Natalie Coughlin is an 11-time Olympic medalist and 16-time world championship medalist. She brought a gold, two silver and three bronze medals home from Beijing this summer. She is also the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the 100m backstroke and the first U.S. female swimmer to win six medals in a single Olympiad — making her the most decorated female athlete of the 2008 Games.
In the 2007 Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) World Championships, Coughlin won several medals, including gold medals in the 100m backstroke and the 4x200m freestyle relay (setting a world record), silver medals in the 4x100m medley relay and the 4x100m freestyle relay, and a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly. In 2006, Coughlin won six medals at the Pan Pacific Championships in Canada, where, building upon her success at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, she set an American record in the 200m freestyle for her leg in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Coughlin won two gold medals, two silver and one bronze at the 2004 Olympic Games.
In 2003, Coughlin was honored with the Women’s Sports Foundation Individual Sportswoman of the Year award. In the 2003 season, Coughlin won the 100y and 200y backstrokes as well as the 100y fly for the third straight year at the NCAA championships. She also set an American and U.S. Open record on the 100y freestyle. Coughlin was named NCAA Swimmer of the Year for the third straight year (2001, 2002 and 2003) after winning the 100y and 200y backstroke, as well as the 100y butterfly, all in American and U.S. Open record time. That year, she set a world record in the 100m backstroke, becoming the first woman to complete the 100m backstroke in less than one minute. Coughlin was named one of the top finalists for the 73rd Annual AAU James E. Sullivan Memorial Award, which recognizes the top amateur athlete in the nation. She was honored for her performances at both the U.S. nationals and the Pan Pacific Championships by being named Athlete of the Month by the United States Olympic Committee in August of 2002. Coughlin was also a nominee for the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year award in 2002.
Leading up to Beijing, Coughlin participated in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s Project Believe campaign, voluntarily participating in extra blood tests in an effort to speak out in support of clean sport. With her medal haul in Beijing, she helped children around the world receive an $85,000 donation to Right to Play made through the "Hearts of Gold" program sponsored by Johnson & Johnson.
Coughlin, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, released a book in 2006 entitled "Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America’s Olympic Champion."
(9/08)