Amanda grew up in Houston, TX as a very active child. In addition to her hobbies of rollerblading, bicycling, and climbing trees, she swam summer league from the age of 6 and played soccer. In sixth grade, she decided to give up soccer to swim for a US Swimming club (Bayou Elite) year-round.

The transition to high school brought a new coach, Bill Malchow, as well as two-a-day practices and weight workouts. Towards the end of high school, Amanda became a specialist in the 50 yd Freestyle (short course PR: 25.16) and 200 yd Backstroke (short course PR: 2:11.72), qualifying for the state age group meet, TAGS, in her junior and senior years.

Encouraged by her father, who ran marathons when she was growing up, she also tried her hand a few short road races, as well as a couple of sprint triathlons during her high school years. When she entered Rice University, she initially wanted to try out for the swim team, but after meeting with cross-country coach, Jim Bevan, decided to walk on to the cross-country and track teams instead. She was plagued with shin splints her first two years, but made big improvements throughout her junior and senior years. By the end of her last cross-country season at Rice, she had worked her way onto the traveling team. On the track, she specialized in the 1500, running 4:49 her senior year.

Amanda’s decision to enroll as a PhD student in the Bioengineering Program at UC, San Diego brought her into a new distance running program for her final year of eligibility. Under Ted VanArsdale, she played a large role in qualifying the team for the 2003 Division II Cross-Country Nationals. Her final track season was disrupted by a variety of injuries.

In June 2004, Amanda’s injuries had improved, and she began training with the UCSD Triathlon team under coach Sergio Borges. She raced successfully for one year winning both the Collegiate National Championships and Wildflower Olympic distance races. She became a pro in June of 2005.