Running the Race
Oklahoma native chases her dream By Kaylan Goodwin W
hen asked to describe Dr. Amanda Stevens, every person interviewed unanimously chose ‘driven’ to describe the Oklahoma native. With Stevens’ re- cord—a former high school all-American and col-
legiate swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials competitor, Ironman champion and certified medical doctor—this comes as no surprise. Through the course of her journey, Stevens’ many paths have led her to the goal of improving the landscape of health and wellness in Oklahoma by fostering a love of sports in children’s lives while helping entire families build lifelong models of health that will ultimately have an impact on generations to come. Born and raised in Enid, Okla., to a fun-loving family of swim- mers, Stevens spent her childhood competing in the water. Most summer days were spent swimming with her siblings in the back- yard pool and taking turns diving for coins their father, Tommy, would throw in. When it started getting dark Tommy would have the siblings draw sticks for who had to get out of the pool first. “Dad had a rule that nothing stayed in the bottom of the pool overnight,” Stevens said. “We got the wise idea that we would pull out this bucket full of pennies and dump the whole thing into the water.” When their father came outside that night, the siblings played along until he called the shortest stick and they casually men- tioned there were a few things left at the bottom of the pool. Their idea was successful as they secured a few extra hours in the pool that night. In junior high, Stevens caught the bug for medicine after her first dissection in science class.
“I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” Stevens said. “I went home that night and told my parents I wanted to be a doctor.”
After graduating with a degree in biology and chemistry from
Amanda Stevens, a respected triathlete, is described as “driven.” Photos by Randy Sadler
32
Texas Christian University, Stevens went on to pursue medical school at the University of Oklahoma. “While I was in medical school, swimming remained such a big part of my life both for stress relief and because I genuinely
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