As part of our feature "What ever happened to . . . " today's spotlight is on former Olympic gold medal swimmer Janet Evans...Evans was born in August 21, 1971 in Placentia, California...a year before the 1988 Olympic games she broke the world records in the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle events....once she arrived in Seoul, Evans won three gold medals and set a new world record in the 400-meter freestyle event - a record that would hold for 18 years...
In 1989 Evans won the Sullivan Award as the nation's top female amateur athlete...in 1992 she won a gold and silver at the Barcelona Olympics...Evans swimming career ended after failing to make the 1996 Olympic team for the Atlanta games...
But she was not out of the spotlight at those games...she once said in an interview that her career highlight took place at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympics when she handed the torch to Muhammad Ali just before he lit the cauldron...she said that she cried after seeing Ali escorted from th
e Olympic stadium...Evans still holds the world record in the 800-meter (8:16.22) which was set in August 1989...it is swimming's longest standing current record...what makes Evans' swimming marks even more remarkable was that she competed against bigger and stronger athletes...however, Evans had an unorthodox asymmetric ("loping") stroke and a strong respiratory system....
Since retiring, Evans ran a marathon and was a motivational speaker...she recently appeared n the reality show Celebrity Circus...she married in 2003 and has a 20 month old baby girl, Sydney...
Enjoy this 8 minute clip of the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 games in Atlanta...
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