Evelyn Kawamoto

Evelyn Kawamoto

Kawamoto at the 1952 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Evelyn Tokue Kawamoto
National team	United States
Born	(1933-09-17)September 17, 1933 Honolulu, Hawaii
Died	January 22, 2017(2017-01-22) (aged 83)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	Hawaii Swim Club
Medal record Representing the United States Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki 400 m freestyle 1952 Helsinki 4×100 m freestyle

Evelyn Tokue Kawamoto (September 17, 1933 – January 22, 2017), also known by her married name as Evelyn Konno, was an American competition swimmer and two-time Olympic medalist.

In 1949, Kawamoto broke the American record in the 300-meter individual medley (IM) and 200-meter breaststroke on the same day. A month later, she won both events at the US Nationals. On the final day of the 1952 U.S. Women's Olympic Trials, she set the American record in the 400-meter freestyle.

Kawamoto represented the United States at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, where she earned two bronze medals as an 18-year-old. She received her first bronze in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, when the U.S. team of Jackie LaVine, Marilee Stepan, Jody Alderson and Kawamoto placed third behind the teams from Hungary and the Netherlands. Individually, she set an Olympic record in the 400-meter freestyle in a preliminary heat and received a second bronze for her third-place performance in the women's 400-meter freestyle behind Hungarian swimmers Valéria Gyenge and Éva Novák.

She later married U.S. Olympic swimming gold medalist Ford Konno, who also competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Kawamoto was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. She died in 2017 at the age of 83.

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)