100 m freestyle	53.30	Rome	July 31, 2009
200 m freestyle	1:55.29	Rome	July 28, 2009

Short course

Event	Time	Venue	Date	Notes
50 m butterfly	25.83	Dubai	December 16, 2010
100 m butterfly	55.59	Berlin	October 30, 2010	NR
100 m freestyle	52.58	Dubai	December 16, 2010

Medal Record

Woman's Swimming
Competitor for the United States

Event	1st	2nd	3rd
Olympic Games	4	0	0
World Championships (LC)	4	4	2
World Championships (SC)	2	2	2
Goodwill Games	0	0	1
Pan Pacific Championships	5	1	0
Pan American Games	3	0	0
Universiade	1	1	0
Total	19	8	5

Olympic Games

Gold: 2004 Athens - 4x200 m freestyle

Gold: 2012 London - 100 m butterfly

Gold: 2012 London - 4x200 m freestyle

Gold: 2012 London - 4x100 m medley
Silver: 2016 Rio de Janeiro - 4x100 m freestyle
Bronze: 2016 Rio de Janeiro - 100 m butterfly 

World Championships (LC)

Gold: 2007 Melbourne - 4x200 m freestyle

Gold: 2011 Shanghai - 100 m butterfly

Gold: 2011 Shanghai - 4x100 m medley

Gold: 2013 Barcelona - 4x100 m medley

Silver: 2007 Melbourne - 4x100 m freestyle

Silver: 2007 Melbourne - 4x100 m medley

Silver: 2009 Rome - 4x200 m freestyle

Silver: 2011 Shanghai - 4x100 m freestyle

Bronze: 2009 Rome - 200 m freestyle

Bronze: 2013 Barcelona - 100 m butterfly

World Championships (SC)

Gold: 2004 Indianapolis - 4x100 m freestyle

Gold: 2004 Indianapolis - 4x200 m freestyle

Silver: 2010 Dubai - 4x100 m freestyle

Silver: 2010 Dubai - 4x100 m medley

Bronze: 2004 Indianapolis - 200 m freestyle 

Bronze: 2010 Dubai - 100 m butterfly

Pan Pacific Championships

Gold: 2006 Victoria - 4x200 m freestyle

Gold: 2010 Irvine - 100 m butterfly

Gold: 2010 Irvine - 4x100 m freestyle

Gold: 2010 Irvine - 4x200 m freestyle

Gold: 2010 Irvine - 4x100 m medley

Silver: 2010 Irvine - 100 m freestyle

Pan American Games 

Gold: 2003 Sto Domingo - 200 m freestyle

Gold: 2003 Sto Domingo - 4x200 m freestyle

Gold: 2003 Sto Domingo - 4x100 m medley

Universiade

Gold: 2005 Lzmir - 4x100 m freestyle

Silver: 2005 Lzmir - 50 m butterfly

Goodwill Games

Bronze: 2001 Brisbane - 4x100 m medley