Amy Van Dyken-Rouen to Call Cal-USC Women's Swimming for Pac-12 Networks

Former Olympic swimming gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, who has become a symbol of inspiration following an ATV accident in 2014 that left her paralyzed, will make a return to the sports world in the announcer's booth.     

According to a report from Nicole Auerbach of USA Today, Van Dyken-Rouen will call the Jan. 30 women's swimming meet between California and USC. The six-time Olympic gold medalist said in the article that this is a huge moment for her in the recovery process:

"

It makes you feel like a grown up again. It really does. It kind of symbolizes the fact that I am doing really well, and it's only seven months out. That's a tribute to the people I work with on a daily basis, my husband, my friends. They've gotten me ready to go and do this.

I feel really lucky. I feel like I'm a grown-up again. I say when I drive my car, I don't feel paralyzed. When I get in the booth, I won't feel paralyzed. I'll get right back to feeling 'normal,' which is really all I'm aiming for right now.

"

In addition to getting back to work, Van Dyken-Rouen has also been using her status as an Olympic athlete to talk about how her life has changed since suffering the life-threatening injuries more than six months ago.

She wrote a first-person piece for Today.com in December about how she approaches life now:

"

I’m on borrowed time, and I know this for sure now. I wasn’t supposed to be here for this day, so I make it the best day I can. I have no time or room for an entire day to be a "bad day." I will have bad moments, but to waste an entire day on it isn’t worth it. How would I have felt if my day before my accident was a "bad day" and I didn’t pull through? 

"

Whether Van Dyken-Rouen is able to turn this one-time announcing event into a future career or if it ends on Friday remains to be seen.

One thing that's certain, though, is that this occasion is a great step forward for the 41-year-old former athlete.