Colorado’s own human fish, the multimedal Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken, has returned to her roots after relocating for a radio gig to Phoenix.
Van Dyken, a six-time Olympic gold-medal winner, grew up in Arapahoe County and graduated from Cherry Creek High School.
She and her husband, former Denver Broncos punter Tom Rouen, have been living and roasting in Phoenix for the past few years.
“If I spent one more summer where it’s 155 degrees outside, I’m going to jump,” Van Dyken told me last week, the day after the couple moved back to Colorado.
The super swimmer gave up a high-profile job as a morning drive-time DJ on 98.7-FM The Peak. She’s back on Colorado airwaves for a sit-in stint this week with Dave Logan on KOA-AM (850) radio.
But Van Dyken says she’s not concerned on the job front because her main mission for returning to the metro area was to help her mom, Becky, care for her dad, Don Van Dyken.
“My dad took a bad fall on Memorial Day, and he needed over 100 stitches,” Van Dyken said. “I felt it’s the right time to come back.”
Rouen, on the other hand, is making it his No. 1 priority to retire as a Denver Bronco. For that to happen, the team would have to sign him for just one day. Rouen’s career with the Broncos lasted nine years before he moved to the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks, where he left the NFL in 2005.
“It’s every former Bronco’s dream to be able to retire as a Bronco,” Van Dyken said.
Pop-up play.
The Keen outdoor-gear company is setting up recess for stressed-out downtown office workers at a “pop-up park” at Skyline Park on the 16th Street Mall from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.
The park features tetherball courts, ladder ball and bean-bag toss, among other games. The area will include an interactive art installation with office furniture covered in moss and grass.
If you make a personal recess pledge to put play in your day, you will receive a free Keen gift.
School spirit.
A variety of Cherry Creek businesses will offer discounts in exchange for donations of school supplies for needy Denver Public Schools students at various stores from Monday through Aug. 12.
Each collection site will have lists of the school supplies that are needed, including wide-rule spiral-bound notebooks, No. 2 pencils, crayons, rulers, scissors, lined paper, blue and red ball-point pens and boxes of tissues.
The community school-supply drive is an annual effort led by Janus, a Cherry Creek-based financial-services firm. For a list of participating businesses, go to communications.dpsk12.org/calendar/7/25/2011/janus-school-supply-drive-kick-off.
Store score.
The Hat Collection, a store selling a variety of women’s and men’s chapeaus, has been added to the collection of retailers on the second floor at the Denver Pavilions on the 16th Street Mall.
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis & Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com
