Swimmer Janet Evans Turns Back Clock

Cute little Janet Evans isn't so little anymore. She's 40 years old, but on Friday, the woman who decades ago was America's darling turned back the clock. At least for a little while.

She won a preliminary heat in the 400-meter freestyle at the Austin Grand Prix with a time that qualified her to compete in the Olympic Trials in advance of the Summer Olympics in London. She will also try to establish another qualifying standard, in the 800 meters, on Sunday.

Now a married mother of two—and old enough to be the mother of some of her opponents—Evans clocked 4 minutes 17.27 seconds, pulling away from a field that didn't challenge her.

Her time, 15th overall, placed her in the Consolation finals for swimmers who finished 9th through 16th. That's where her story took a turn toward reality. 

In the second race, she finished last among eight swimmers, more than a second behind Ashley Twitchell of the Mission Viejo Nadadores. Timed at 4:18.15, Evans was the only swimmer in the championship or consolation finals who failed to improve her time from the prelims.

Eighteen of the 24 swimmers in the evening session finals posted faster times than Evans.

The championship was won by Allison Schmitt (4:05.90), in a time that broke the pool record (4:06.43) Evans set 24 years ago in the 1988 Olympic Trials.

Chloe Sutton of the Nadadores took third in the championship heat.

In the late 1980s, Evans captured America's heart as an ultra-bubbly, toothy-smiled teenager who could swim like the water was on fire.

She won three gold medals in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, and another gold—and silver—in the 1992 games in Barcelona. She retired from swimming after a disappointing performance in the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

She was just a Placentia teenager when she set world records in three events from 1987-89 that went unbroken for the next 18 years.

She entered Friday's meet on the University of Texas campus as the No. 51 seed with a time of 4:22.87, almost 3.5 seconds off the Olympic qualifying standard.

Despite her fade in the Consolation final, she said she still has a lot to be happy about after coming out of retirement in 2010. Her focus on this meet is the 800, so her qualifying in the 400 was a bonus.

Now residing in Laguna Beach, she began training in Huntington Beach out of the Golden West Club in late 2010 with former coach Mark Schubert, and set age-group records in her specialty races last summer.