KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Janie Wagstaff was a swimming sensation in the early 1990s.
Wagstaff, a junior at Shawnee Mission East at the time, emerged as one of the best backstrokers in the world in 1991 and went on to compete in three events during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Wagstaff won national titles in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke during the 1991 U.S. Open Swimming Championships, swimming for the Kansas City Blazers.
That same year, she also collected a medley-relay gold and bronze medals in both individual races during the World Aquatic Championships as well as gold medals in the 100 backstroke and medley relay during the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. She won bronze in the 200 backstroke at the Pan Pacific meet.
One year later in Spain, Wagstaff won a gold medal with the U.S. 400-meter medley relay after swimming a leg during the preliminary round.
Individually, she finished fifth in the 100 backstroke and 17th in the 200.
An 11-time All-American at the University of Florida, Wagstaff left the Gators program after two seasons to train for the 1996 Atlanta Games, but failed to make the U.S. team.
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