Opinion: Ranking the Top 5 Athletes to come out of Arizona

No. 4 - Amanda Beard

Winning one Olympic medal is tough as it is but winning seven (21 if you were to include the World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, etc.) is a whole other level of impressive. 

Coming in at No. 4 on my list would be none other than Amanda Beard. A prolific and elite swimmer who competed in the Olympics as early as 1996, Beard was an accomplished swimmer who won an individual NCAA Division I Championship in 2001 at Arizona before seeing immense success on the national stage. 

Going on to have a lengthy and successful professional career, Beard would go on to win several Olympic medals, even breaking the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke in the 2004 Summer Games. 

Because of her accomplishments, her being on this list is pretty self-explanatory, and in all honesty, you can easily make a case for her being higher on the list in my opinion.