NYT - In 2005, [Olympic Swimmer Amanda] Beard began dating the Nascar driver Carl Edwards. Traveling with him on the racecar circuit was hard, and not only because she constantly worried that he was one turn from a fiery crash.
"Not being involved in the competition, it was such a helpless feeling," Beard said. "I couldn't work on the car. I couldn't jump in the car and drive it. All I could do was be supportive. I'm not used to being on that side."
Hanging out with the racing crowd changed how Beard looked at herself as an athlete. "I saw guys in their 50s still racing cars and having fun and it was very interesting to me," she said.
A thought that she had pushed into the back of her mind after Athens came creeping back: She was still young. Why should she retire from swimming if she did not want to?
