Janet Beth Evans is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals at the 1988 and the 1992 Olympics.

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Seoul 1988, was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represented at the games by a total of 8,391 athletes. 237 events were held and 27,221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics.