In the Water They Can't See You Cry : A Memoir

by Beard, Amanda; Paley, Rebecca

• ISBN13: 9781451644371
• ISBN10: 145164437X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-04-03
• Publisher: Touchstone

Summary

In a candid and ultimately uplifting memoir, international swimming star Amanda Beard reveals the truth about coming of age in the Olympic spotlight, the demons she battled along the way, and the newfound happiness that has proved to be her greatest victory.At the tender age of fourteen, Amanda Beard walked onto the pool deck at the Atlanta Olympics carrying her teddy bear, Harold. She left with two silvers and a gold medal. She competed in three more Olympic games, winning a total of seven medals and enjoying a lucrative modeling career on the side. At one point, she was the most downloaded female athlete on the Internet. Yet beneath her astonishing career and sex-symbol status, Beard felt unworthy of all her success. Unaware that she was suffering from clinical depression, she hid the pain beneath a mega-watt smile. She secretly struggled with depression, anorexia, bulimia, and cutting, and she abused drugs and alcohol. No one, not even her own parents and friends, knew about her self-destructive behavior. Only when she met her future husband, who caught her cutting herself, did Amanda realize she needed help. Through her renewed faith in herself, the love of her family, and finally the birth of her baby boy, Blaise, Amanda has transformed her life. Sports fans, young women, readers looking for inspiration will all be rewarded by this raw, compelling story of a woman who gained the strength to live as bravely out of the water as she did in it.