A few blogs reported through sources (read: wild imaginations) that Amanda Beard and Michael Phelps hooked up / are dating. This video may be evidence to the contrary. Amanda called into the Johnjay and Rich show to deny the rumors. Her exact words were, “eww, eww, eww, eww,” and “C’mon, I have really good taste.”

Oh, I know, right? Michael Phelps is a goofy looking bastard and Amanda is a Greek goddess. Why would she ever willingly, without a gun to her head, date a guy (eight time gold medal winner in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, fourteen overall) who’s so obviously beneath her (two career gold medals). She’s Aphrodite incarnate.

Olympic swimmer, Amanda Beard, is the latest in celebrities to pose naked for PETA’s “I rather go naked then wear fur” campaign. Here she is naked, trying to stay afloat in a puddle of water. Such heart. Such determination. Don’t let that puddle win. We don’t negotiate with puddles! And so on and so forth. Full version at PETA.

It is a widely known fact that if you send me pictures of a girl in a bikini I’ll probably post it because I have nothing better to do with my time. That’s pretty much the back story for these pictures of Amanda Beard from Six Degrees magazine. The Wikipedia entry that came with the email says Amanda is an Olympic swimmer and model. So shooting her in a bikini and in water makes sense I suppose. Personally, I would have photographed her being attacked by a bear, but whatever.