Amanda Beard is ready to swim

BEIJING -- Pretty soon she'll be right there with her new friends from PETA, hurling blood at those clad in fur coats.

Uh, not quite.

Amanda Beard is going to draw the line at nudity. Hers.

"Nothing is showing in the picture. So that's pretty mellow, for me," she said on Thursday at a Speedo function at the Jintai Art Museum inside the bucolic Chaoyang Park.

"I like the photo. I thought it was fun. PETA is a little more risque, a little more out there. I know they can be somewhat in-your-face. That's not me. That's not my tactic."

Her appearance Wednesday just outside the athletes' village was to unveil her provocative poster, which focuses attention on cruelty in the Chinese fur trade. And, no surprise, the Beard story was among the most-viewed ones on newspaper websites around the world.

"I've learned the things that I stand for and I represent, things that I'm passionate for and want to commit my time," she said. "I've always been an animal nut and always been somewhat involved with animal groups. It's just building off that and learning different things. It's been an educational thing for me."

If anything, the mini-controversy has enlivened things in the run-up to the swimming here. Beard, competing in her fourth Olympics, will be in the 200-meter breaststroke. The team's first practice here was on Monday night.

"It's been, like, really boring," Beard said. "You are trying to save your energy and not walk around too much. Between my practices, I have five, six seven hours to just lay there. I get kind of bored watching the same movies."

Let the Games begin.

-- Lisa Dillman

Photo: Swimmer Amanda Beard during a practice at Beijing's National Aquatics Center on August 3, 2008 in Beijing, China. Credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images

Comments

[Dennis Young]

I think the chinese government should deport her, it should all be about the sports not any political agenda, if your there to show you are the best in your sport then do it, do not make the olympics a political event, that will destroy the games and be the sart to the end of the olympics.

[Michael Damen]

Mr. Young: Regardless of whether you prefer that the Olympics remain untouched by the world's events or politics, are you really suggesting that an American who speaks her mind and exercises our most cherished right of free speech should be "deported" by the Chinese??? Are you kidding me? If you' re an American, you should be encouraging her to be the brave and proud American that she is. You should encourage her to say what she wants and be proud that there are still Americans who are not afraid to say what they believe, even when surrounded by gun toting Communists with no respect for human rights (let alone animal rights). The 4th of July wasn't just a celebration of fireworks, it was a celebration of our decison to form a country founded on freedom. And you would have a person who exercises her freedom of speech deported? No sporting event is so important that an athlete should feel afraid to speak her mind. Shame on you.

[American and animal lover]

Let her say anything she wants but let her do so "with her clothes on."
Why run the risk of offending an entire country??? When you are willing to go to extremes to gain attention for your cause and strip in order to create a media frenzy around yourself, you have crossed a line.
The Olympics is about celebrating our mutual gifts and respecting each others individual and common talents. NUDITY is not a talent and shows poor taste on the part of the athlete in question and a lack of respect for the host country.

How many people would show up nude to their neighbors BBQ in order to make a point?

It's just plain rude and tacky.

[Carol]

What an embarrasment to the United States, to have an athlete representing us, showing her naked body, as a guest in China, and to the rest of the world by T.V.
What does that portray American women as? A bunch of prostitutes?
There are better ways, not using the Olympics, to get your point across.
You don't go into another country and push your agenda.
I am one thoroughly embarrassed American. The Olympic committee here should take steps to avoid this in the future.

[judy]

I am so proud of Amanda. A strong athlete that also cares about humane
treatment of animals and protecting them from the fur trade. Right on Amanda.
Keep up the great work. Thanks for raising awareness for innocent animals.

[Rachael_redwhiteNblue]

I think Amanda Beard is doing exactly what she's supposed to be doing. The whole point of having the games in China in the first place was that they were supposed to be an incentive to the Chinese to clean up their act, to improve their record on human rights abuses, on animal protection abuses, on environmental abuses. They have if anything gotten more defensive. The games and which country hosts them are ALL about politics and anyone who says otherwise is completely naive. Amanda is a beautiful intelligent powerful symbol of what all American women should aspire to be. She is my daughter's hero, and I hope that just like Amanda in four years she too can be competing at that level ( ironically also in breast-stroke ). And if my daughter grows up to look like Amanda, and feels that she wants to pose for PETA or some other environmental protection group I will be proud of her beyond belief!!!

[Kelly]

DOGS CRY OUT FOR MERCY IN CHINA - The blood and cries for mercy from thousands of dogs and cats who were brutally tortured, terrorized and murdered by Chinese government reek from the ground on which the Olympics in China take place. "Man's Best Friend" has no friend in China. Disgusting, vile culture - Dogs are mercilessly "produced" and violently killed for fur and consumption in this inhumane land, while humans suffer in unthinkable ways as well. Millions of Chinese citizens were forced to give up their homes in order to make room for the pristine-look of Olympic Celebration. No Celebration for the dogs and cats in China!

[James]

Amanda is doing what she does Best.....Seeking that 15:Minutes of Fame.