Olympic gold medalist revisits Toti High
Penny Heyns' message to the students focused on talent and that we all should make the most of the natural talents we have.
Amanzimtoti High School (AHS) alumna, Penny Heyns, recently visited the school to do an interview for SuperSport.
Amanzimtoti High School’s marketing officer, Pauline Schoombie said Penny was asked to do an interview at a place that shaped her and had a big influence on her as a person, and she chose the school where she learnt to have grit and guts through life’s challenges.
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She came out with glory, winning two Olympic gold medals and a bronze medal.
“Penny briefly spoke about her swimming background, she shared her experiences as a competitive swimmer and how she had to adjust her training programme and mindset to compete with and surpass the world’s best 100m breaststroker at the time.
Although, in the midst of her sophisticated training routines, she had to deal with homesickness. It was during this time that she fell into dips of depression that made her competitive and training life all the more challenging.
She used this as an example to encourage students to persevere even though the toughest of times. She emphasised over the fact that many individuals go to their graves with ‘treasures’, unused talent, simply because they give up before trying their utmost best.
Her message to the students focused on talent and that we all should make the most of the natural talents we have,” said Pauline.
After her motivational message to the learners, she spent some time with the swimming team for tips and inspiration.
The swimming team recently received a third place overall in the Afrikaans School’s Gala at Kings Park Pool as well as a second place in the D&D inter-schools gala.
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