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Colorado Olympic champ makes new home in Ariz.

Contributed by: Jim McAllister on 11/5/2006

"Can't" is a word that won't be found in the vocabulary of Colorado's six-time Olympic gold medal swimming champion Amy Van Dyken. As a kid growing up in Englewood, she suffered from asthma and was constantly told to, "Take it easy, Amy!" At age 6, with a 65 percent lung capacity, her doctor recommended swimming as an exercise that might increase her breathing ability. Never one to quit, Amy took his advice and finally was able to swim the length of the pool by age 12, not exactly the resume one would expect from a future Olympic gold medalist.

Now 33 and living in Scottsdale, Ariz., with her husband, former Broncos punter Tom Rouen, she remembers those days well. She went on to make the swim team at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood and won her first event in her junior year. Still, some of her teammates dismissed her abilities and preferred not to swim with her. What a treat it was a few years later to tell them she was swimming five events in the Olympics!

Amy went to the University of Arizona, then transferred to Colorado State where she graduated in 1996. She managed to make the Olympic team that year in Atlanta but with four-time gold medalist Janet Evans on the team, was not considered to be a factor. That all changed as Amy won four gold medals, the first woman ever to do that in a single Olympics. In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, she picked up two more golds for a total of six, a number yet to be matched.

Recently, I asked Amy if Olympic fame changed her life very much. "Before the Olympics I couldn't get a table at McDonalds," she said. "Now, I can go just about anywhere with no trouble. My husband has two Super Bowl rings and he says he needs to be with me to get in any place." I asked if she had been invited to any celebrity talent shows like Dancing With the Stars or Celebrity Jeopardy! She replied, "No, but I was the question to an answer on Jeopardy! once." When I mentioned that two Super Bowl rings were impressive but still put Tom as no. 2 in the household behind six Olympic golds, she smiled and said, "No, he is number three, behind Georgia, our black Lab."

Amy has a great sense of humor, and, although she loves living in Scottsdale, she still has great memories of her friends and her youth in Colorado. She mentioned that one of her biggest thrills during the 1996 Olympics was knowing that her fellow members at the Willow Creek Swim Club in Englewood had set up a large television at the pool during Olympic week so everyone could watch her progress.

Her breathing problems have improved significantly and Amy finds that the climate in Scottsdale is better for asthma than Colorado. Still, she and Tom have a place in Keystone where they like to get in some skiing during the winter. Plus, she likes to visit her family. She also is an avid runner, golfer and biker, so staying in shape is not a problem.

Currently, Amy is working with a drowning prevention program and various charities. Plus, having done some media work for Fox and ESPN, she is auditioning for a possible radio gig. Stay tuned, I think you will be hearing more from Englewood's Amy Van Dyken.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Jim McAllister

Scottsdale , AZ

Jim McAllister has posted 37 stories and 6 comments since joining on 5/7/2006. Jim McAllister 's average story rating is 5.
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