Dana Vollmer has long had an interest in architecture and design. So when Cal opened its Legend Aquatic Center in the fall of 2016, she decided she needed take a chance.
 
The world-record holder and owner of seven Olympic medals in swimming gathered her nerves and approached the pool's lead architect, Clarence Mamuyac Jr., and introduced herself. Knowing that her swimming career would not last forever, Vollmer saw this as an opportunity to begin a path to the next phase in her life. Not that change was imminent – Vollmer still had another Olympic moment in her – but why pass up the opportunity to get a head start?
 
Now, six years later, Vollmer is retired from swimming and working at ELS Architecture and Urban Design in Berkeley, just a short walk from where she trained to reach the top of the world in her chosen sport. On Friday, Vollmer will be enshrined in the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the eight-member Class of 2019.
 
A couple of months after that first meeting with Mamuyac, who serves as president and CEO of ELS, Vollmer got a call back. She didn't know what to expect other than Mamuyac said he had an idea.
 
"While discussing the new center with her, I was struck by how smart she was, how at ease she was as a mom (she was holding her son, Arlen), how she presented her interest in design, to say nothing of her impressive achievements as an athlete," Mamuyac said. "She was confident, poised and articulate. I was impressed that she was interested in pursuing a career in architecture and was currently studying healthcare interiors and planning. I immediately saw the potential for an interesting collaboration that would bring together the power and experience of Dana's knowledge of competitive swimming with our firm's robust design portfolio of NCAA athletics and aquatics projects."
 
Vollmer soon came on part-time as she continued to train, eventually returning to the Olympics for a third time in 2016 when she earned a bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly, silver in the 400 free relay and gold in the 400 medley relay.
 
Now the mother of two young boys – Arlen, now 4, and Ryker, 2 – Vollmer hung up her goggles over the summer, ending a competitive swimming career that brought her a long list of honors and awards, including 2009 CSCAA National Swimmer of the Year and Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year, eight NCAA individual and relay titles, six world records and 35 international medals. As a senior in 2009, she also led Cal to its first NCAA team championship.
 
Vollmer has since transitioned to spend much of her week at ELS, where she works in the office three days per week and at home once a week.
 
"I don't have a degree in architecture – it's something I'm interested in pursuing," Vollmer said. "But I get amazing hands-on experience, mostly doing business development, going around to different schools and talking to them about their facilities and upgrades and how we can create better aquatics facilities."
 
"Dana brings a value-added perspective to our practice through her own perspective as an Olympian and now as a programmer and designer," Mamuyac said. "She works as a liaison between architects and a range of clients and stakeholders – and our designs are richer because of her participation."
 
As passionate as she is about her new career, Vollmer has made it a point not to spend all of her time absorbed in her work, and she appreciates the flexibility ELS provides to allow her to be with her family and pursue other interests.
 
"I got an offer of full time," Vollmer said. "It was a great situation to be in because I got to think about how I want to set up my day. How much work is that? With swimming, I figured out how much time I wanted to train and how much time I wanted to dedicate and spend time with my boys, which is so incredibly important to me. I didn't want to just retire and be at work all the time. Everybody tells me it goes by really fast. They're 2 and 4, and obviously sometimes it's crazy and stressful and hectic, as every parent knows. But I'm glad I found a balance that works for me."
 
Even with the work-life balance that she desires, Vollmer remains as busy as ever. In addition to her budding career in the architecture field, she is seeking opportunities in public speaking, even taking classes on how she can be better in front of an audience.
 
"I would love to do more on female empowerment," Vollmer said. "I want to talk with working parents, handling the pressures we put on ourselves to be good in the work force, to be good at home with our kids and also deal with mom-guilt of going to work - the time we're not spending with our kids."
 
Vollmer understands that she doesn't have do to it all and be perfect right away. It's a lesson she takes from her coach, Cal Hall of Famer Teri McKeever.
 
"My approach has always been that you are swimming to set you up for the time after you swim," said McKeever, Cal's longtime women's swimming coach. "I think she's realized that having two kids are a lot more challenging than one. The architecture position has given her a way to stay connected (to swimming) but at a different level that she enjoys."
 
Vollmer hasn't quite figured out how to manage all the elements in her life and do them all well yet. But given her level of ambition – one that helped take to the very top of the swimming world – don't be surprised when she does in the very near future.