Amanda Beard goes from centerfold to just plain fold
After winning a medal in three consecutive Olympics, swimmer fails to make it past the qualifying heat in the 200-meter breaststroke. Rebecca Soni wins silver in the 100 breaststroke.
BEIJING -- If only Amanda Beard moved as quickly through the water in the 200-meter breaststroke on Wednesday night at the Water Cube as she did afterward in the mixed zone -- which she ripped through at warp speed -- she might have avoided creating another first in her long Olympic career.
Beard had won a medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in the last three Olympic Games, including gold in 2004 in Athens. This time, she didn't even make it out of the heats, finishing 18th in 2 minutes, 27.70 seconds, nearly a half-second out of the last qualifying spot.
For better perspective on the subpar nature of the swim: Beard went 2:25.13 when she placed second behind Rebecca Soni, her former USC Trojan Swim Club teammate, at the Olympic trials in Omaha a little more than a month ago.
Had Beard, of UCLA's Team Bruin, simply missed her taper, or was there one? Perhaps she was feeling the same illness Ryan Lochte suffered a few days before the meet started? And, finally, was this it for the 26-year-old's swim career . . . time for an ode to a centerfold?
All remained a mystery because Beard wasn't talking afterward. At least it was an equal-opportunity snub, of TV and print folks, from someone who has utilized the media to her best advantage -- even as recently as last week, when the one-time Playboy model unveiled a poster of herself posing nude in support of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
The seeming opposite to Beard is Soni, who in her own quiet way is having the best meet on the U.S. women's team this side of Natalie Coughlin. Soni took silver in the 100 breaststroke behind Aussie star Leisel Jones, and put up the fastest-qualifying time in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.17), finishing 1.64 seconds ahead of Jones.
USA Swimming's Mark Schubert spoke about Beard's long career, dating to 1996 in Atlanta when she used to carry a teddy bear to the blocks and won two silvers and one gold at age 14.
"She's done everything and I think making this Olympics was spectacular," Schubert said. "A number of her teammates said in a number of meetings that she's been an unbelievable captain. She's been at every session getting the kids fired up.
"I'm disappointed for her that it didn't turn out better, but she's done everything and she'll always be an Olympic champion."
Soni's personal best was an Olympic record as well as an American record, both having been held by Beard. The latter, 2:22.44, was set at the U.S. Olympic trials in 2004.
