'Every time I swim like that, it blows me away,' she says. 'It's like I'm blessed. Coming into this
meet, I was feeling tired. Never in my dreams did I think this would happen,' Heyns said after
becoming the first swimmer to hold all three distance records simultaneously. 'If I thought of them
as world record swims, I'd really be too overwhelmed.' Heyns' achievement is even more amazing
because she was only in midseason training and unshaven and unrested.
Penny's remarkable form continued into the Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney a few weeks
later. In her first race of the meet, Heyns again lowered her 100m breaststroke world record mark.
This feat of setting five world records in five consecutive starts is itself believed to be a world
record for all sports.
Penny continued through the week picking up gold medals in the 100m and 200m, and setting two
world records in the 200m and one in the 50m in a special time trial. The world governing body for
swimming, FINA, has rated Heyns' swim in the 50m, with a time of 30.83s, as the best swimming
performance ever, across all disciplines, as at September 2, 1999.
Penny has now swum the three fastest 50m ever, the five fastest 100m ever, and the three fastest
200m ever.
The South African is also well regarded by fellow competitors. Australian swimmer, Samantha
Riley says, `I think Penny is a great swimmer. I've been competing against her since the '92
Olympics and it has always been a friendly rivalry between us. She's a really nice person out of the
pool and great to chat to. I enjoy racing her a lot and she is one of the best breaststrokers in the
world.'
Canadian swimmer, Joanne Malar, who trains with Penny in Calgary, adds: `It's really motivating
training and swimming with her. I remember in '96 watching her swim and I'd say hi to her, but I
didn't really know her. Then she moved to Calgary - I think the week before I moved to Calgary -
so we both were moving to a new city. She's such a friendly person. The cool thing about her is that
she helps me swim breaststroke as well. She's not one of these people where there is tension
between two rivals. When Penny sees me do a good breaststroke set, she'll tell me so. It's nice for
me to have a friend like that who is a friend in the pool and out of the pool. It's really motivating
swimming with someone who is a double Olympic gold medallist and who is down-to-earth like
other people I know.'
Penny has come a long way since she was headgirl at Amanzimtoti High School on the Natal south
coast. She started swimming at seven and, by the time she was sixteen, had already won gold in the
100m and 200m breaststroke at the Senior Nationals, as well as holding the South Africa record in
the 100m. From then on the medals have kept rolling in, and her list of achievements has become
seemingly endless.
`To be a world class swimmer,' Penny says, `takes quite a bit of talent, but talent without a lot of
hard work, dedication and the right opportunities is not enough. I have been blessed with a lot of
natural ability where swimming, in particular breaststroke, is concerned, but I believe it is by God's
grace that I was afforded the right opportunities to develop that talent.' Penny's family has also been
a constant source of encouragement to her, even though she has spent many years far away from it
while training in North America.
In 1992, Heyns was chosen as the youngest member of the South African Olympic team for
Barcelona, Spain, where she finished thirty-third in the 100m breaststroke and thirty-fourth in the
200m. Nebraska State University soon offered her a scholarship to train there, which she took up in
January 1993. In September of the same year, she was placed under a new coach, Jan Bidrman.
It was this successful partnership which took her to the 1994 Commonwealth Games (bronze in the
100m), the 1994 World Champs (sixth in the 100m, thirteenth in the 200m), the 1995 Pan Pacific
Games (first in the 100m, second in the 200m), the 1995 World Student Games (first place and new
world student games records in the 100m and 200m) and the 1995 All Africa Games (first in the
100m and 200m).
Not surprisingly, Penny was ranked first in the world for the 100m and 200m breaststroke in 1995.
Her success continued into 1996, setting a new World Record in the 100m at the South African
Olympic Trials.
The 1996 Atlanta Olympics are the highlight of Heyns' swimming career. Not only did she win
gold in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, the first time in history that anyone had won the
double, but she also set new world and Olympic records in the 100m (1:07.02 in the preliminary
race) and a new Olympic record in the 200m (2:25.41).
‘The two races were very different,’ Penny says. ‘Since I already owned the hundred, I sort of
expected to break my own record again and thus stood a good chance of winning. I set out in the
heats of the hundred to break the record. I did however expect to go a little faster than I went and
that others might also go better. Lucky for me no one else did and that left me swimming more than
a second faster than the next person.’
‘I guess I felt more a sense of relief when I won the hundred. I knew I could do it if it was God's
will, and that the whole country was watching and expecting. The two hundred was a bit of a
surprise. I am not usually a great two hundred swimmer, but knew that I stood a chance if I swam
my best time with a lot of guts. I knew I had to get out fast and just hope that no one would catch
me. It was a great feeling to have won the two hundred and a bonus to find out that it had never
been done before that someone wins both the one hundred and two hundred in the same Olympics.’
‘It was all the Lord though. The last fifty of that two hundred was so hard but the Lord carried me
all the way to the finish and now all the glory must go to him. The most special thing about my
whole experience, though, was that I knew I couldn't have done any of it without the Lord and thus
that he had a greater plan for my life of which swimming was just a tiny detail. I can't wait to see
what's next.’
Penny says that winning at the Olympics is a dream for many people. Her dream came true in 1996,
but the fulfillment that she found in her achievements was not lasting. ‘After I won, it was of course
a great feeling of satisfaction, but that didn't last too long. At that time I realised just how important
winning had become to me and that, even though I still prayed and read my Bible, I wasn't walking
as closely to the Lord as I knew I needed to be doing. I still felt this little space in my heart that was
unsatisfied and empty. I had drifted from the intimacy I once shared with the Lord when I was
young and now I missed it.’
‘All the commotion after my wins was fun but left me longing for that closeness even more,
especially now since everyone was my buddy and I no longer knew what was real or who I really
was. I tried to please everyone, while just getting myself more and more into a knot and unsure
what the purpose behind everything was. I felt a tremendous responsibility to do something with
the platform that I now had and knew that God had allowed it all to happen for a reason. The
pressure was on now stronger than ever.’
‘Jan also moved away and this left me to swim on my own. I also wasn't sure if I still wanted to
continue swimming and why I was doing it. Suddenly, all these new, external reasons sprung up.’
‘I was unhappy and was swimming progressively worse as the '97 season went on. It was around
April '97 that I finally woke up and rededicated my life to the Lord Jesus. One day I read Jeremiah
29:11-13. The Holy Spirit really spoke to me that day when I read: “If you seek me you will find
me when you seek me with all your heart.” From that moment on I made a decision that I would
seek the Lord with all my heart in every way I could think of. Nothing is more important to me.’
‘I believe that perhaps those bad swims were needed so that I would come to the end of myself and
my reasons and ambitions in swimming.’
To Penny Heyns, being a Christian and having a relationship with God means everything. ‘I've
realised that being a Christian is so much more than just going to church, reading one's Bible
everyday and saying a short prayer before continuing with your day as you please. It means having
an intimate relationship with Jesus and letting him be in complete control of your life. I would say
that at first I just knew Jesus or about him, then I loved him, but the difference today is that I am
now in love with him. That's really what he calls us to, and what we were created to be. Living
intimately with the Lord has been an exciting journey that has brought more joy and fulfillment
than any other achievements I've ever been blessed with, and the most exciting moment is yet to
come on the day that I meet my Lord face-to-face. The journey is not over yet and I believe it will
never be.’
‘It has become so clear to me that this world is so temporary and thus the reality of an eternity with
Christ so exciting. I believe however, that the Kingdom of Christ is within as we live for him. No
gold medal or world record ever gave me the peace and sense of wholeness that I have found in my
having an intimate relationship with the creator of the universe. Nothing is more exciting and
meaningful than knowing the love of Christ every morning that I wake up and knowing that oneday
I will wake up to see him face-to-face for eternity. What prize can be greater than that?’
Being a world class swimmer involves a great deal of hard work: `A usual week of training consists
of nine workouts in the water and five dry-land workouts after every afternoon swim. We swim
about 6000m every workout and dry-land consists of weights on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays and plyometric exercises on Tuesdays and Thursdays.’
Nevertheless, Penny makes sure that she takes time to read the Bible, drawing her strength from
God' s word. `I always try to begin my day with a quiet time. I know that if I lay my day before the
Lord from the start, then things will go according to his will. It is important that we as believers
invite the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives from the moment we wake up. The word says that
we are “more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8: 37).” Depending on the Lord
at all times and always knowing that he always works all things to the good of those who love him
and who are called by his name, gives me the strength to endure and live a victorious life in Christ.’
The South African moved to Calgary, Canada in April 1998, where she resumed her partnership
with coach Jan Bidrman. Success returned, with winning and setting new records in the 100m and
200m at the Goodwill Games. In July of the same year, she also set a new world record for the 50m
breaststroke.
‘I really wanted to retire as February ' 98 came by. At that point I felt sure I wanted to serve the
Lord full time in the ministry. But God had another plan. He wanted me in Calgary swimming.
Fortunately, I obeyed and am enjoying my talents once more. This time though, I am doing it for
one reason only, to please the Lord. If he told me to stop tomorrow I would, but I believe he plans
for me to still swim in the next Olympics, but this time it will be all for him and only him. I am
excited because I know God' s plan is a perfect plan.’
Heyns knows that her swimming talent is a gift from God and she wants to use it to glorify him.
She has the assurance that one day she will receive a reward in heaven that is far greater than any
gold medal, but she also knows that true fulfillment here on earth comes from a heart that is right
with God.
‘Without God,’ she says, ‘my life would be empty and without meaning. He gives me a purpose
and a hope. Achievements are temporary and shallow if they are not given over to the Lord so that
he can do what he wills with them. My life would be incomplete without Jesus.’
Penny Heyns
