Penny has addressed hundreds of South African and African audiences in countries including Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique. Further afield, her message has been acclaimed in the USA, Canada, Australia, Sri-Lanka, Dubai, Qatar and Switzerland

As an international swimmer, Penny became the only woman in Olympic history to win both the 100 and 200 metre breaststroke events in Atlanta 1996 and bronze in Sydney 2000. She also broke a total of 14 individual world records during her career. She is also the only breaststroker, male or female, in the history of swimming, to hold the then long course world records in all three possible distances, namely the 50m, 100 and 200m events.

In 2006, Penny Heyns become an inaugural inductee into the South African ‘Sports Hall of Fame’. The following year, she became the first non-track and field female athlete to be inducted into the ‘Africa Sports Hall of Fame’. Also in 2007, she joined elite international icons such as Johnny Weissmuller – better known as the original Tarzan – and Mark Spitz, when she was inducted into the prestigious ‘International Swimming Hall of Fame’ in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

Penny returned to the Olympics in Tokyo 2020, in the capacity of Fina Athletes’ Committee Chairperson and Bureau Member. This marked the first time that Penny had set foot back on an Olympic pool deck since her retirement after the Sydney Olympics in 2000.