Janet Evans biography

 Janet Evans biography

Janet Evans, (born August 28, 1971, Placentia, California, U.S.), American swimmer, thought-about by many to be the best distance freestyler of all time, who gained 4 Olympic gold medals. She was the primary swimmer in historical past to win back-to-back Olympic and world championship titles in the identical occasion: the 800-metre freestyle (Olympics: 1988, 1992; world championship: 1991, 1994).

In 1987, at age 15, Evans gained 4 gold medals on the U.S. nationwide championships and set three world data. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, she gained gold medals within the 400-metre particular person medley, the 400-metre freestyle (setting a world file), and the 800-metre freestyle (setting an Olympic file). After the 1988 Games she continued to set world data, profitable seven nationwide championships in 1989. Competing for Stanford University in 1990 and 1991, Evans continued to dominate American swimming, profitable the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle occasions on the collegiate championships each years. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, she gained a gold medal within the 800-metre freestyle and a silver medal within the 400-metre freestyle. The 1996 Games in Atlanta was her third consecutive Olympics—a uncommon feat in swimming. Evans subsequently stopped competing. In 2012, nonetheless, she tried a comeback as a way to compete on the London Olympics, however she didn't qualify for the U.S. group.

Evans, a pure athlete who swam in her first competitors at age 4, was famend for her agility and dedication to the game. In 1988 she grew to become the primary lady to interrupt the 16-minute barrier for the 1,500-metre freestyle (15 min 52.1 sec). Her time would have gained the gold medal within the males’s 1,500-metre freestyle on the 1968 Olympic Games. She was awarded the Sullivan Award in 1989 because the excellent American newbie athlete.