Janet Evans took another step forward in her comeback to the sport of swimming. Evans is known as one of the greatest female distance freestyle swimmers of all time. She previously competed at the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, and 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Evans won a total of four gold and one silver medal in her first two Olympics before a less successful showing in Atlanta. Evans held world records in the 400 and 800 meter freestyle races during her reign at the top of the swimming world. She is also remembered for being the torch bearer in Atlanta, the last Olympic games to take place in the United States.
Evans began her comeback in the summer of 2011 with hopes to qualify for the 2012 Olympic trials and earn a spot on the Olympic team once again. She began competing in masters competitions in June of 2011 and throughout that summer. From January 13-15 she competed along with several other swimming stars in the Austin Grand Prix. This was the first competition since her return where Evans competed against some of the top young competition in the country.
On the first day of the competition, Evans qualified for the Olympic trials in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of four minutes, 17.27 seconds. She won the opening heat and made the consolation final in the event at the Grand Prix. Evans finished the race 16th overall with a time of four minutes, 18.15 seconds and was 13 seconds behind the winner, Allison Schmitt. Schmitt won the race in four minutes, 5.90 seconds and was well ahead of the rest of the competition. This leaves a lot of room for improvement if Evans plans to qualify for the Olympic team next summer. In swimming only the top two finishers in an individual race qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.
On the final day of the Austin Grand Prix, Evans achieved another Olympic trial qualifying time in the 800 meter freestyle. She finished eleventh overall with a time of eight minutes, 49.05 seconds. She was still 17 seconds behind the winner in this event.
Even if she doesn’t end up qualifying for the London Olympic team, Evans’ return has already been a great success. At 40 years old, she is doing something that is very difficult, especially at distance races. Dara Torres has had a very successful comeback at an even older age but Torres largely competes in just the 50 meter sprint freestyle race now. Evans is attempting to race both the 400 and 800 meter freestyles.
Fans of the sport enjoy seeing Evans succeed and will be cheering for her as she continues her quest toward the 2012 Olympic trials. It would make a great story if she were to make the team and one the swimming world would greatly enjoy seeing.
Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and grew up both competing and coaching in the sport of swimming. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.