Janet Evans, one of the greatest distant swimmers in history, recently gave a TEDx Talk about how she discovered the true meaning of winning. She believes that winning is more than just outside validation, winning is self-defined.
“The only way we will become the champions we are capable of being is to personally define what winning means.” – Janet Evans
Janet Evans found success as a distant freestyler, winning three gold medals at her first Olympic Games in 1988. Her early success was celebrated, but it set expectations for the future. “The societal pressures of winning and exceeding previous goals was strong, but Janet retired a decorated Olympian with four Gold Medals and one Silver Medal.”
In 2012, 23 years after qualifying for her first Olympic Games, Evans made a comeback, reaching her goal of competing in the 2012 Olympic Team trials. Janet still swims every day for fun and enjoys life in California with her husband and two children.
Get More SwimSwam with SwimSwam Magazine
SwimSwam Magazines are big, coming in at nearly a pound per issue. We provide you four massive print issues designed to sit on your coffee table like a piece of artwork. With your yearly subscription, you receive over 600 of pages of swimming’s highest quality print content, and another 5,330+ pages of digital issues, going back to the first issue produced.
Glad she is happy. Glad anyone is happy. But this was a little bit boring.
Finally had time to sit down and watch this. Great talk, Janet, interesting story with important life lessons. Part of me, from a selfish fan perspective, wonders if she had found the right fit with a coach or coaches, if she might have found a way for a longer and more satisfying career, like when Natalie Coughlin, on the brink of an early retirement found Teri McKeever. On the other hand, there are so many other factors, and that the whole point of her talk in the last moments suggests that everything happened as it should have: “It doesn’t matter what path you take to reconnect with yourself, as long as you’re willing to take that first step.” In my… Read more »