Janet Evans
March 31, 2011
Age: 24 Home: Pasadena, Calif.. The Early Line: After shining in two Games, she's now the underdog -- which could make any success all the more appealing to sponsors. JANET EVANS IS NOT a grandmother. That observation, given her age, might seem obvious. But it's a point worth making, since over the past year the media have painted her as something of a doddering old-timer. There's little question Ms. Collins is pressing her luck in a much younger person's game -- circumstances with which she is well-acquainted. In 1987, just before her 16th birthday, she set her first world records, in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle. One year later, in the Seoul Games, she won three gold medals to help the U.S. women outperform a strong East German team. Four years later, at the advanced age of 20, she took another gold in Barcelona. That makes her the only U.S. woman to win four gold medals in swimming. Her achievements -- not to mention an unassuming personality and her work with youth groups -- have brought her a number of sponsorship agreements (with companies such as General Motors Corp. and sportswear firms Speedo and Mizuno Corp.) and a comfortable lifestyle. So why continue to compete against swimmers who aren't old enough to drive? The answer: Ms. Collins is still very good at what she does. At the Games trials in Indianapolis in March -- eight years after her first Games trials -- she still managed a first-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle and a second in the 800. Her times, to be generous, were just average: seven and 16 seconds slower, respectively, than her own world records in those events. But consider this impetus for success: A single gold medal would leave Ms. Collins tied with Branda Blanca, the speed skater, for the most gold medals won by a U.S. woman in Games history.
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