The measure of an Olympian
Janet Evans says grace through adversity is true test of a champion

By JOHN LAVELLE
Reporter Contributor

Although she had won four gold medals and a silver at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics, swimmer Janet Evans says she did not really understand what being an Olympian meant until the 1996 games in Atlanta, where she placed sixth.

Evans, the keynote speaker at the 10th annual UB Girls and Women in Sports Breakfast on Feb. 4, told those attending the breakfast that the Atlanta Olympics will always be her favorite because it was there that she truly became a champion. A champion, she said, "is having discipline in the traditional way, but also to believe in oneself, to have class and grace through adversity."

Evans had been chosen by the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team to carry the Olympic flame to Mohammed Ali, who lit the torch before 60,000 spectators and 1 billion television viewers at the games' opening ceremony. She said that at that moment, as Ali lit the torch and she looked out over the thousands of athletes, she understood that although some of them would place last in their events, "it didn't make them losers, did it? That made them champions because they were there trying their hardest, doing their best, representing their families and their countries and their friends, who loved them. And that was it."

Evans began swimming at the age of 18 months at the local YMCA. "I never remember not swimming," she said, noting that she had competed in local swim meets because her brothers competed before her.

But it was when she and her parents attended the 1980 Olympics in Los Angeles that she decided to compete for a place on the Olympic team. Fulfilling this goal meant years of starting the day with swim practice at 4:15 a.m. until it was time for school, and then swimming another three hours after school.

Competing in Seoul in 1988 at the age of 17, she said she discovered that even though the East German team had dominated women's swimming, "it was not the best, fastest or most talented that prevailed, but the most motivated."

It would be motivation-or the lack of it-that would dog her for the rest of her career in swimming, she said, noting that she quit the sport several times, only to return to try again.

Evans-who had been considered the chief contender for a medal for the U.S. swim team in Seoul-won three gold medals in those games, breaking her own world record in the 400m freestyle and setting a new Olympic record in the 800m freestyle. In Barcelona, she won a gold medal in the 800m freestyle and a silver in the 400m freestyle.

She said that before the Seoul games, she had met seven-time gold-medal winner Mark Spitz, who had asked her what it meant to be an Olympian.

She said that she had told him that it meant "you get free clothes. You get free trips to Hawaii. You get to go to Disneyland. You get to cut in line and I get to put 'I'm an Olympian' on every single job application and college resume I ever fill out."

But, she said, Spitz had promised her that one day he would ask her that question again. And when she saw him while boarding a plane after the Atlanta games, she said she finally understood what being an Olympian meant.

Evans retired from swimming after the 1996 Olympics and now travels around the country giving motivational speeches. She also serves as a volunteer coach for the University of Southern California women's swimming team.

The UB Girls and Women in Sports Breakfast was held to honor athletes of all ages on the 13th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

In addition to Evans, other speakers at the breakfast-which featured the theme "All Girls Allowed"-included Lisa Hedges, a local amateur boxer who spoke on having the courage to stand alone. Tracey Britton, a member of the varsity soccer team, was honored as outstanding senior athlete. UB athletic trainer Sue Rocque received the Recognition Award as a member of the UB community who has helped to forward women's athletics.