Monster: The opportunities for women athletes in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when you were competing, were limited. What were the obstacles in your path to the Olympic Games?

Janet Moreau Stone: It was not the thing for a girl to do at that time, so everything was difficult for me. In high school, I was on the swim team with all boys, and there was no track team. I was a swimmer in high school and thought, "Sure, I'd like to go to the Olympic Games, but as a swimmer.'' I had a deep determination to succeed in athletics.

Mc: You got a swimming scholarship to Boston University and were a national junior sprint champion in that sport, but you ended up running sprint events at the Olympic trials for the 1948 games. How did that happen?

JMS: They held a field day as tryouts for the trials, and the city of Pawtucket sent me. I thought they were crazy; I wasn't a runner. But I won the sprint. I worked out with the boys' track team at Boston University getting ready for the trials. In those days, they put you in heats. Being an unknown, I went into the first heat and won, and then I won my second heat. In the next round, they put me in with the two fastest girls in the United States. I came in third and missed the Olympics that year.

Mc: You must have been disappointed.

JMS: We were rather angry, but it gave me determination. I had to make up my mind to concentrate on track or swimming. My coach told me that if I concentrated on track, I could probably make the 1952 games, and in my mind it was worth working hard for.

Mc: Were your parents supportive?

JMS: I got a lot of flack. They discouraged me. It wasn't the thing for girls. But I was so discouraged after 1948 that I knew I had something to aim for. When I thought of how well I did with so little track training, I had to continue to see what I could do if I really concentrated on track. An athlete needs that competitive spirit, that drive, and I had a real determination. At the trials for the '52 games, I tied for first in the sprint, and I was on the team. It shows what hard work can do.

Mc: Did your athletic skills lead you to a career as a physical education teacher?

JMS: I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. A phys ed teacher in junior high was my inspiration. She's the one who made me want to get into the profession. I don't think I ever related to my students the way she could relate to us.

Mc: Now you're a hospital chaplain. What brought you to this vocation?

JMS: I knew I was going to retire in 1988. I was always drawn to older people so I began as a eucharistic minister at Roger Williams Hospital, and I would sit and spend time with people. One of the priests there suggested I consider becoming a chaplain.

Mc: What is your day like as a chaplain?

JMS: I work mostly with people who are very seriously ill and dying, and with their families. It is very discouraging, but I get so much out of it. The patients can talk with me and tell me their feelings about death and things they can't tell their families. I really feel as though I'm contributing something.

The next step for me is the Third Order, where one takes vows to live a particular lifestyle. It involves daily prayers and church services, rosary, lessons, retreats, days of reflection. My husband, Ray, died on Easter Day a year ago, and I feel closer to him through my faith.

Mc: Do you have any advice for young athletes?

JMS: Make sure you get good grades; that's what's going to move you forward. Start thinking about your grades in junior high school. You don't find many Olympians who don't go to college.