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Unusually slender for
a swimmer at 5-foot-5 and only 102
pounds, Evans dominated the 1987 U.
S. championships by winning four
events, the 400-, 800-, and
1,500-meter freestyle and the
400-meter individual medley. She was
the first woman to break the
16-minute barrier for 1,500 meters.
Evans was one of the stars of the
1988 Seoul Olympics, winning gold
medals in the 400- and 800-meter
freestyle events and the 400-meter
individual medley. Her time of
4:03.85 in the 400-meter freestyle
was a world record...>>>
Book Janet Evans for Your Event
In 1989, Evans won
seven national championships. She
took the 500- and 1,000-yard
freestyle titles and the 400-yard
individual medley at the
short-course nationals, the 400- and
800-meter freestyles and the 200-
and 400-meter medley events at the
long-course nationals.
Those performances
won her the 1989 Sullivan Award as
the country's outstanding amateur
athlete of the year as well as the
U. S. Olympic Committee's
Sportswoman of the Year award.
Swimming for Stanford
University, Evans won the 500- and
1,650-yard freestyle events at the
1990 and 1991 NCAA championships and
she was the 400-yard individual
medley titlist in 1990. However, she
left school in 1991 because of a new
NCAA rule limiting collegiate
swimmers to only 20 hours of
practice a week.
At the 1992 Olympics,
Evans claimed two more medals, a
gold in the 800-meter freestyle and
a silver in the 400-meter. Evans
gave up the individual medley event
in 1993 to focus on her freestyle
swimming. The move paid off in
another string of victories. She won
the 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter
events at the national spring and
summer championships and was also
400- and 800-meter world champion
that year.
She repeated her
triple victories at both national
meets again in 1994, but claimed
only one world championship, in the
800-meter. It was the only victory
for an American woman at the world
meet, which was dominated by the
suddenly emerging Chinese.
Evans began to show
signs of vulnerability in 1995.
After winning the usual three
freestyle races at the national
spring meet, she didn't win anything
at the summer nationals, where her
best finish was a second in the
400-meter.
At her third Olympics
in 1996, Evans didn't come close to
medaling, and she announced her
retirement from competitive swimming
shortly afterward.
>>>
Book Janet Evans for Your Event
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