Henry launched her pioneering swimming journey at Morris Swim Club in Pasadena, Texas. She swam her first meet at age five and set her first national record at nine. A backstroke specialist, she was TAGS champion for seven straight years and was named to all-state age group honor rolls multiple years. She was a two-time member of Texas All-Star teams competing against Mexico, setting Federacion de Mexico records in her backstroke events. Swimming for Bayshore Swim Club, under Coach Steve Montgomery, she qualified for her first Senior AAU Nationals at age 11 and competed in her first nationals at 12. Under Don Atwood, she was a member of the first girls water polo team representing Texas at the National Junior Olympics. She earned High School All-American her junior and senior years, achieving a national ranking of second in backstroke. She received the 1968 Lilian Kneip Award as Texas’s Outstanding Female Swimmer and qualified for the 1968 Olympic Trials. In 1970, Coach Pat Patterson recruited Henry to Texas A&M to plant the seed for a women’s swim team in the pre-Title IX era. Arriving at A&M, she recruited and coached other former AAU standouts and training cross-pool behind a bulkhead. She became the first female all-American in A&M history, earning honors both her junior and senior years, coached those years by Steve Montgomery. Under coach Dennis Fosdick, she competed on the A&M “men’s” Water Polo B team. In 1974, she received the first Texas A&M Outstanding Female Athlete award. Though based mostly on swimming performance, she also captained A&M’s first volleyball team, earning all-region honors, and competed on the first women’s track and field team, qualifying for regionals in four events.

Jean’s record exemplifies her pioneering contributions to aquatics. Starting at age 11, she taught swimming at Bayshore Swim Club, launching competitive journeys for many young swimmers. She held her first formal coaching position as assistant coach at Michigan State University, coaching national qualifiers and several all-Americans. She was the first women’s swim coach for Southwest Texas State University, coaching several national qualifiers and an all-American in her three-year tenure; her teams won the Texas Division II State Championship title all three years.

Jean continued her own swimming through participation in US Masters Swimming, in Michigan, Texas, and Arkansas, setting state records in Michigan and Arkansas. She competed in the early days of triathlon in Texas and across the Southwest United States, consistently leading the swim leg and finishing in the top three women. As the natatorium director at North Lake Community College in Irving, Texas, Jean oversaw the construction of and managed a unique, multi-agency aquatic facility for the Community College, Irving School District, and Irving Dept. of Recreation. Under her guidance, the facility advanced aquatics by hosting numerous AAU and high school swimming meets, water polo tournaments, triathlons, and recreational swim and SCUBA events. She served more than 25 years as an American Red Cross Lifeguard, water safety instructor, and kayak/canoe Instructor, earning an ARC Community Heroes award. She has served more than 35 years with the YMCA, NAUI, and Scuba Educators as SCUBA instructor, instructor trainer, and course director - among the first women to serve in these capacities. She is listed in Who's Who in SCUBA. Her background as swimmer and paddler provided the perfect foundation for her and her partner, Clark Ross, as co-directors of the American WaterSports Association, to conceptualize, originate, and develop a unique new cross-sport - kayak diving - combining the skills of open-deck kayaking with those of SCUBA. Jean consulted on the design of the kayaks, wrote the training and leadership materials, and they launched a SCUBA specialty course, Kayak Diving, that has been integrated into SCUBA certification agencies across the globe. She led kayak diving expeditions in the Caribbean and the Sea of Cortez, as well as manufacturer-sponsored photo shoots into the Amazon region of Venezuela. Jean was also a whitewater river guide.

Jean received her Ph.D. in health sciences/worksite health promotion from Texas Woman’s University in 1997 and began a distinguished career as a university professor of health promotion and public health. She recently retired from the University of Arkansas as an emerita professor. Jean is very proud that, in her roles of athlete, adventurer, teacher, mentor, writer, and consultant, she has inspired countless people to swim, bike, run/hike, kayak, SCUBA dive, or simply embrace the adventures of living, endowing them with skills, knowledge, and attitudes that enable a life-long healthy lifestyle.