SPORTS FEATURE
FINDING A NEW ROLE For many elite athletes, retirement isn’ t a smooth transition or a clean break. It can be more of an identity shuffle. The bigger question for Heyns was: who are you without the pool?
For her, the answer slowly formed through speaking, coaching, mentoring, and eventually, a return to the water in a completely different role as a mentor.
“ Since retiring, apart from corporate speaking, which I really love, I became more involved again with coaching on the technical and mental preparation side,” she says.
That grew into swim camps, clinics, and one-on-one sessions.“ For almost 14 years now we’ ve been doing that,” she says.“ We do a couple internationally a year and also in South Africa.”
“ Whenever I travelled for swimming, I was so focused on getting ready for competition,” she says. I can’ t even tell you what it was like outside the hotel room.” Some of the cities barely existed beyond the airport transfers, hotel corridors, and competition venues.
“ I never left the hotel in Marrakesh. Airport to hotel, and back again.”
But one place does stand out.“ Atlanta would have to rank highest,” she says.“ It felt like home away from home.” Atlanta was where everything came together, from the years of training and pressure to the performances that cemented her places in Olympic history.
FINDING BALANCE AWAY FROM THE CLOCK Real balance didn’ t arrive during competition. It came much later, away from the stopwatch, competition, and schedule.
“ The great saving grace for me was buying a share on a farm and living there for 10 years,” she says.
Farm life was a different kind of endurance sport: quiet mornings, open space, and animals.“ Lots of animals, 13 dogs. Life in nature and being around animals.”
It was not the absence of discipline so much as a different rhythm. After years of living by the clock, there was room for stillness, space, animals, and the unpredictability of ordinary life.
The work allows her to draw on the technical knowledge of a world-class swimmer. She spends plenty of time helping young athletes navigate the mental and emotional side of sport, lending the perspective of someone who understands what they face.
“ The lanes are behind her. The legacy is still moving.”
Alongside coaching and speaking, Heyns is also involved in consulting and water safety work through her foundations.
“ We have two foundations focused on water safety awareness. It started off small, but we have some traction now.”
THE WORLD SEEN THROUGH HOTEL WINDOWS For most people, elite sport sounds like a glamorous global adventure. For Heyns, it was mostly hotels and focus, which meant she saw little of the places she visited.
LOOKING BACK Perhaps the most surprising part of Heyns’ story is how unplanned it all was.“ I never had any ambition to go to the Olympics and win medals,” she says. Even when success came, she did not immediately understand the full significance of what sport had given her.“ As an athlete, I never appreciated the value of sport.”
That appreciation has grown with distance. Today, the medals are part of history, but they are not the whole story. For Heyns, legacy isn’ t about podiums, but showing young athletes that sport can be both a platform and a preparation ground for something bigger. Because for her, the finish line was never really the end. The lanes are behind her. The legacy is still moving. IB
82 INBOUND SA / JULY 2026