Penny Heyns is a South African sporting legend and globally recognized motivational speaker, celebrated as the greatest female breaststroker of the 20th century. She etched her name into history at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where she became the only woman ever to win both the 100m and 200m breaststroke events. She later added a bronze medal in Sydney 2000, further cementing her legacy on the international stage.
Over her illustrious career, Penny broke 14 individual world records and remains the only breaststroker—male or female—to have held world records in all three distances: 50m, 100m, and 200m. Her achievements earned her recognition in multiple halls of fame, including the South African Sport Hall of Fame (2006), the International Swimming Hall of Fame (2007), and the Africa Sports Hall of Fame (2012).
Today, Penny shares her extraordinary journey through keynote speaking, captivating audiences with authentic stories of resilience, discipline, and peak performance. She draws clear parallels between her world-class swimming career and the demands of business and leadership, offering practical strategies for success, motivation, and overcoming challenges.
Penny Heyns is an international speaker, Penny Heyns has established herself as the world’s greatest female breaststroker of the 20th century, by becoming the only woman in Olympic history to win both the 100 and the 200 meter breaststroke events in Atlanta 1996, bronze in Sydney 2000 and by breaking a total of 14 individual world records during her career.
She is the only breaststroker, female or male, in the history of swimming, to hold world records in all three possible distances; the 50 m, the 100 m & the 200 m.
2006 saw Penny become an inaugural inductee into the South African Sport Hall of Fame and in May of 2007
She joined the prestigious company of international icons such as Johnny Weissmuller, better known as the original Tarzan and Mark Spitz when she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, USA.
Most recently in 2012, she became the first non-track & female athlete to be inducted into the Africa Sports Hall of Fame.
Penny Heyns experiences, both whilst training internationally in the US and in Canada with some of the most successful athletes in those respective countries and whilst competing on the forefront of international competition, has given Penny unparalleled insights into what it takes to get to the top, and more importantly, what it takes to stay there.
Not only has she widely addressed South African audiences, but Penny Heyns has spoken internationally as far abroad as the USA, Canada, Australia, Sri-Lanka, Dubai and our neighbouring African countries such as Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland.
For all people, regardless of race, creed, colour, age or gender, Penny brings a dynamic and powerful message of hope, inspiration and upliftment which empowers people to take control of their lives, realize their untapped potential and to fulfil their material and spiritual journey.
‘Swim Your Own Race’ – swimming is an individual and very often, lonely sport. Much like life, it requires certain key elements in order to attain success – elements such as sacrifice, perseverance and single-minded focus.
This presentation will shed light on what it takes to make it to the top of one of the world’s toughest sporting disciplines, how to stay there and how those same principles relate and apply to business and life in general.
It will inspire the listener to believe in his or her own potential, show them how to turn disappointment into victory and most importantly, how to live a life in pursuit of personal excellence.
Penny Heyns also offers a high impact workshop called Mental Power to inspire individuals and to empower people to discover their potential, find their purpose and to learn how to think like an Olympic Champion!
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Penny Heyns reflects on her career and life philosophy, highlighting that success is not about medals, fame, or money, but about fulfilling your potential with the talents you’ve been given.
She stresses that motivation must come from within, because external rewards cannot sustain you through life’s inevitable challenges. Heyns explains that while goal-setting is important, true success is built through excellence in the details, the daily discipline, right choices, and personal responsibility that carry you through tough times.
She recalls moments of disappointment, like finishing sixth at the World Championships before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when she considered retirement. But her mother encouraged her to see failure as a stepping stone, a pivotal point that ultimately fueled her greatest achievements.
Failure, she says, should not be feared but embraced, because within it lie the lessons that prepare you for future success. Heyns concludes that being successful means being the absolute best version of yourself, controlling what you can control and giving your best effort every time.
00:00 — Introduction to Penny Heyns.
00:25 — Her deeper foundation: why motivation must come from within, not external rewards.
01:10 — Success built through excellence in small details, daily discipline, and responsibility.
02:00 — Facing setbacks: disappointment at the World Championships, thoughts of retiring.
02:40 — Mother’s advice: learning from failure can fuel future success.
03:20 — Reframing failure as a vital step towards your greatest achievements.
04:00 — Practical wisdom: set realistic but challenging goals, control the controllables.
04:40 — Definition of success: being the best version of yourself, nothing more and nothing less.
The speaker shares that the greatest discipline learned from swimming is the principle of swimming your own race. Though often repeated as a cliché in sports, it carries deep meaning both in competition and in life.
They recall a personal experience of success when they swam their own race, and the failure that followed when they didn’t — a turning point that shaped later performances, including at the Atlanta Games.
This lesson extends into everyday life. The challenge remains to focus on one’s unique journey and destiny rather than getting distracted by comparisons, expectations, or the “voices in our heads.” Many people miss their purpose because they are too busy trying to live someone else’s race.
Swimming provides clear parameters for performance, making it obvious when you are aligned with your own race. Life, by contrast, is less structured — which makes it easier to lose focus.
The speaker emphasizes that identity and self-worth should not be determined by comparisons. Instead, the goal should be to maximize one’s own potential: being the best version of yourself. By doing this, the pressure lifts, and fulfillment becomes possible.
00:00 — Question: lessons from swimming that apply to life.
00:15 — Core lesson: “Swim your own race.”
00:45 — Personal story: success when focusing inward, failure when distracted.
01:15 — Life application: destiny and purpose designed for each person.
01:45 — The danger of comparisons: living to others’ expectations or “keeping up with the Joneses.”
02:15 — Swimming vs. life: clear performance markers in sport vs. complex uncertainty in real life.
02:45 — Identity struggles: pressure of not measuring up to others.
03:10 — Conclusion: focus on being the best you can be; that’s enough.
Discipline, perseverance, leadership, resilience, women’s empowerment, and achieving excellence.
Her combination of Olympic triumphs, world records, and personal insights on discipline and perseverance make her message inspiring and relatable.
Through authentic storytelling, humor, and practical takeaways that translate lessons from elite sport into business and personal growth.
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