Amy Van Dyken

Early life

At the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials, Van Dyken placed fourth in the 50-meter freestyle, missing the team. After high school, she attended the University of Arizona for two years before transferring to Colorado State University, where she broke a United States record in the 50-yard freestyle at the 1994 NCAA championships. She was named NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year in 1994 and later moved to the U.S. Olympic Training Center to train for the 1996 Olympics.

Olympic competition

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Van Dyken became the first American female athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Her achievements earned her numerous awards, including the ESPY Female Athlete of the Year, Swimming World's female Swimmer of the Year, induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, and recognition as Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, USOC Sports Woman of the Year, and USA Swimming Swimmer of the Year.

She was featured in Glamour's Top 10 Women of the Year and appeared on magazine covers including USA Today, Newsweek, Time, and Sports Illustrated. After the 1996 Olympics, she dealt with a shoulder injury requiring several operations but made the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100 medley relay, and 4×100 freestyle relay. She is one of the few Olympians whose medals are all gold. Van Dyken lost public support after spitting in the lane of rival Inge de Bruijn at the 2000 Olympics and later remarked that she too could have won gold "if I were a man."

Life after swimming

Van Dyken retired after the 2000 Olympics and married former NFL punter Tom Rouen. She competed in triathlon, finishing a Saturn Triathlon in Monument, Colorado, in two hours, 10.5 seconds, placing 28th among 34 women in her age group, and later completed the Danskin Women's Triathlon in Denver in 1:38:11. In 2003, she testified before a grand jury regarding the BALCO steroid scandal; she was a regular client at BALCO but never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

After retirement, she undertook speaking engagements, worked as a disc jockey on a sports radio show in Arizona, served as a sideline reporter for the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, and acted in the Vagina Monologues. She is involved with charities including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and runs an annual celebrity fundraiser with her husband. She was head coach of the varsity swim team at Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.

She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Class of 2007 and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in July 2008. She became morning co-host at Mix 96.9 KMXP-FM in Phoenix in July 2008, later moved to KPKX-FM as part of "Chris and Amy in the Morning" from 2010 to 2011, and resigned in July 2011 to attend to family issues. She co-hosted Fox Sports Radio's Fox Sports Tonight with Rob Dibble until December 2013.

ATV accident

On June 6, 2014, Van Dyken was seriously injured in an ATV accident that severed her spinal cord at the T11 vertebra. She was conscious when rescued and underwent emergency surgery. The injury came within millimeters of rupturing her aorta and left her paralyzed from the waist down. After two months of rehabilitation at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, she took her first steps with a walker and a bionic device.