39 Quotes by Amanda Beard

Sometimes success is simply being willing to give it your all.

I worked there for a year, ... I'd taken the year off from school and was doing double-session workouts. I needed something to do with myself between practices, so I worked there four hours a day.

Last week I was one minute late, ... and when I got to class, the professor had locked the door. She was nice, though. She let me in.

My plans are definitely to swim in the 2008 Olympics. I am still training and still competing. So hopefully, if everything goes my way, I'll be at the 2008 Olympics.

I'm a firm believer in slowing down to improve my state of mind when I'm training, and yoga and meditation have been paramount to my success in this way.

Malfunctions are inevitable. It's important to push through them during practice - versus stopping to fix and restart - so that you're prepared for one mid-competition.

Life is all about balance: sprinting hard and fast, breathing deep and slow. Working out with my coaches, playing with my kids. Eating whole foods for fuel, enjoying a glass of wine with friends.

My performance has improved dramatically from yoga and meditation. No athlete ever dominated by sticking to one sport all the time.

Like anyone, I stress and get hard on myself from time to time, but it's minute compared to the pressure I used to put on myself to perform and succeed. To my kids' credit, they've probably helped me the most here: I'm more worried about what they're doing than what I'm doing!