Is Natalie Coughlin awesome or what? It's the "Local boy makes good," except she's not a boy and she did more than just "makes good. Natalie Anne Coughlin born August 23, is an American international swimmer and eleven-time Olympic medalist. At the Summer Olympics , Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics, the first woman ever to win a meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics [1] , and is the first woman to ever swim the meter backstroke in under one minute.
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.
She is a member of the United States Olympic team and will compete in the 4xmeter freestyle relay event at the Summer Olympics in London. And that doesn't even talk about her dancing! There's a lot of firsts in there, a lot of history made by this East Bay native. The reality is that she is one of the greatest swimmers of all time. This success did not come by accident as she has worked beyond hard to accomplish all of her goals.
Join me after the jump to learn more about this fine Golden Bear. This article from Coughlins' time at Cal shows her harsh training schedule:. A day in the life of Natalie Coughlin is a long day. Related Coughlin: "The team is in the water at a. Then, we work out again for at least three hours in the afternoon — swimming, running, yoga, weights. There are not many sports where you are doing two practices a day.
And we have no off-season in this sport. One whole week without training is huge; for me, it sets me way back. Hardy touched in She went out fast, exploded off the first turn and then hung on with one thought in her mind over the last 25 meters.
Coughlin finished third. Coughlin was setting standards in the back when many of her current rivals were age-group swimmers. She was the first woman to win back-to-back titles in the same event in consecutive Olympics in and , and the first woman to swim the event in under 1 minute. These sponsorships were modest, especially when compared to those given to Phelps, but they enabled Coughlin to continue doing what she had been good at for 20 years. Coughlin was speaking via telephone from London, where she had just competed in the Summer Olympics.
She swam a leg in a preliminary round for the United States in the 4xmeter freestyle relay, an event in which the Americans placed third in the finals. Coughlin is not exactly blazing a new trail here, and, at 29, she is still young enough to continue swimming competitively. Jason Lezak, 36, a four-time Olympic gold medallist and the father of two children, also swam in London, helping the U.
More from CNBC. Matt Farrell, the chief marketing officer for USA Swimming, said the national governing body for the sport, athletes have had much more success in recent Olympics at stretching their careers well past graduation from college.
A year ago, USA Swimming started the Swimpact program, in which swimmers can increase the financial support provided by the organization by committing to a training plan and making two appearances in the community to promote swimming. Coughlin received a bronze medal, her 12th medal in three Olympics, tying her with the swimmers Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most career medals by an American woman.
She is certain she would not have made it to London without corporate backing.
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