Editing Janet Evans

{{short description|American swimmer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name           = Janet Evans
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|list=[[OLY]]}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://olympians.org/woa/leadership/ |title=WOA Leadership |website=[[World Olympians Association]] |access-date=August 16, 2021}}</ref>
| image          = Janet Evans takes the Pool Safely Pledge.jpg
| image_size     = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| alt            = 
| caption        = Evans in 2014
| fullname       = Janet Beth Evans
| spouse         = Bill Willson
| nicknames      = 
| national_team  = United States
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1971|8|28|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Fullerton, California]], U.S.
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = 5 ft 5 in
| weight         = 119 lb
| website        = 
| strokes        = [[Freestyle swimming|Freestyle]], [[medley swimming|individual medley]]
| club           = Fullerton Aquatics<br>Golden West Swim Club<br>Trojan SC
| collegeteam    = [[Stanford Cardinal|Stanford University]]
| coach          = Bud McAllister (FAST)<br>[[Richard Quick]] (Stanford)<br>[[Mark Schubert]]<br>(Texas AC)(Trojan SC)
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalCount|total=yes|[[Swimming at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]|4|1|0 
|[[FINA World Aquatics Championships|World Championships (LC)]]|3|1|1
|[[FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|World Championships (SC)]]|2|0|0
|[[Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|Pan Pacific Championships]]|12|2|0 
}} 
{{MedalSport|Women's [[Swimming (sport)|Swimming]]}} 
{{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}} 
{{MedalCompetition|[[Swimming at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
[[File:Olympic rings.svg|center|80px]]
{{MedalGold|{{GamesName|SOG|1988|Swimming}}|[[Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|{{GamesName|SOG|1988|Swimming}}|[[Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|{{GamesName|SOG|1988|Swimming}}|[[Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre individual medley|400 m medley]]}}
{{MedalGold|{{GamesName|SOG|1992|Swimming}}|[[Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver|{{GamesName|SOG|1992|Swimming}}|[[Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FINA World Aquatics Championships|World Championships (LC)]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1991 World Aquatics Championships|1991 Perth]]|[[Swimming at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1991 World Aquatics Championships|1991 Perth]]|[[Swimming at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1994 World Aquatics Championships|1994 Rome]]|[[Swimming at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1991 World Aquatics Championships|1991 Perth]]|[[Swimming at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1994 World Aquatics Championships|1994 Rome]]|[[Swimming at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle|4 x 200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|World Championships (SC)]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|1993 Palma]]|[[1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|1993 Palma]]| [[1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|Pan Pacific Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1987 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1987 Brisbane]]|[[1987 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1987 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1987 Brisbane]]|[[1987 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre individual medley|400 m medley]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1989 Tokyo]]|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1989 Tokyo]]|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1989 Tokyo]]|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre individual medley|400 m medley]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1989 Tokyo]]|[[1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4x200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1991 Edmonton]]|[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1991 Edmonton]]|[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1991 Edmonton]]|[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4x200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1993 Kobe]]|[[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1993 Kobe]]|[[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1993 Kobe]]|[[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4x200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1987 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1987 Brisbane]] |[[1987 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1991 Edmonton]] |[[1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
}}

'''Janet Beth Evans''' (born August 28, 1971) is an American former competition swimmer who swam from 1989 to 1992 for Stanford University and specialized in distance freestyle events.  Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals in the 400 and 800-meter freestyle events at the [[1988 Summer Olympics|1988]] and the [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992]] Olympics.  In the late 1980s Evans was the first woman to hold three world records simultaneously in the 400, 800, and 1500-meter freestyle and was the first American woman to win four individual Olympic gold medals in swimming.<ref name=ishof/><ref name=landmark>{{cite web|url=https://www.aquaticsintl.com/awards/the-power-25-janet-evans_o|title=Thill, Gary, The Power 25:Janet Evans|website=aquaticsintl.com|access-date=12 November 2024}}</ref>

== Career ==
=== Early career ===
Born in [[Fullerton, California]], Evans grew up in neighboring [[Placentia, California|Placentia]], where she started swimming competitively by the age of 5.<ref name=Coaches/>  By the age of 11, she was setting national age group records in distance events.  She swam as a teenager for Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team  (FAST Swimming)  where her most influential coach in the mid-1980's was Bud McAllister.<ref>[http://www.fastswimming.net Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team web site], Accessed September 21, 2016.</ref>

In 1987, at age 15, Evans broke the world records in the [[World record progression 400 metres freestyle#Women|400-meter]], [[World record progression 800 metres freestyle#Women|800-meter]], and [[World record progression 1500 metres freestyle#Women|1,500-meter]] freestyle distances.<ref name=ishof/><ref name=Olympedia/>

=== High school ===
She graduated from [[El Dorado High School (Placentia, California)|El Dorado High School]], and when not competing or representing FAST, she swam meets and trained with El Dorado High, where she was coached by Tom Milich, a 1987 California Swimming Coach of the Year, and an American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Distinguished Coach of the Year.<ref name=Coaches>Coaches McAllister and Milich in DiGiovanna, Mike, She Who Laughs Last", ''The Los Angeles Times'', Los Angeles, California, 12 July 1986, pg. 77</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.ocregister.com/2010-07-11/sports/24631592_1_swimmer-evans-janet-evans-meter |title=Swimmer Evans joins High School Hall of Fame |newspaper=The Orange County Register |author=Marcia C. Smith |date=July 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723011343/http://articles.ocregister.com/2010-07-11/sports/24631592_1_swimmer-evans-janet-evans-meter |archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref>

=== College ===
==== Stanford University ====
Evans attended [[Stanford University]], where she swam for the [[Stanford Cardinal]] swimming and diving team from 1989 to 1991 under Stanford's Hall of Fame Women's Head Coach [[Richard Quick]].<ref name=SFGate_20070310>{{cite news|accessdate=
|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/10/MNGDGOJ2OV1.DTL
|title=Stanford swim coach pulled from job; Kenney suspended for erasing records of 5 of his athletes|first=Tom |last=FitzGerald |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=March 10, 2007}}</ref> At Stanford, she received the [[Honda Sports Award]] for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year in 1988–89.<ref>Collegiate Women Sports Awards, [http://www.collegiatewomensportsawards.com/archives/swimdive Past Honda Sports Award Winners for Swimming & Diving].  Retrieved December 3, 2014.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.stanford.edu/thedish/2010/04/02/olympian-julia-smit-wins-honda-sports-award-for-swimming/ |title=Olympian Julia Smit wins Honda Sports Award for swimming {{!}} The Dish|publisher=Stanford News |website=news.stanford.edu|language=en|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref> At Stanford, Evans was an All-American eight times, dominating  distance events. She captured all the 500 free and 1650 free events in both 1990 and 1991, and in 1990 also captured a 400 IM title. She also took two national titles in the 800 free relay during those seasons.<ref>"{{cite web|url=https://gostanford.com/news/2021/11/09/100-greatest-of-all-time|title=Stanford University, 100 Greatest of All Time, Janet Evans|website=gostanford.com|access-date=12 November 2024}}</ref><ref>Swam for Richard Quick at Stanford in "Evans, Biondi Lead", ''The Desert Sun'', Palm Springs, California, 24 July 1992, pg. 25</ref>

==== University of Southern California ====
When the NCAA placed weekly hours limits on athletic training time, she quit the Stanford swim team to focus full time on training.  She began training at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] the Texas Aquatic Club around 1992 under Coach [[Mark Schubert]] who helped prepare her for 1992 Olympic competition. Schubert served as Head women's coach in the 1992 Olympics, where Evans excelled. After enrolling for the Spring semester in 1993, Evans graduated from the [[University of Southern California]] with a bachelor's degree in communications in 1994, where Mark Schubert had moved and continued his coaching career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.teamusa.com/hall-of-fame/hall-of-fame-members/janet-evans|title=USA Swimming, Janet Evans, Athlete Bio|website=teamusa.com|access-date=12 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A12F83F5D0C728EDDA10894DC494D81 |title=Swimming – Evans Becomes Older, Wiser, Taller, Heavier and, Best of All, Happier |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Frank Litsky |date=August 21, 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usaswimming.org/docs/default-source/eventsdocuments/rosters/olympics/olympic-coaches-historic.pdf|title=Olympic Swimming Head Coaches 1924-Present|website=usaswimming.org|access-date=12 November 2024}}</ref>  At USC, Evans trained under Schubert, worked out with the USC team and the Trojan Swim Club, and served as a student Assistant Coach for two seasons for the USC Women's swim team.  She could not compete for USC, however, because she had accepted commercial endorsements in Spring, 1991 after her Sophomore season at Stanford.<ref>"USC's Women Swimmers", ''The Los Angeles Times'', Los Angeles, California, 15 February 1944, pg. 42</ref><ref>Could not swim on college teams after 1992 in "Swimming, Piccotte Fast", ''The Los Angeles Times'', Los Angeles, California, 30 November 1992, pg. 49</ref>

==Olympics==

===1988 Olympics===
At the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] in Seoul, South Korea, she won three individual gold medals in the 400 and 800-meter freestyle and the 400-meter Individual Medley. At the games, she earned the nickname "Miss Perpetual Motion" due to her unique swimming style.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.times-olympics.co.uk/communities/swimming/swimminghistory.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20001210174400/http://www.times-olympics.co.uk/communities/swimming/swimminghistory.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2000-12-10 |title=News UK |publisher=Times-olympics.co.uk |access-date=2017-04-25}}</ref> In these Olympics, Evans set a new world record in the 400-meter freestyle event. This record stood for 18 years until France's [[Laure Manaudou]] broke it in May 2006.<ref name=Olympedia>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51014|title=Olympedia bio, Janet Evans|website=olympedia.org|access-date=11 November 2024}}</ref>

Evans held the 1,500-meter freestyle record, set in March 1988, through June 2007, when it was broken by American [[Kate Ziegler]] with her time of 15:42.54.<ref name=Olympedia/>

Evans held the world record in the 800-meter freestyle, 8:16:22, that she set in August 1989, until it was broken by [[Rebecca Adlington]] of Britain in August 2008.  Adlington set the new record with her time of 8:14.10 in winning the race at the [[2008 Summer Olympics]].  Evans's 800-meter record was one of the longest-standing ones ever in swimming, and it went unbroken through four Olympic Games (1992–2004). Only the 100-meter freestyle swimming record set by the Dutch swimmer [[Willy den Ouden]] stood longer—from 1936 through 1956, during a period when international competition was interrupted by world war.<ref name=Olympedia/>

Following her 1988 Olympics performance, Evans continued to dominate the world's long-distance swimming competitions, remaining undefeated in all of the 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle events for over five years.<ref name=ishof/>

===1992 Olympics===
Evans became the first woman to capture back-to-back Olympic and world championship titles in any one swimming event by winning the 1988 and 1992 Olympic gold medals and the 1991 and 1994 world championships in the 800-meter freestyle race.  At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, she won a silver in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:07.37, taking second, and finished about .2 seconds behind German swimmer [[Dagmar Hase]], whom she led for almost the entire competition but was narrowly caught at the end. Evans had held the record in the 400 since the 1988 Olympics, but her times in the event had been continually slowing.  At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, she also won a gold in the 800-meter freestyle in 8:25.52, another signature distance event, finishing nearly 5 seconds ahead of Australia's Haley Lewis.<ref name=Olympedia/><ref name=success/><ref name=ishof/>

Evans won the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle events at the U.S. National Championships 12 times each, the largest number of national titles in one event by an American swimmer in the 100-year history of the competition.<ref name=ishof/>

===1996 Olympics===
Evans ended her swimming career, for all practical purposes, at the [[1996 Summer Olympics]] in Atlanta, Georgia. She did not win any medals, but she did add one more highlight to her life.  She was given the honour of carrying the Olympic torch in the opening ceremony, handing it to the American boxing legend [[Muhammad Ali]] who lit the Olympic cauldron.<ref name=Olympedia/>

On July 27, 1996, she was in a building being interviewed by a German newsman when [[Centennial Olympic Park bombing|a bomb]] exploded nearby. The explosion very lightly shook the building and startled Evans. The incident traumatized her so much that she had a panic attack the next day while waiting for a train in an Atlanta subway station.<ref name=success>{{cite web |title=Evans' success stood test of time |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2008/06/03/evans-success-stood-test-of-time/ |date= June 3, 2008 |publisher=[[Orange County Register]] |access-date=May 12, 2022}}</ref>

In 1996 Olympic heats, Evans finished ninth in the preliminaries of the 400-meter freestyle.  She did not qualify for the finals, as only the top eight finishers advance to the next level.  In the final swim of her career, Evans finished in sixth place in the 800-meter freestyle.<ref name=Olympedia/>

At the 1996 Atlanta Games, American swimming officials criticized Ireland's [[Michelle Smith]] about her unexpected gold medals,<ref>{{cite web |title=Speedo USA - Janet Evans Olympic Gold Medalist |url=https://socialbilitty.com/2014/03/janet-evans-olympic-gold-medalist/ |date=March 13, 2014 |publisher=Socialbilitty.com|access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref> suggesting that she might have been using performance-enhancing drugs.  When asked about the accusations, Evans said that when anyone like Smith showed such a significant improvement, "there's always that question."  American sportswriters sympathetic to Smith took this comment to mean that Evans was accusing Smith of steroid use as well,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Under Suspicion After Winning Three Gold Medals In Atlanta, Irish Swimmer Michelle Smith Should Be A Big Star--But Too Many People Believe That Her Victories Were Drug-Aided |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1997/04/14/8113121/under-suspicion-after-winning-three-gold-medals-in-atlanta-irish-swimmer-michelle-smith-should-be-a-big-starbut-too-many-people-believe-that-her-victories-were-drugaided |date=April 14, 1997 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref> and they attacked Evans as being a sore loser.  Evans later insisted that she meant no such accusation and that her remarks were taken out of context.  In 1998, Smith received a four-year suspension for tampering with a urine sample.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/the-con-of-michelle-smith-how-the-irish-lass-cheated-the-swimming-world/ |title=The Con of Michelle Smith: How the Irish Lass Cheated the Swimming World |work=Swimming World Magazine |last=Lohn |first=John |date=July 10, 2021 |access-date=August 25, 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518132732/https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/the-con-of-michelle-smith-how-the-irish-lass-cheated-the-swimming-world/ |archive-date=May 18, 2021 }}</ref>

===2012 Olympic trials===
In June 2011, it was reported that Evans was in the process of a comeback and had been training for six months with the goal of competing at the [[2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming)|2012 U.S. Olympic Trials]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2011-06-12-Janet-Evans-comeback_n.htm |title=Janet Evans setting records in comeback attempt |last=Michaelis |first=Vicki |date=June 12, 2011 |work=USA Today |access-date=June 17, 2011}}</ref> At the 2012 Olympic Trials, at the age of 40, she finished 80th out of 113 swimmers in the 400-meter freestyle<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/summer/2012/swimming/story/_/id/8098878/janet-evans-fails-reach-400-freestyle-final-us-olympic-swimming-trials |title=Janet Evans fails to reach 400 freestyle final at U.S. Olympic swimming trials |publisher=Espn.go.com |date=2012-06-26 |access-date=2017-04-25}}</ref> and 53rd out of 65 swimmers in the 800-meter freestyle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/summer/2012/swimming/story/_/id/8116175/janet-evans-40-misses-800-qualifying-ending-comeback |title=2012 Olympics - Janet Evans, 40, misses 800 qualifying, ending comeback |publisher=Espn.go.com |date=2012-06-30 |access-date=2017-04-25}}</ref>

At the end of Evans's swimming career, she held seven world records, five Olympic medals (including four gold medals), and 45 American national titles – third only to [[Tracy Caulkins]] and [[Michael Phelps]]. She was the first American woman to win four individual Olympic gold medals in swimming.<ref name=ishof>{{cite web|url=https://ishof.org/honoree/honoree-janet-evans/|title=Janet Evans, Honor Swimmer, International Swimming Hall of Fame|website=ishof.org|access-date=11 November 2024}}</ref>

== Other activities ==
In 2010, Evans returned to competitive swimming as a [[Masters swimming|United States Masters swimmer]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/25511.asp |title=Distance Superstar Janet Evans Returning to Competitive Swimming in Masters |magazine=Swimming World Magazine |date=November 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829144139/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/25511.asp |archive-date=August 29, 2012}}</ref>

On November 3, 2016, Evans was chosen to serve as co-Grand Marshal of the 2017 [[Rose Parade]].

Evans served as Vice Chair and Athletes director for the [[Los Angeles bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics|Los Angeles 2024]] Olympic bid committee and traveled with the team to promote [[Los Angeles]] as a candidate city.<ref>https://la24.org/team {{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Los Angeles was ultimately awarded the [[2028 Summer Olympics]] at the [[131st IOC Session]] in [[Lima]], [[Peru]], on September 13, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wharton |first1=David |title=Los Angeles makes deal to host 2028 Summer Olympics |url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-2028-olympics-deal-20170731-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=July 31, 2017 |access-date=July 31, 2017}}</ref> As of 2020, Evans works with the organizing committee for the 2028 Summer Olympics in the executive leadership role of chief athlete officer.<ref>NBCLosAngeles.com (Sept. 2020) https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/olympic-swimmer-janet-evans-talks-about-la28-emblem/2421965/</ref>

As of August 2019, Evans works as chief athlete officer for the [[2028 Summer Olympics]] organizing committee.<ref>https://www.linkedin.com/in/janet-evans-oly-88b179174/ {{Self-published source|date=June 2022}}</ref>

==Swim style and technique==
Evans was known for her unorthodox "windmill" stroke and her cardio-respiratory reserves. She had a higher stroke count than many distance swimmers, taking 55 strokes per 50 meters, when other distance swimmers took closer to 40.  Her endurance was at least partly a product of her training. In July 1986, at the height of her training, she was reputed to have often completed as much as 13,000 meters in a day of workouts, the equivalent of 8 miles.<ref name=Coaches/> Slight of build and short of stature, she more than once found herself competing and winning against bigger and stronger athletes, some of whom were subsequently found to have been using performance-enhancing drugs.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=EXCLUSIVE: Janet Evans on Fighting the Good Fight |url=https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/exclusive-janet-evans-on-fighting-the-good-fight/ |date=May 3, 2005 |magazine=[[Swimming World]] |access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref>

==Honors==
Janet Evans was the 1989 recipient of the [[James E. Sullivan Award]] as the top amateur athlete in the United States. She was named the Female World Swimmer of the Year by ''[[Swimming World Magazine]]'' in 1987, 1989, and 1990. In 1988, as a junior in high school, she was recognized as a "Rising Star" by the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.<ref name="1988latimes">{{cite news | title = 88 for 1988: Meet Southern California's Rising Stars | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = 10 January 1988 | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-10-tm-34881-story.html | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191019161449/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-10-tm-34881-story.html | archive-date = 19 October 2019}}</ref> Evans was inducted into the [[International Swimming Hall of Fame]] as an "Honor Swimmer" in 2001.<ref name=ishofprofile>{{cite web |url=http://www.ishof.org/janet-evans-(usa).html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124607/http://www.ishof.org/janet-evans-(usa).html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |title=Janet Evans (USA) |website=ISHOF.org |publisher=[[International Swimming Hall of Fame]] |access-date=March 16, 2015}}</ref> In 1995, Evans was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usc.edu/we-are-usc/the-university/our-history/olympic-heritage/|title=USC, Olympic Heritage|website=usc.edu|access-date=11 November 2024}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Evans married Bill Willson in Long Beach in 2004, with whom she has two children.<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott M. |last=Reid |title=Janet Evans, 40, swims for another Olympics |newspaper=[[The Orange County Register]] |page=9 |date=June 9, 2012 |access-date=November 3, 2016 |url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/evans-357465-kind-olympic.html}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame]]
* [[List of multiple Olympic gold medalists]]
* [[List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)]]
* [[List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)]]
* [[World record progression 400 metres freestyle]]
* [[World record progression 800 metres freestyle]]
* [[World record progression 1500 metres freestyle]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308220344/https://www.janetevans.com/ |date=March 8, 2022 |title=Official website (archived)}}
* [https://ishof.org/honoree/honoree-janet-evans/ Janet Evans (USA)] – [[International Swimming Hall of Fame]] 
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{IMDb name|1020466}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box
| before = <br />[[Tracey Wickham]]<br />[[Anke Möhring]]
| title = [[World record progression 800 metres freestyle|Women's 800-meter freestyle<br />world record-holder (long course)]]
| years = July 27, 1987 – August 19, 1987<br />March 22, 1988 – August 16, 2008
| after = <br />[[Anke Möhring]]<br />[[Rebecca Adlington]]
| rec
}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Kim Linehan]]
| title = [[World record progression 1500 metres freestyle|Women's 1,500-meter freestyle<br />world record-holder (long course)]]
| years = July 31, 1987 – June 17, 2007
| after = [[Kate Ziegler]]
| rec
}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Tracey Wickham]]
| title = [[World record progression 400 metres freestyle|Women's 400-meter freestyle<br />world record-holder (long course)]]
| years = December 20, 1987 – May 12, 2006
| after = [[Laure Manaudou]]
| rec
}}
{{s-ach}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Swimming World Swimmers of the Year|''Swimming World''<br />World Swimmer of the Year]]
| before = <br />[[Kristin Otto]]<br />[[Kristin Otto]]
| after = <br />[[Kristin Otto]]<br />[[Krisztina Egerszegi]]
| years = 1987<br />1989–1990
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Swimming World Swimmers of the Year|''Swimming World''<br />American Swimmer of the Year]]
| before = [[Mary T. Meagher]]
| after = [[Summer Sanders]]
| years = 1987–1991
}}
{{s-end}}
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{{Sullivan Award winners}}
{{Honda Sports Award}}
{{Pac-12 Conference Swimmer of the Year navbox}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Janet}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American female freestyle swimmers]]
[[Category:American female medley swimmers]]
[[Category:World record setters in swimming]]
[[Category:James E. Sullivan Award recipients]]
[[Category:Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Fullerton, California]]
[[Category:Stanford Cardinal women's swimmers]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:University of Southern California alumni]]
[[Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]