MICHAEL VLISMAS, Johannesburg | Wednesday 7.00pm.
WORLD record holder Penny Heyns predictably won her 100 metres breaststroke final at the All Africa Games on Wednesday, but was more pleased at maintaining her consistency despite being in her taper.
Heyns won the event in a time of 1:07.58 seconds.
It was not a match of her world record 1:06.52 seconds but, swimming at altitude and still in her taper from last month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney, Heyns said she was satisfied with her performance.
“The time is okay. It didn’t really feel like a race to me. I went out easy with the aim of coming home in 1:08, so I’m happy with 1:07. At altitude, I think I swam it as best as I could,” said Heyns.
“But I can’t help but wonder that if the conditions were perfect and I was swimming at sea level, that maybe I could’ve come closer to the world record.
“But it does mean I can hang on to my taper longer, and it’s nice to remain consistent.”
Heyns said she was spurred on by her home crowd to produce her best in a race she could quite easily have coasted in.
“Part of me felt like just taking it easy in the race, but that wouldn’t have been fair on me or the crowd. It’s great to be swimming at home again in front of a crowd like this.”
Heyns says she plans to take a holiday before resuming her training with an eye on next year’s Olympics in Sydney.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into training. It’s funny, but I feel a bit out of shape. I want to try and do as much racing as I can up until June, without disrupting my training too much.” — MWP