Today in history: SA swimming star is born
At the age of 13 she became the school swimming team captain and later became the youngest member of the South African Olympic team at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
Former South African swimmer, Penelope (Penny) Heyns, was born on 8 November 1974 in Springs, in what was then the Transvaal.
Penny attended Doon Heights Primary School, moving to Amanzimtoti High School, where she excelled in both academics and in athletics.
At the age of 13, she became the school swimming team captain, sparking her interest in competitive swimming. She went on to become the youngest member of the South African Olympic team at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
She was offered an athletics scholarship by the University of Nebraska, where she subsequently earned her degree in Psychology.
Penny continued her swimming career and was asked to represent the USA at the Olympic Games, but she decided instead to represent her native South Africa at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
She won both the 100m and 200m breaststroke event, which made her the only woman in the history of the Olympic Games to do so.
The achievement also marked her as South Africa’s first post-apartheid Olympic gold medallist following South Africa’s re-admission to the Games in 1992.
Penny went on to break many records in her swimming career but her highlight was when she set four world records in 1999.
Penny established herself as the world’s greatest female breast-stroke swimmer of all time, breaking 14 individual world records during her career.
In 2000, Penny announced her retirement from swimming and pursued a successful career as a motivational speaker.
Information sourced from: South African History Online.
