Penny Heyns Season 1995-96

Honors & Awards

• Gold Medal, 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 100-meter Breaststroke
• Gold Medal, 1996, Atlanta Olympics, 200-meter Breaststroke 
• 10-Time First-Team NCAA All-American 
• Five-Time Honorable Mention NCAA All-American
• 14-Time Big Eight Conference Champion
• 1996 Female Big Eight Athlete-of-the-Year
• 1996 Big Eight Conference Outstanding Performer-of-the-Year
• Two-time Olympic gold medalist; Three-time medalist
• First Woman in Olympic history to sweep the breaststroke events
• First athlete to win a gold medal for South Africa since 1956
• Olympic record holder, 100 & 200-meter breaststroke
•  1996 Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year
• 1996 Big Eight Female Athlete of the Year
• 10-time First-Team NCAA All-American
• Five-time honorable-mention NCAA All-American
• First Husker swimmer to win a National Championship (100-yard breaststroke, 1:00.27, 1996)
• 14-time Big Eight Conference Champion
• Three-time Pan Pacific Champion
  
  Senior (1995-96)
  Penny Heyns became the first woman in Olympic history to sweep the breaststroke events at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. In the 100 breaststroke, Heyns entered the race with the top time (1:07.46, a world record Heyns set earlier that March). In the preliminaries, Heyns shattered her own world record with a 1:07.02 clocking. In the finals, Heyns got off to a quick start and recaptured the lead to win her first Olympic gold in a 1:07.72 time. Two days later, Heyns set an Olympic record of 2:26.63 in the 200 breaststroke. She bettered her time to 2:25.41 in the finals. 
  
  Heyns expressed her gratitude for NU at the Olympic press conference, "There is no way I would even be swimming today if I didn't come to Nebraska." Heyns furthered, "Nebraska has done so much for me, I could never express it. And it's not just in swimming, it's a family to me -- the whole coaching staff and all my friends." 
  
  Capping off her collegiate career with several All-America honors, Heyns earned the 100 breaststroke title at the NCAA Championships in a time of 1:00.27. She took runner-up awards in the 200 breast, where she swam a time of 2:09.71. Heyns also helped on the sixth-place 200 medley relay team (1:42.66) and the 400 medley relay team (3:42.35). 
  
  As the Big Eight Outstanding Performer-of-the-Year, Heyns added to her Big Eight titles with her third consecutive gold medals in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Heyns clocked a time of 1:00.18 in the 100 and later clocked a time of 2:08.90 in the 200 breast. Heyns helped capture the team title, where the Big Red won with a score of 663 and 16 event titles. Heyns' contributions on the 200 medley and 400 medley relay teams gave the team an advantage with more gold medals. 
  
  Junior (1994-95)
  Heyns completed a successful year of competition with a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.41) after recording a preliminary time of 1:00.27 at the NCAA Championships, known to be the third fastest in NCAA history behind that of 1995 champion Beata Kazuba (59.92 prelim. and 59.71 final). She also notched a third-place showing in the 200 breaststroke (2:11.38) at the NCAA Championships, both clockings shattering her own school records of 1:01.43 and 2:12.91, respectively. Heyns was also a member of the conference record-breaking 400 and 200 medley relay teams that placed second and fourth at the NCAA meet. She was a conference champion for the third consecutive year in the 100 breaststroke and for the second straight year in the 200 breaststroke. The breaststroke specialist also claimed gold at the conference championships as a member of the 200 medley and 400 medley relay teams. Following the conference meet, Heyns was named one of three Outstanding Performers for the season. She was victorious in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the Texas Invitational in December and put up an NCAA-qualifying time in the latter(2:12.27). Heyns returned to her homeland in late March and set two new national records at the South African National Championships, winning the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:08.48, which was the fastest time in the world to that date, and the 200-meter breast (2:29.20). At the Pan Pacific Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, she won the 100m breast, improving to 1:08.09. Traveling to Fukuoka, Japan, at the World University Games, she won both 100m and 200m breaststrokes, breaking existing records in both events in her preliminary swims. Her 100m breast time of 1:07.84, recorded in Japan, is the second-fastest time ever in the 100m. Heyns also competed in the All-African Games in Harare, Zimbabwe, winning both breast events and setting new records in both breaststrokes.
  
  Sophomore (1993-94)
  In just her second year, Heyns was named an All-American in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. She became the highest NCAA scorer ever for the Huskers with a second-place finish in the 100 breast (1:01.43) and a sixth-place showing in the 200 breaststroke (2:14.35). She broke school records in the 100 and 200 breast. She was the conference champion in the 100 breast for the second consecutive year and champ in the 200 breaststroke. For her performance at the conference meet, she was named 1993-94 Big Eight Outstanding Performer. She garnered three honorable-mention All-America honors as a member of the 200 free (16th), 200 medley (10th) and 400 medley (13th) relays, which competed at the NCAA Championships.
  
  Freshman (1992-93)
  In her Big Eight Conference Championships debut, Heyns won the 100 breast in a conference-record time of 1:03.64. She finished second at the conference meet, swimming the 200 breast in 2:20.46. She earned honorable mention All-America honors as a member of the 200 and 400 medley relay teams, which finished 10th and 13th at the NCAA Championships, respectively.
  
  Before Nebraska
  As a competitor at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for South Africa, Heyns finished 33rd and 34th in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke, respectively. She was the South African collective school champion for four years in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes.
  
  Personal
  Penny was born on Nov. 8, 1974, to Steve and Patsy Heyns.