In the week gone by, Janet Evans swam 400 meters freestyle in 4 minutes, 21.49 seconds. Not a mean feat this, if you consider that Janet is 40 years old.
But if you realize that this 40-year-old is winner of four Olympic gold medals and her best timing is 19 seconds faster than this, the present timing does not even deserve mention. Yes we are talking about the queen of pool in the late 80s and early 90s and holder of World Record in both 400 and 800 meters freestyle, Janet Evans. Such was her dominance that her 400m freestyle world record stood for 18 years before it was beaten in 2006. Her 800m freestyle record was bettered after 19 years at the 2008 Games.