U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : Irvine Swimming Phenom Wins

Forgive Amanda Beard if she acts like a 13-year-old.

She is one.

She is also one of the emerging stars at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

Despite being the youngest swimmer here, Beard was the top selection overall, picked by the East team, when Festival coaches held their draft to decide their squads.

She supported that confidence by winning the 200-meter breaststroke Saturday night in 2 minutes 33.72 seconds.

It was the latest in a remarkable few months for the 5-foot-4, 96-pound phenom from Irvine.

Only last March she qualified for the Senior National in Minnesota and finished third in the 200-meter breaststroke and fifth in the 100 meters.

Only a month ago at the Mission Viejo Meet of Champions, she broke two meet records held by Tracy Caulkins.

“I didn’t know who she was,” Beard admitted with an embarrassed smile.

Of course, now she knows that Caulkins won three gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics--when Beard was 2--and won a record 48 U.S. national titles in her career.

Earlier this month, Beard beat another Olympian, Summer Sanders, in the 100 meters at the Santa Clara International meet. That might not be a huge surprise since the 100 breaststroke is not Sanders’ best event, but 13 year olds don’t typically beat Olympians.

So, in typical 13-year-old fashion, Beard asked for Sanders’ autograph afterward.

“I used to be a butterflyer, so I was a big fan of hers,” Beard said. “Now I hate butterfly. But it was great to meet her and swim against her.”

Yes, Beard has all the earmarks of a kid flip-turning into adulthood.

She has two cats, four birds, a number of rabbits that changes frequently and a dog named Jerry Garcia.

She gets a weekly allowance of $6. She uses that to look after her animals, and always gives one of those dollars to an animal shelter near San Francisco because it needs money to expand.

Those are some adult charity ideas from a kid’s allowance.

Another adult idea is her desire to qualify for the Olympics next year. Before that comes her first year of high school, though.

She’s 13, after all.

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Olympic Festival Notes

Tony Goskowicz broke two of his own Festival records in speed skating and became the Festival’s career gold medal leader in the event. The first was in the 1,500 meters, where he had a time of 2:26.03. The second record was in the 500 meters (44.43). Goskowicz, from Wisconsin, now has nine career gold medals. His sister, Julie, won the women’s 1,500 (2:39.68). Erin Gleason set a Festival record in the women’s 500 (47.92). The old record was 50.09 set by Carrie Johnson in 1993. . . . In figure skating, Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro took an early lead by winning the short program. . . . The U.S. Figure Skating Assn. announced that there will be a Grand Prix of figure skating starting this year. The United States, Canada, France, Germany and Japan will be host countries for the Grand Prix. . . . Ice dancers Christie Moxley and Tom Gaasbeck withdrew because of an undisclosed injury. . . . In boxing, heavyweight Lamon Brewster of Los Angeles advanced to the finals by winning a decision against Nate Jones, 6-2. Lance Whitaker of Granada Hills advanced in the super-heavyweight division by winning a decision over Charles Shufford, 12-5. Fernando Vargas of Oxnard advanced in the light-welterweight division by winning a decision over Demarcus Corley, 20-5. Carlos Navarro of Los Angeles advanced in the bantamweight division by winning a decision over Jason Pires, 28-4.