COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
To us, the classic footage of Olympics gone by is grainy, black-and-white history, but to Helen Johns Carroll, it's like yesterday.
"We were standing out there and we could hear all the cheering, but we couldn't see a thing," Johns said.
Back then at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she was Helen Johns and she was only 17.
"We came out into that bright California sunshine, and I thought I'm going to faint," Johns said. "The cheering was so loud. This is the home team coming in! It was almost too much to bear."
She'd come a long way from Medford, Massachusetts where the Great Depression meant swimming usually took place in the ocean.
Her dad doubled as coach. He got her discovered, and got her a train ticket to Los Angeles. Only then did she realize how huge the Olympics were.
"I thought, 'Gee, I didn't realize this was so important!' That this was for the honor of the country," Johns said.
Johns took it to heart, and she swam the second leg of the women's 400 freestyle relay, winning gold for the U.S.
Johns didn't hang up the suit after the Olympics. She won more gold at amateur competitions, and would wind up in several halls of fame. She carried the torch in '96, gave motivational speeches, and, of course, continued to swim -- carrying the thrill of victory well into her golden years.
"Oh to stand there when they raise the flag and play the anthem. Oh! I thought it's not much, but I did a little to bring honor to our country," Johns said.
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