Natalie Anne Coughlin (Born August 23, 1982 in Vallejo, California) is an American swimmer and eleven-time Olympic medallist (3 Gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze). 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 have 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-six medals in major international competition, twenty gold, sixteen silver, and ten bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships.
In 1998 at age 15, Natalie became the first swimmer to qualify for the Summer National in all 14 events. 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 won gold as a member of the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a world record and obtained a silver in the 4x100 m medley relay and a bronze in the 100 m freestyle.
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 California. Coughlin worked as an in-studio host for MSNBC during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, Coughlin won five medals, two gold, two silver, and one bronze. 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
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.
At 2010 US Summer Nationals, 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. She also won two more golds when starting off both the 4x100 Freestyle Relay and the 4x100 Medley Relay.
