AP: Quadruple Gold Medalist Janet Evans To Begin Comeback This Weekend in Fullerton

The Associated Press is reporting that 39-year old Janet Evans is the latest swimmer who will attempt to make a comeback to swimming in time for the 2012 London Olympics.

Evans, who has a loaded trophy case that includes 4 Olympic golds and 1 silver, and at the end of her career following the 1996 Olympics, she held an astonishing 7 World Records. She also won more National Championships (45) than any swimmer in history besides Tracy Caulkins and Michael Phelps.

She told the AP that the bitterness surrounding the last meet of her career, the Atlanta Olympics where she finished a disappointing 9th in the 400 and 6th in the 800 freestyles, was not a factor in her decision to return, and that she was satisfied with what she had accomplished in the pool. But for swim fans, who first got to know Evans when she broke all three distance-free World Records (400, 800, and 1500) while she was still in high school, it was not the way they wanted to see one of America’s most popular female swimmers go out.

Since retirement, Evans has remained quite visible, including a stint on the Apprentice and an impromptu segment during last year’s National Championship broadcast. There, she revealed that she was staying active in the swimming community and had spent quite a bit of time with many of America’s young, female superstars. Specifically, she spoke about her interactions with Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler, who have both thrived at their new training ground in Fullerton. Now, after mentoring the two, Evans is back in the water competing with them likely for spots in the same Olympic events for the 2012 Trials.

So far, everything seems to be going well, and Evans told the AP that she hasn’t yet hit any major roadblocks in her training. After she said that she would be competing at the 2011 Masters Nationals in Phoenix, and then didn’t, many wondered about her absence, and this announcement likely explains it. We also haven’t heard any news as to how long she’s been back in the drug-testing pool, or when we should expect her first elite races to come. As for her first competition, however, Evans will compete in this weekends Janet Evans Invitational (appropriately enough), which is a long course Masters meet in Fullerton. An email sent to the competitors in the meet yesterday gave the first hint that something was up:

On behalf of Janet Evans to SPMA regarding swim meet this weekend — Janet Evans Invitational at Fullerton FAST Long Course Swim Meet

It is with great pleasure and excitement that I invite you to the Janet Evans Invitational to be held this weekend, June 11th and 12th, at the Janet Evans Swim Complex in Fullerton.

I hope you will join me for my first competition in 15 years to make this meet fun, exciting, and memorable. To register, please go online to http://bit.ly/jgrzQg. We will also be accepting on-deck registrations.

Register today to be a part of JEI’s inaugural year as a Masters event. I look forward to growing it into an exciting event for many years to come!

Janet Evans

She joins a huge list of swimmers who have announced returns after lengthy retirements with the intent of getting spots at the 2012 Olympics. Among those trying to qualify for team USA will be breaststrokers Brendan Hansen and Ed Moses. Many internationals, including Ian Thorpe, Libby Trickett, and Laure Manaudou, will also be gunning for Olympic spots. Evans is training with her old coach, Mark Schubert, who was recently let go as the National Team Director of USA Swimming in a very controversial few months.

The question is, though, will she compete in the 400 and 800 that made her good for so long? In most of the comebacks we’ve seen, swimmers have gone shorter rather than longer. Torres is effectively a 50 freestyler, who might stretch to the 100 for a relay. Thorpe initially indicated that he was only shooting for the 100 free, with the 200 free that he was so good at being saved only for a relay opportunity. Manaudou is focusing on the 100 back, even though only 1 of her World Championship medals was ever won in a race shorter than 200 yards. So, it will be interesting to see if Evans continues to include the 800 in her plans, or sticks to the 400 (and maybe even the 200 for a relay spot).

At least for her first venture back into competition she will swim the 200/400/800 free and the 200 backstroke.

Evans will be 40-years old at the end of August, which means she won’t quite be as old as Dara Torres was when she made the Olympic team in 2008. Still, it would be quite the compelling story for Evans. Even more significantly, it would make confirm to a certain generation of Americans, who were so hugely inspired towards fitness after Torres’ greatness, that it is possible to be in incredible shape even into your 40’s.

Evans has the potential for a huge financial windfall from a successful return as well. She is represented by PMG, the same company that represents the other two “comeback moms”: Torres and Amanda Beard.