Amy Van Dyken

Since childhood, Amy Van Dyken’s mantra has been “Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?” A six-time Olympic gold medal winner, she was already a role model for underdogs everywhere with her debilitating asthma that had her dragged from the pool during several practices and her potentially career-ending shoulder surgeries that occurred between her first and second Olympics.

But it was her life-threatening spinal cord injury in an ATV accident in 2014, that put her perseverance to the test. With little hope of surviving, and none that she would ever walk again, Amy did survive, and she did walk again. “I’m alive because I’m an athlete,” she said, following her accident. However, it was her “will to win” that saved her life. The same attitude that kept her motivated as she struggled to swim a single lap of the pool, set records, and win the world championships, was the very same attitude required after the accident.

In “The Will to Win,” Amy Van Dyken discusses the need for relentless motivation and overcoming the limits and restraints others put on you – whether it be a coach, a friend, an adversary, yourself, or even your own body. Van Dyken speaks plainly on both the physical and emotional obstacles that she has endured, as well as the emotional coming to terms with her new life and learning to embrace it.

Olympian Amy Van Dyken has made a career out of beating the odds, both in and out of the pool. At 18 months old, she was diagnosed with three different kinds of asthma that left her with only 65% normal lung capacity. At the recommendation of her doctor, she joined a swim team and stayed at it for years, despite her inability to finish a single length of the pool and her debilitating asthma attacks. But in 1996, she made the Olympic team and won four Gold medals. The record-breaking swimmer then fought a shoulder injury and two operations to win a pair of gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

In 2014, Van Dyken-Rouen suffered an ATV accident that severed her spine and required surgery with only a 20% chance of survival. Even though the surgery was a success, Van Dyken was still paralyzed from the waist down. Her life-changing experience would leave many devastated and depressed. But Van Dyken, grateful for her second chance, decided to dedicate her new life to inspiring others to grasp every moment and to not complain; teaching that this life is a gift and every day should be met with an air of gratitude. In “Reaching for Gold,” Amy shared her personal story of overcoming adversity and keeping a good attitude no matter the odds, and inspires audiences to look past their limits and reach for their own version of gold.