Olympians Kim Vandenberg and Amanda Beard: Dance Parties, Olympic Medals and Championing Hope

BY CAMILLE OGDEN

OLYMPIANS HOPE FLOATS

KIM VANDENBERG AND AMANDA BEARD:

DANCE PARTIES, OLYMPIC MEDALS AND CHAMPIONING HOPE

When Kim Vandenberg was 12, her aunt gave her an unexpected gift: a signed photo of Amanda Beard, the then 14-yearold Olympic gold medalist. Having just watched Beard win gold and two silvers during her Olympic debut in Atlanta, the photo was fun and exciting to the young swimmer. However, it was Beard’s accompanying words of encouragement that stuck with Vandenberg decades later: “Keep it up…”

And keep it up she did—all the way to her own collection of championships and medals.

Beard would compete in the 2000 and 2004 Games before crossing paths with Vandenberg again. This time under the training of top coach Cyndi Gallagher at UCLA in 2008. “I remember when Cyndi asked how I felt about training with Amanda. I was so excited! She was a three-time Olympian at the time. I learned a lot from her, like how to manage stress and execute details. She became like an older sister to me.”

That year, the two swimmers became inseparable. Intense training was balanced with dinners, shopping, and dance parties—as in full blown dance routines they made up to shake off the intensity and nerves of competitive swimming. Living and breathing the same training experience created a lasting friendship, well before the Games began in Beijing.

As friends, teammates, and roommates, Beard and Vandenberg found a way to balance the intensity of the Olympic Games with fun and cheerful patriotism. “We decorated our faces with stickers, jewels, everything was red, white, and blue. We were very patriotic,” Vandenberg recalled with a laugh.

“Amanda made it fun. There is a lot of pressure when the world is watching, but we found a way to have fun and find balance.”

While winning bronze in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay was an obvious highlight, for Vandenberg, the memories of dance parties with Beard and cheering on her teammates with bedazzled American spirit topped the list as well. She says candidly, “You can’t swim fast unless you are in a good mindset.”

Over the next few decades, both women enjoyed wildly successful and meaningful careers.

Beard, a 7-time Olympic medalist, continued to gain notoriety in and out of the competitive swimming world — collecting medals, breaking records, and co-captaining National teams. Life after the Olympics would include advocacy, modeling, philanthropy, a thriving business, family and the New York Times best sellers list.

Vandenberg’s love of travel, education and of course, swimming has taken her around the world. As a two-time gold medalist at the 2011 Pan American games, a silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships, and a three-time National Champion, her competitive swimming career is well decorated. She continues to swim for the New York Athletic Club and travels the globe giving motivational talks and teaching swim clinics and private lessons to international schools. Also a certified yoga instructor, Vandenberg designs classes specifically for swimmers and shares lessons she’s learned along the way with the young athletes she mentors. Currently, she is pursuing her master’s degree in Psychology at Pepperdine University.

In 2021, Vandenberg and Beard, still close friends, found their passions cross paths again through the Hope Floats Foundation. As fierce advocates for water safety and champions of youth programs, Hope Floats is a perfect fit for both women and their commitment to drowning prevention.

For Beard, motherhood and the experience of launching her own swim school ignited her passion for the Hope Floats mission, “Keeping kids water safe is a mission that became more important to me after having children of my own. I believe the ability to swim is one of the greatest gifts you can give a child, and there is a segment of children from disadvantaged families who are under served.”

For Vandenberg, it was a near tragedy that inspired her to support Hope Floats. “I am honored to become a part of the board of directors at Hope Floats Foundation,” says Vandenberg, “One of my earliest memories is of my little brother’s near drowning experience when he was only two. Thankfully, he survived, but this experience at such a young age reinforced that learning to swim is literally life or death. Since then, water safety and everything to do with the life-saving sport of swimming has been my passion. Unfortunately, not every child has the resources or exposure to learn and enjoy the water safely. I look forward to helping young kids gain access to high quality swim instruction through the Hope Floats Foundation.”

A national nonprofit (501c3), Hope Floats Foundation partners with swim schools and businesses across the US to fund swimming lesson scholarships for low-income children. Beard joined the Board of Directors in 2020 and Vandenberg is the newest board member, beginning her term in December 2021.

For Vandenberg, “Amanda always had my back. Whether it was at Trials, the Olympic races or just as a friend. She supported me and gave me confidence.” Now, the two distinguished Olympians are doing the same for the next generation of swimmers through their work with Hope Floats.

For Vandenberg, “Hope Floats unleashes possibilities by saving lives, but it is also about, teaching kids how to be healthy, how to promote their wellbeing and how to be confident.”

Both Beard and Vandenberg dedicated huge chapters of their lives to the sport of swimming. They unleashed their own possibilities as athletes through hard won competition. Today, they unleash new possibilities for kids across the country, kids who deserve a chance to fall in love with the water and all the opportunities it holds. Kids who deserve to be safe in the water and kids who, like Beard and Vandenberg, may even have Olympic dreams.

To learn more about Hope Floats Foundation, please visit www. hopefloatsfoundation.com

You can connect with Amanda Beard and Kim Vandenberg on social: @kimswim @amandaraybeard