“Knowing Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, although winning the US Open was a pretty good second.”
Penny Heyns: An autobiography
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Penny Heyns: An autobiography with Gary Lemke, PHBH Publications, South Africa 2004. ISBN 0-620-32255-1 (241 pages and 10 pages of colour pictures)
The autobiography of double Olympic champion and multi world record holder, Penny Heyns, is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the mindset of the Christian sportsperson. The integration of her life comes across loud and clear - "my faith and my swimming could not be separated".
It is an honest autobiography giving more details of the financial aspects of her life than is normal in an autobiography. The Olympian's view of drug testing (chapter 21) gives an insight into an essential yet demeaning aspect of the elite sportsperson's life.
Her belief that swimming was an integral part of her Christian is illustrated time and time again "As I swam alone in the pool that night I could sense the Lord's presence". (Page 12) or "As I lay in bed that night [after winning her second Olympic gold medal], I prayed. "Why me, Lord? Why not Sam or Amanda? Why did you give me the 100 and the 200?" (Page 24)
More clearly than any sportsperson I know, Penny understands and articulates sport as worship: "I said a silent prayer. 'Lord, I am going to worship you back and forth. As I swim and make the stroke with my arms, I am going to worship you. Whatever happens is your will.'" (Page 96)
The book describes moments of great triumph - double Olympic champion 1996, 4 world records in one meet - but also disappointments Sydney 2000, not able to produce what she was capable of. Both are interpreted honestly as part of God's plan.
These were her thoughts on taking bronze in Sydney. "Before the Olympics, I had prayed that whatever the outcome of the Games, I would walk the talk as a Christian. The result would be the one would let me be the greatest witness for my faith. It's easy to be a good sport when you always win, but not so when you come third. I would prove it was possible. I had also prayed that those competing against me would be at their best. As the race panned out, most had been. Had I won, I would have shaken the hand of everyone and received widespread congratulations. Now I had an opportunity to lose and be gracious. Not that I had lost, though - I had won a bronze." (Page 124)
Penny's reflections on competing and winning are fascinating. Her definition of winning is "to swim at 100 per cent of my potential in the race". On another occasion she expressing a lack of satisfaction in a victory because her greatest competitor had not been in the race. "I always wanted my opponents on top form so if I beat them I did so knowing I was the pick of the field". (Page 159).