When Amy Van Dyken was in high school, her swimming teammates teased her. They said she swam so slowly that they did not want her on their team anymore. Other students made fun of Van Dyken because she was so tall and acted like a "nerd." In addition to the teasing, she also suffered from asthma, a disease that made it so hard for her to breathe that she could not even climb stairs. Despite all these obstacles, Van Dyken kept swimming. Soon she was so good that she became the star of her team. In July 1996--at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia--Van Dyken swam into the record books by becoming the first American woman to win four gold medals in one Olympic Games.

Growing up

Asthma attacks

Amy Deloris Van Dyken was born February 15, 1973, in Denver, Colorado. She grew up in Englewood, Colorado, with her father...