Penelope ("Penny") Heyns OIS (born 8 November 1974) is a South African former swimmer, who is best known for being the only woman in the history of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

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

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– making her South Africa's first post-

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

Olympic gold medallist following South Africa's re-admission to the Games in 1992. Along with Australian champion Leisel Jones, 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 (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

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. She was also a member of the South African squad at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, 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 ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

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 quarterly 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'' (kn ...

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, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

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, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

. Heyns was voted 52nd in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004. She has an Olympic size swimming pool named after in the town of Sasolburg, Free State In 2024 Penny Heyns’ double gold win at Atlanta Olympics was judged as one of the top moments in South African women’s sport.

References

External links

Penny Heyns Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyns, Penny 1974 births Living people South African female swimmers University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Olympic swimmers for 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 South African expatriate swimmers in the United States University of Nebraska alumni Sportspeople from Springs, Gauteng Swimmers from Gauteng Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa Olympic gold medalists in swimming African Games gold medalists for South Africa Summer World University Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1995 All-Africa Games Swimmers at the 1999 All-Africa Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Africa FISU World University Games silver medalists for South Africa Goodwill Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 1997 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games 20th-century South African sportswomen 21st-century South African sportswomen Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games African Games gold medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1995 All-Africa Games Medalists at the 1999 All-Africa Games

Sporting career

See also

References

External links