Audiobook8 hours
In the Water They Can't See You Cry: A Memoir
Written by Amanda Beard and Rebecca Paley
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
At the tender age of fourteen, Amanda Beard walked onto the pool deck at the Atlanta Olympics carrying her teddy bear, Harold, and left with two silvers and a gold medal. She competed in three more Olympic games, winning a total of seven medals, and enjoyed a lucrative modeling career on the side. At one point, she was the most downloaded female athlete on the Internet.Yet despite her astonishing career and sex-symbol status, Amanda felt unworthy of all her success. Unaware that she was suffering from clinical depression, she hid the pain beneath a megawatt smile. With no other outlet for her feelings besides the pool, Amanda expressed her emotions through self-destructive behavior. In her late teens and twenties, she became bulimic, abused drugs and alcohol, and started cutting herself.Her low self-esteem led to toxic relationships with high-profile men in the sports world. No one, not even her own parents and friends, knew about the turmoil she was going through. Only when she met her future husband, who discovered 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. In this book, she speaks frankly about her struggles with depression, the pressures to be thin, and the unhealthy relationships she confused for love. In the Water They Can't See You Cry is a raw, compelling story of a woman who gained the strength to live as bravely out of the water as she did in it.
Author
Amanda Beard
Amanda Beard is a seven-time Olympic medalist. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, the photographer Sacha Brown, and her son, Blaise. Visit her at AmandaBeard.net.
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Reviews for In the Water They Can't See You Cry
Rating: 3.4500001049999995 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
20 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gold medalist Amanda Beard describes her love of swimming, the trials and tribulations of becoming a world class athletic, and the physical and mental price she paid for success. Self-doubt, reporters’ comments, and questionable relationships will leave readers wondering if the a few moments on the winner’s podium are worth it. A collection of family photographs show Amanda’s family and friends during various ages is included midway through the book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the book, In the Water They Can’t See You Cry: A Memoir, the seven-time Olympic medalist Amanda Beard writes with complete openness and honestly with the help of Rebecca Paley. This book was published in 2012 through Touchstone, in New York, NY. Beard and Paley collaborated nicely to provide a descriptive narrative of Beard’s life. This writing allowed the reader the ability to relate to some of the struggles Beard experienced, such as her parents divorce, and her negative body image of herself, which lead to an eating disorder. In particular, this book was surprisingly less focused her swimming career than it was about her personal struggles, and how it led to her present state. Overall, this book was a page-turner due to the personal style of writing that made it seem like Beard was writing in her diary rather than to an audience, which lead to crying along with her on her downfalls, and smiling with joy on her victories. This book is a relatively quick, and enthralling read for both swimmers, and non-swimmers alike. I would recommend it to readers who are interested in swimming, or the Olympics in general. I would also recommend it to individuals who like reading books where an individual comes out on top after years of personal struggles, and difficulties. Nicole M.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It is really hard to like Amanda Beard when reading some parts of this book. But if she can help girls and women deal with distorted body image and low self-esteem, then I am all for it. That said, she seems to be struggling with her own self-esteem and confidence which makes her seem aloof and cranky, in and out of the pool. This book is not about how to be an Olympian, but how not to be. Beard references her mistakes to provide an dialogue about these pitfalls, again helpful to swimmers and landlubbers alike.