US Lacrosse Convention Set for January in Baltimore

US Lacrosse has announced Amy Van Dyken Rouen, a six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer, as the keynote speaker at the 2016 US Lacrosse Convention, set for Jan. 22-24 in Baltimore.

Van Dyken Rouen, a member of the International Swimming, Olympic and U.S. Olympic halls of fame, among others, will kick off lacrosse’s largest educational event at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, in the Baltimore Convention Center’s ballroom.

“I am honored US Lacrosse has selected me as the keynote speaker for LaxCon 2016 in Baltimore,” said Van Dyken Rouen. “Perseverance is a lesson I’ve learned well, and I’m looking forward to sharing how important it is for lacrosse coaches and officials to teach that lesson to the sport’s next generation.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Amy Van Dyken Rouen as our keynote speaker,” said Kim Rogers, director of events at US Lacrosse. “Her accomplishments as one of the greatest Olympians of our time speak for themselves, but her inspirational drive to succeed in the wake of her ATV accident will be the message our attendees take with them, probably for the rest of their lives.”

Van Dyken Rouen, who won four gold medals in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and two more in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, severed her spinal cord in an ATV accident in June 2014. The incident left her paralyzed from the waist down. Her quest to resume walking and athletic activities has been chronicled by multiple media outlets, including this feature on NBC as the one-year anniversary of the accident approached:

Van Dyken Rouen’s dazzling performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics earned her numerous awards, including Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, United States Olympic Committee Sports Woman of the Year, Swimming World magazine’s Swimmer of the Year and the ESPY for Female Athlete of the Year. She has graced the cover of Time, Newsweek, USA Today and Sports Illustrated.

Van Dyken Rouen graduated from Colorado State University in 1994, in which she was named NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year. She lives with her husband, former NFL punter Tom Rouen, in Arizona. Since her retirement from swimming, Van Dyken Rouen has hosted a radio show and served as a sideline reporter for the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. She continues to speak to associations and recently founded Amy’s Army, a foundation to help people with spinal cord injuries.

LaxCon drew a record 7,631 attendees in 2015. Under Armour, STX, Nationwide and Buffalo Wild Wings are official sponsors of the US Lacrosse Convention and Fan Fest.