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Ringing endorsement

Heyns swims to another world record, credits Creatine

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Posted: Saturday August 28, 1999 02:03 AM

Penny Heyns smiles after receiving the gold for her world record performance. AP

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Makers of the controversial sports supplement Creatine couldn't get a better endorsement for their product than what Penny Heyns has achieved in the past six weeks.

The South African swimmer started taking Creatine, billed as a legal alternative to steroids, two months ago, to help improve her diet as she trained at 2,000-feet altitude in Calgary, Canada.

On Saturday she broke her eighth world record in 11 races spanning six weeks, racing alone in a special 50-meter breaststroke time trial at the Pan Pacific championships.

Heyns has also broken the 100-meter record three times and the 200 four times, stretching back to July 17 in Los Angeles.

FINA delegate Roger Smith said the time trial was approved by swimming's governing body.

Her decision to seek sanction for the 50 time trial, a non-Olympic event, started as a joke which was followed up by team management, Heyns said Saturday.

Heyns is hesitant to give Creatine all the credit for her dramatic record run, and says many swimmers use it.

More important, says Heyns, is an overall improvement in her diet.

"I'm making an effort on the nutritional side and I just want to have all my T's crossed," Heyns said. "Your body produces Creatine and if you eat a lot of red meat you can have high Creatine stores and if you don't eat a lot of red meat you don't have that level.

"I've always been lazy with my diet and nutrition, it's a nightmare, and my iron levels have been low and my Creatine as well."

Heyns said she was initially concerned about taking the supplement, approved by the IOC and popular in other sports such as soccer, tennis and baseball.

"I didn't like it originally because a lot of people take high dosages and you can get dependent on it psychologically," she said.

"It's the same as if I believed a hamburger is going to help me. Say the day comes when they say I can't have a hamburger before my race, then I'm not going to perform."

Heyns has come back from the brink of retiring after the Atlanta Olympics, where she won the 100-200 breaststroke double.

She said she got to the stage of hating her sport, but after deciding to carry on to next year's Sydney Olympics she wanted to do everything possible to make sure she competed at her best.

Creatine is an amino acid protein, which is also produced naturally in humans, and overuse has been linked to problems such as cramping and dehydration.

"I think if you take a big dose it makes you feel sick," Heyns said. "I take a very low dose. I think with a lot of the swimmers it varies with how much they take, as far as being sick. They take too much."

Two NFL clubs, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati, have banned their players from taking Creatine while several National Olympic Committees have asked the IOC to add it to its banned list.

Mary Pierce is the most publicized recent case of a pro athlete using Creatine. Her increased strength and muscle mass was the center of attention in the British press during this year's Wimbledon tennis championships.

 

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