Blast from the past: Heyns clocks the first of her 14 world records

Today in SA sports history: March 4

1971 — Lee McGregor wins the 200m backstroke title for his fifth crown of the SA swimming championships at Newlands, becoming the most successful male swimmer at the national gala. The record of six titles had been set by Karen Muir two years earlier.

1986 — Gerrie Coetzee takes on young British heavyweight hope Frank Bruno at Wembley in London and gets blown out in the first round, losing his status as a world title contender. Coetzee had been hoping to get another shot at the WBA crown he had lost in December 1984 on a controversial eighth-round knockout.

1995 — Vuyani Bungu makes the second defence of his IBF junior-featherweight title, beating Mohammed Nurhuda of Indonesia on points at the Carousel Casino.

1996 — Penny Heyns sets the first of her 14 world records, clocking 1 min 07.46 sec in the 100m breaststroke at the South African Olympic trials in Durban. She would win Olympic gold in the 100m and 200m at the Atlanta Games later that year, becoming the only woman to win the breaststroke double.