Austin Grand Prix Media Guide - USA Swimming

Natalie Coughlin
200m Free (2): '06 SUM, '02 SUM
200m Back (3): '02 SUM (AR), '98 SUM, '98 SPG
100m Fly (3): '06 SUM, '02 SUM, '01 SPG
100m Back (4): '10 SUM, '05 SPG, '02 SUM (WR), '01 SPG
100m Free (2): '05 SPG, '02 SUM
ADDITIONAL HONORS:
General Accolades: Three-time Sullivan Award finalist for the nation's top amateur athlete (2001
-02, 05) … 2004 Female Athlete of the Year and two-time Relay Performance of the Year (2004
Olympic and 2005 World Champ 800m free relay) … 2003 Women's Sports Foundation
Sportswoman of the Year … 2002 USA Swimming Athlete of the Year
International: 2002 Swimming World Female World Swimmer of the Year
National Teams: Eight-time National A Team (1997-98, 01-06) ... 1997 National Junior Team
All-Star Team: Seven-time (1998, 01-06)
Meet Honors: First person since Tracy Caulkins (1978) to win five U.S. National titles at one
meet (August 2002) ... had qualifying times for 1998 National Championships for every event and
every stroke (first swimmer to do so)
Meet Honors: World record holder in the 100m back (first woman under one minute) ... swam
the lead-off leg of the world record-setting 800m free-relay at the 2004 Olympic Games (the
former 17-year-old record was the oldest one on the books); her lead-off split was the secondfastest
time by an American woman and would have won the 200m free individually in Athens
Collegiate: Three-time NCAA Swimmer of the Year (2001-03); won 11 of 12 possible NCAA
titles over her career; also won one NCAA relay title … 2004 Sports Illustrated on Campus’
Female Athlete of the Year
High School: 1998 Swimming World National High School Swimmer of the Year … top female
point-getter on 1998 and 1999 Scholastic All-American teams
PERSONAL:
High School: Carondelet HS '00
College: Cal-Berkeley '05
College Major: Psychology
Parents: James and Zennie … father is a police officer, and mother is a Kaiser paralegal
Sibling(s): Younger sister (Megan) attended UC Davis and was a swimmer
Started Swimming: Age 6
Sports Played Before Swimming: Gymnastics, volleyball
Nickname(s): Nat
Pet(s): Two dogs (Shera and Jake) … Shera is a Border Terrier, and Jake is a Boxer
Hobbies Outside the Pool: Cooking; appeared with Al Roker on The Today Show to cook up a
pork and persimmon risotto dish (Dec. 2002) … also loves surfing and photography
Ultimate Way to Relax: Enjoying good food and wine
Charities: Women's Sports Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids “Kick Butts Day”
More: Wrote a book with Sports Illustrated’s Michael Silver entitled, "Golden Girl: How Natalie
Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America's Olympic
Champion"; it was released in April 2006 ... Was an Olympic analyst for MSNBC during the 2006
Winter Olympic Games ... Appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars in 2009
More: Has an extensive dry land training program, which includes pilates and dance classes ...
favorite place to be when she isn’t training or competing is in Kauai, Hawaii … first job was
working at the Snack Shack at her local pool ... when she was little, wanted to be Whitney
Houston ... greatest obstacle she's overcome is a shoulder injury and "burnout"
Favorites: U.S. city: San Francisco ... int'l destination: Sydney ... band: Counting Crows ...
summer activity: surfing ... movie: Dogma ... tv: Lost, Nip/Tuck, Heroes
CAREER STATS: (continued)
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2001
Final, 400m MED-R (AR)
TRIALS - 2 Final, 100m FR; 1 Final, 100m BK (WR); 2 Final,
200m IM
08 SCSC GP - t3 Final, 50m FR; t2 Final, 100m FR (AR); t1
Final, 100m BK
- 9 Final, 100m FR; t1 Final, 100m BK; t1 Final, 200m IM
08 MIZZ GP - t3 Final, 50m FR; t3 Final, 100m FR; t2 Final,
200m FR
SCSC GP - t1 Final, 100m FR; t1 Final, 100m FL; 1 Final,
400m FR-R
MoO DiP - 1 Final, 100m BK
WORLD - 8 Final, 50m FR; 1 Semi, 100m FR (AR); 4 Final,
100m FR; 1 Final, 100m BK (WR); 3 Final, 100m FL (AR); 2
Final, 400m FR-R (AR); 1 Final, 800m FR-R (WR); 2 Final,
400m MED-R
PAN PAC - 2 Final, 50m FR; 1 Final, 100m FR; 2 Final, 100m
BK; 1 Final, 400m FR-R; 1 Final, 800m FR-R; 1 Final, 400m
MED-R
SUM NATS - 2 Final, 50m FR; 2 Final, 100m FR; 1 Final,
200m FR; 1 Final, 100m FL
MoO DiP - 1 Final, 100m BK
WORLD - t2 Final, 100m FR; 3 Final, 100m BK; 6 Final, 50m
FL; 3 Final, 400m FR-R
WC TRIALS - 1 Final, 100m FR; 1 Final, 100m BK; 3 Final,
100m FL
OLY - 3 Final, 100m FR; 1 Final, 100m BK; 2 Final, 400m
FR-R (AR); 1 Final, 800m FR-R (WR); 1 Final, 800m FR-R
(AR); 1 Final, 800m FR-R (OR); 2 Final, 400m MED-R
OLY TRIALS - 6 Final, 50m FR; t5 Final, 50m FR; 2 Final,
100m FR; 1 Final, 100m FR; 1 Final, 100m BK; 1 Final, 100m
BK
WORLD - 6 Semi, 100m FL; 8 Final, 100m FL; 1 Final, 400m
FR-R; 2 Final, 400m MED-R
MoO DiP - 1 Final, 100m BK; 1 Final, 100m FL
Worlds - 3 Final, 50m BK (AR); 1 Final, 100m BK; 4 Final, 50m
FL