More than a swimmer

To list the achievements of South African swimmer Penny Heyns would take this entire newspaper! She is the only swimmer to win Olympic gold in the 100 and 200 metres breaststroke (1996). She set 14 world records during her career including 4 in 48 hours and 11 in three months! At one stage she held 5 of the 6 world records open to her. However her Olympic career did not get off to the best of starts. In 1992, South Africa was re-admitted to the Olympics after an absence of 32 years during the apartheid era. ‘Growing up, I didn’t know anything about the Olympics,’ she explains. At 17 Penny was chosen as the youngest competitor in the South African team for the Barcelona Olympics.

As it was so long since South Africa had competed internationally, the team’s preparation was not as good as it should have been. Penny was unsure what to expect at the Olympics and felt ‘overwhelmed and intimidated’ by it all. She did not do herself justice, finishing 33rd in the 100 and 34th in the 200 metres. It was almost the end of a swimming career before it began. ‘After the 1992 Olympics, I was so shocked and disillusioned with my performance that I thought it was time to retire.’ She carried on and reached her peak in the 1996 Olympics with those two gold medals. Another significant foundation in her life had already been set early in life - her Christian faith.‘I was raised in a Christian home and always went to Sunday School and church. When I was about eight years old, we had visiting preachers at the church who stayed over at our house. They must have said something that challenged me, because I remember waking up and feeling that I needed to invite Jesus into my life. I did that and there was no turning back.

‘Over the years I have come to realise that being a Christian is so much more than just going to church, reading the Bible and saying a quick prayer before carrying on living your life as you please. It means having an intimate relationship with Jesus and letting him be in complete control of your life. Living intimately with the Lord has been an exciting journey that has brought more joy and fulfilment than any other achievements I’ve ever been blessed with. The most exciting moment is yet to come when I meet my Lord face-to-face.’

In the 2000 Olympics, Penny was hot favourite to retain both her titles. In the end she won just one bronze. Looking back, she sees 2000 as a significant life experience. ‘Since then I have understood that, had I won, it would have been so difficult for me to speak to kids and say, “You don’t always win, but you have to learn to trust God and learn from those failures”. Because I did not win I had a better platform to speak from. Before that, people could have said, “It is easy for you to talk about having faith in God as you always win!” So it was probably a greater testimony for me to come third and to deal with it in a godly way.’

In her autobiography - Penny Heyns: An autobiography with Gary Lemke, PHBH Publications, South Africa 2004 – she talks about Penny Heyns the person being more than Penny Heyns the swimmer. Yet it is in swimming that she has learned many lessons for life: ‘Swimming has in some ways been my “classroom” where God teaches me so much about his ability and [to have] faith in him. I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him.’