Olympic swimmer offers glimpse into what motivates her

All Janet Evans wanted to do after coming home with three gold medals from the 1988 Olympics was see her boyfriend and hang out with her friends. Not many high school students know that, but a select group of 474 Western High School teens heard Evans' story last week as she discussed motivation and what pushed her to do her best in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. The students who heard Evans' pep talk received a barbecue lunch and special certificates for having grade point averages of 3.0 and above. Evans, an El Dorado High School graduate from Placentia, took home her fourth gold medal and silver her first from Barcelona last summer. Evans' high school years weren't like those of typical 17- year-olds, she said. Since the seventh grade, she would rise at 4:30 a.m., swim from 5 to 7 a.m., go to school and then swim again from 2 to 6 p.m. "I did OK in school," the 21- year-old Evans said. "Swimming took so much of my time. It made me more disciplined. I had no social life." Western Principal Warren Stephenson helped organize the event aimed at motivating students. Stephenson said the motivation al speakers series began last year. In order to encourage students to excel, Western High offers an academic letter, much like an athlete's letter, to students who maintain a minimum 3.5 CPA for three semesters. "It's exactly the same thing as a sports letter," Warrenson said. "We're the first school in Anaheim Union High School District to have these. Instead of a football or baseball, we have these." The academic letters feature an open book and feather pen instead of a piece of sports equipment. Evans, now a communications major at USC, said she wants to finish college and find a job in a public relations field.