Penelope ("Penny") Heyns OIS (born 8 November 1974) is a South African former

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, who is best known for being the only woman in the history of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

to have won both the 100 m and 200 m

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

events – at the 1996

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

– making her South Africa's first post-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Olympic gold medallist following South Africa's re-admission to the Games in 1992. Along with Australian champion

Leisel Jones Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal ...

, Heyns is regarded as one of the greatest breaststroke swimmers.

Sporting career

Heyns was the youngest member of the South African Olympic team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. She was also a member of the South African squad at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling ...

, where she won a bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke event. Heyns broke her first world record, the 100 m breaststroke, in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

in March 1996. Heyns was again part of the South African Olympic team in Atlanta in 1996, where she won the gold medal for the 100 m breaststroke (also breaking the world record for the event) as well as the gold medal for the 200 m breaststroke (also breaking the Olympic record for the event). This made her the only woman in the history of the Olympic Games to have won both the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events. During the 1998

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

in New York, Heyns set the 50 m breaststroke world record. In 1999, Heyns set a spate of eleven world records in three months, swimming at events on three different continents. This made her the simultaneous holder of five out of the possible six breaststroke world records, a feat that had never been achieved before in the history of swimming. Heyns was named by

Swimming World magazine ''Swimming World'' is a US-based monthly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'', (known ...

as the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 1996 and 1999. She was also a member of the South African Olympic team at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney. She won a bronze medal in the 100 m breaststroke. Heyns retired from competitive swimming in 2001. In 2004 Heyns was an athlete's commission member of the International Swimming Federation (FINA). She is a businesswoman, motivational and public speaker, and television presenter. She has also completed an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

. Heyns was voted 52nd in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004.

References

External links

Penny Heyns Homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyns, Penny 1974 births Living people South African female swimmers University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Olympic swimmers of South Africa Olympic gold medalists for South Africa Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Female breaststroke swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Nebraska Cornhuskers women's swimmers University of Nebraska alumni People from Springs, Gauteng Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa Olympic gold medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming African Games gold medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Competitors at the 1995 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 1999 All-Africa Games Universiade gold medalists for South Africa Universiade silver medalists for South Africa Goodwill Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 1997 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Gauteng Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games 20th-century South African women 21st-century South African women

Sporting career

See also

References

External links