Natalie Coughlin
Encyclopedia
Natalie Anne Coughlin is an American
swimmer
and eleven-time Olympic
medallist.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics
, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics.
Coughlin's success has earned her the World Swimmer of the Year Award
one time and American Swimmer of the Year Award three times. She has won a total of forty-eight medals in major international competition, twenty-one gold, seventeen silver, and ten bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific
Championships.
and is of Irish
and one quarter Filipino
heritage. She was born in Vallejo
and went to school at St. Catherine of Siena School
from kindergarten through eight grade. She attended Carondelet High School
in Concord
.
Coughlin first began swimming at the local YMCA when she was only 10 months old. In 1998 at age 15, she became the first swimmer to qualify for the Summer National in all 14 events. Prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics
, Coughlin was a student-athlete at the University of California, Berkeley
, where she earned a BA in psychology
in 2005. Coughlin won 12 National Collegiate Athletic Association
Swimmer of the Year honors in her first three years at Cal.
Coughlin worked as an in-studio host for MSNBC
during the 2006 Winter Olympics
in Turin, Italy.
In April 2009, Coughlin married Crow Canyon Sharks swim coach, Ethan Hall. One of Coughlin's favorite hobbies is cooking. During the 2008 Summer Olympics
, she was invited to prepare a Chinese-themed dish on the Today show. She has appeared as a judge on Iron Chef America
.
Coughlin competed in season 9
of Dancing with the Stars with season 1
professional champion, Alec Mazo
. She was eliminated on the fifth episode.
Coughlin won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in the women's 100 m backstroke event and was a member of the silver medal women's 4×100 m freestyle relay with Kara Lynn Joyce
, Amanda Weir
, and Jenny Thompson
. She also broke a world record and won gold as a member of the 4×200 m freestyle relay and obtained a silver in the 4x100 m medley relay and a bronze in the 100 m freestyle.
At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships
, Coughlin won five medals, two gold, two silver, and one bronze. In her first event, the 4×100 m freestyle relay, Coughlin won a silver medal along with Lacey Nymeyer
, Amanda Weir
, and Kara Lynn Joyce
. The following day, in the 100 m butterfly, she placed third in the final with a time of 57.34, an American record. In the 100 m backstroke final, held the following day, she broke her own world record set in 2002 with a time of 59.44. After a day of rest, Coughlin was back in the pool to swim the lead-off leg in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. Swimming in lane eight, Coughlin set the American record with a time of 1:56.43, to break Katie Hoff
's one-day-old record of 1:57.09. Dana Vollmer
, Lacey Nymeyer, and Katie Hoff each extended the lead and the final time of 7:50.09 was a world record. The following day, Coughlin finished in 4th place in the 100 m freestyle despite setting the championship record in the semifinals. In her last event, the 4×100 m medley relay, Coughlin won a silver medal along with Tara Kirk
, Rachel Komisarz
, and Lacey Nymeyer.
In Coughlin's second Olympics appearance, at Beijing in 2008, she became the first American female athlete to win six medals in one Olympics. She was elected joint captain of the US women's swimming team together with five-time Olympian Dara Torres
and four-time Olympian Amanda Beard
. Coughlin won the gold medal in the 100 m backstroke at those Games, becoming the first woman to retain the gold medal position in that event. She had lost her world record to Kirsty Coventry
, the eventual winner of the silver medal, in the semi-final. When receiving her medal, her lip was still bleeding where she had bitten it during the race to distract her from the pain in her legs. She won a silver medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, swimming with Lacey Nymeyer
, Kara Lynn Joyce and Dara Torres, and also won bronze medals in the 200 m individual medley, 4x200 m freestyle relay, and the 100 m freestyle. She won a silver medal in her final race in the 4x100 medley relay swimming with Rebecca Soni
, Christine Magnuson
, and Dara Torres.
Before racing at the Pan Pacs, Coughlin, along with Amanda Beard
, was elected co-captain of Team USA once again. Although she qualified for only one event, Coughlin signed up for the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. In the finals of the 100 freestyle, Natalie Coughlin won the gold, making a new Pan Pacific Record. (53.67).
In the finals of the 100 Backstroke, Coughlin finished third (59.70) behind Australia's Emily Seebohm
(Gold) and Japan's Aya Terakawa
(Silver)
Coughlin won two more golds when starting off both the 4x100 Freestyle Relay and the 4x100 Medley Relay.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
swimmer
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and eleven-time Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
medallist.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics.
Coughlin's success has earned her the World Swimmer of the Year Award
Swimming World Swimmers of the Year
The Swimming World Magazine Swimmers of the Year, awarded by the American-based Swimming World Magazine, are a set of awards which are often regarded as being the most prestigious in the sport of swimming...
one time and American Swimmer of the Year Award three times. She has won a total of forty-eight medals in major international competition, twenty-one gold, seventeen silver, and ten bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific
Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985. The meet was initially staged biennially , to allow for an international championship-level meet in the non-Olympic and non-World Championships years...
Championships.
Biography
Coughlin currently lives in Lafayette, CaliforniaLafayette, California
Lafayette is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 23,893. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military hero of the American Revolutionary War...
and is of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
and one quarter Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
heritage. She was born in Vallejo
Vallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
and went to school at St. Catherine of Siena School
St. Catherine of Siena School (Vallejo, California)
St. Catherine of Siena School in Vallejo, California is a Catholic school in the Diocese of Sacramento. The school has nine classes: Kindergarten to Eighth Grade. Although St Catherine is a private Catholic school, it accepts applications for all students regardless of parish or religious...
from kindergarten through eight grade. She attended Carondelet High School
Carondelet High School
Carondelet High School is an all-girls private Catholic high school in Concord, California. Carondelet High School was founded by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. The school of about 800 students was founded in 1965. It shares some resources with the all-boys school, De La Salle High School, which is...
in Concord
Concord, California
Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months...
.
Coughlin first began swimming at the local YMCA when she was only 10 months old. In 1998 at age 15, she became the first swimmer to qualify for the Summer National in all 14 events. Prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
, Coughlin was a student-athlete at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where she earned a BA in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
in 2005. Coughlin won 12 National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Swimmer of the Year honors in her first three years at Cal.
Coughlin worked as an in-studio host for MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
during the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
in Turin, Italy.
In April 2009, Coughlin married Crow Canyon Sharks swim coach, Ethan Hall. One of Coughlin's favorite hobbies is cooking. During the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
, she was invited to prepare a Chinese-themed dish on the Today show. She has appeared as a judge on Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
.
Coughlin competed in season 9
Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 9)
Dancing with the Stars returned for a ninth season on September 21, 2009, on a three-night premiere. Executive producer Conrad Green confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that the 9th season would start off with 16 celebrities, with 3 double-eliminations halfway through the season...
of Dancing with the Stars with season 1
Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 1)
The first season of the United States version of Dancing with the Stars debuted on ABC on June 1, 2005. Six celebrities were paired with six professional ballroom dancers. Tom Bergeron and Lisa Canning were the hosts for this season....
professional champion, Alec Mazo
Alec Mazo
Alec Mazo is a Russian-born American professional ballroom dancer based in San Francisco. He became known for his participation in the American edition of the reality television series Dancing with the Stars, the first season of which he won with partner Kelly Monaco.-Early life and...
. She was eliminated on the fifth episode.
High School
While in high school, Coughlin broke two individual National High School Records in the 200 yard IM (1:58.45) and the 100 yard backstroke (52.86).2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games
Coughlin won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in the women's 100 m backstroke event and was a member of the silver medal women's 4×100 m freestyle relay with Kara Lynn Joyce
Kara Lynn Joyce
Kara Lynn Joyce is an American swimmer and four-time Olympic silver medalist.-High school career:...
, Amanda Weir
Amanda Weir
Amanda Weir is an American swimmer.At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Weir swam the third leg in the US team for the Women's 4×100 m freestyle relay. Leading after her leg of the relay, the US team finished second to the Australians, setting an American Record with their finishing time...
, and Jenny Thompson
Jenny Thompson
Jennifer Beth Thompson is an American former competitive swimmer, and one of the most decorated Olympians in history, winning twelve medals, including eight gold medals , in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics.Thompson, a Massachusetts native who calls Dover, New Hampshire her...
. She also broke a world record and won gold as a member of the 4×200 m freestyle relay and obtained a silver in the 4x100 m medley relay and a bronze in the 100 m freestyle.
2007 World Aquatics Championships
At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships
2007 World Aquatics Championships
The 2007 World Aquatics Championships or the XII FINA World Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007...
, Coughlin won five medals, two gold, two silver, and one bronze. In her first event, the 4×100 m freestyle relay, Coughlin won a silver medal along with Lacey Nymeyer
Lacey Nymeyer
Lacey Pearl Nymeyer is an Olympic swimmer from the United States.-Personal:Nymeyer is a Tucson native who graduated in 2004 from Mountain View High School . She is also a graduate of the University of Arizona where she majored in physical education. Away from her own training, Nymeyer leads swim...
, Amanda Weir
Amanda Weir
Amanda Weir is an American swimmer.At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Weir swam the third leg in the US team for the Women's 4×100 m freestyle relay. Leading after her leg of the relay, the US team finished second to the Australians, setting an American Record with their finishing time...
, and Kara Lynn Joyce
Kara Lynn Joyce
Kara Lynn Joyce is an American swimmer and four-time Olympic silver medalist.-High school career:...
. The following day, in the 100 m butterfly, she placed third in the final with a time of 57.34, an American record. In the 100 m backstroke final, held the following day, she broke her own world record set in 2002 with a time of 59.44. After a day of rest, Coughlin was back in the pool to swim the lead-off leg in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. Swimming in lane eight, Coughlin set the American record with a time of 1:56.43, to break Katie Hoff
Katie Hoff
Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff is an American swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle...
's one-day-old record of 1:57.09. Dana Vollmer
Dana Vollmer
Dana Vollmer is an American college and international swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece she won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Natalie Coughlin, Kaitlin Sandeno, and Carly Piper that set the world record in the event.She has won...
, Lacey Nymeyer, and Katie Hoff each extended the lead and the final time of 7:50.09 was a world record. The following day, Coughlin finished in 4th place in the 100 m freestyle despite setting the championship record in the semifinals. In her last event, the 4×100 m medley relay, Coughlin won a silver medal along with Tara Kirk
Tara Kirk
Tara Kirk is a former American swimmer who specialized in the breaststroke and Olympic silver medalist. She is a former world record holder in the 100-meter breaststroke ....
, Rachel Komisarz
Rachel Komisarz
Rachel Komisarz is an American swimmer. She swam for the United States team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the women's 4x200 m freestyle relay and a silver medal in the women's 4x100 m medley relay.-External links:**...
, and Lacey Nymeyer.
2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games
In Coughlin's second Olympics appearance, at Beijing in 2008, she became the first American female athlete to win six medals in one Olympics. She was elected joint captain of the US women's swimming team together with five-time Olympian Dara Torres
Dara Torres
Dara Grace Torres is an American international swimmer and a twelve-time Olympic medalist. Torres was the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympic Games , and, at age 41, the oldest swimmer ever to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team...
and four-time Olympian Amanda Beard
Amanda Beard
Amanda Ray Beard is an American swimmer and a seven-time Olympic medalist . She is a former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke ....
. Coughlin won the gold medal in the 100 m backstroke at those Games, becoming the first woman to retain the gold medal position in that event. She had lost her world record to Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States...
, the eventual winner of the silver medal, in the semi-final. When receiving her medal, her lip was still bleeding where she had bitten it during the race to distract her from the pain in her legs. She won a silver medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, swimming with Lacey Nymeyer
Lacey Nymeyer
Lacey Pearl Nymeyer is an Olympic swimmer from the United States.-Personal:Nymeyer is a Tucson native who graduated in 2004 from Mountain View High School . She is also a graduate of the University of Arizona where she majored in physical education. Away from her own training, Nymeyer leads swim...
, Kara Lynn Joyce and Dara Torres, and also won bronze medals in the 200 m individual medley, 4x200 m freestyle relay, and the 100 m freestyle. She won a silver medal in her final race in the 4x100 medley relay swimming with Rebecca Soni
Rebecca Soni
Rebecca Soni is an American breaststroke swimmer and three-time Olympic medalist. She currently holds the world record in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke and is a former world-record holder in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke .Soni has won a total of nineteen medals in major...
, Christine Magnuson
Christine Magnuson
Christine Marie Magnuson is an American swimmer and two-time Olympic medalist.She has won a total of five medals in major international competition, four silvers, and one bronze spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.-Personal:Magnuson went to high school...
, and Dara Torres.
2010 US Summer Nationals
After taking an 18-month break from swimming, Coughlin returned to the pool at the 2010 Conoco Phillips Summer Nationals for swimming. Coughlin qualified for Pan Pacs in the 100 Backstroke. (1:00.14).Before racing at the Pan Pacs, Coughlin, along with Amanda Beard
Amanda Beard
Amanda Ray Beard is an American swimmer and a seven-time Olympic medalist . She is a former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke ....
, was elected co-captain of Team USA once again. Although she qualified for only one event, Coughlin signed up for the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. In the finals of the 100 freestyle, Natalie Coughlin won the gold, making a new Pan Pacific Record. (53.67).
In the finals of the 100 Backstroke, Coughlin finished third (59.70) behind Australia's Emily Seebohm
Emily Seebohm
Emily Jane Seebohm OAM is an Australian backstroke, freestyle, butterfly and individual medley swimmer.-Career:...
(Gold) and Japan's Aya Terakawa
Aya Terakawa
is a Japanese backstroke swimmer.-Major achievements:* 2001 World Aquatics Championships - 200m backstroke 8th * 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships - 200m backstroke 2nd...
(Silver)
Coughlin won two more golds when starting off both the 4x100 Freestyle Relay and the 4x100 Medley Relay.
See also
- List of world records in swimming
- United States records in swimmingUnited States records in swimmingThere are two different kinds of swimming records in the United States and certified by USA Swimming:*USA Record, more commonly referred to in the USA as the American Record: the fastest time by an American swimmer....
- List of multiple Olympic medalists
- List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists