Amy Van Dyken was born in Englewood

Amy Van Dyken was born in Englewood, Colorado, in 1973. She was a sick child. The doctors told her parents that Amy had asthma. People with asthma sometimes can’t breathe. She went to the hospital many times when she was young. She couldn’t do the things other children could do. Then she started to swim and liked it. When she swam, she could be like all the other children. In the beginning, she was slow. When there was a race, she was always the last. It was very hard for her, but she swam faster and faster. When she was 13, she started to win races.

Amy Van Dyken graduated from high school in 1991. She was a good swimmer, so many colleges wanted to give her swimming scholarships. She went to Colorado State University.

In 1994, Amy was College Swimmer of the Year. In the fall of 1994, Amy decided to leave college early. She wanted to train for the 1996 Olympics full time. She swam five to six hours a day. During this time, Amy continued her asthma medicine. With all her training, she can still take in only 60% as much air as people without asthma.

When the Olympics arrived in 1996, Amy was ready. She entered five events. She won four gold medals. She was the first American woman to win four gold medals in one Olympics.

In 1998, Amy injured her shoulder when she was training. She won one race in 1999, but injured her shoulder again. In 2000, Amy entered the Olympic again. She had a bad shoulder so she did not do as well as in the 1996 Olympics. This time she won two gold medals.

Amy knows sign language for the deaf and plans to work with deaf children. She tells children with asthma to do what they want to do and not to let asthma stop them from doing anything.