The Cal 100: No. 12 -- Natalie Coughlin

Golden Girl dominated collegiate swimming, won 12 Olympic medals and set six world records.

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 12: Natalie Coughlin

Cal Sports Connection: Coughlin was 61-0 in dual-meet races at Cal, won 12 NCAA titles and three times was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year.

Claim to Fame: She is one of America's greatest female swimmers, winning 12 medals at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and capturing a total of 60 medals in major international events.

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It seems hard to imagine that Natalie Coughlin — who won 12 medals at three Olympics — ever experienced moments of self-doubt about her competitive swimming career.

But it happened. Twice.

First was before she arrived at Cal in the fall of 2000 after suffering a devastating shoulder injury that left her questioning her future in the pool. Rehab and a revamped stroke helped her conquer that obstacle.

Natalie Coughlin / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Then, after swimming below her standards while battling a viral infection that peaked with a 102-degree fever at the 2003 World Championships, Coughlin was asked by a European reporter how it felt to “disgrace” her country.

"It was miserable," Coughlin said later about the meet where she won a gold and silver in relay events but no medals in her individual races. "No one wanted to be around me, even though they did care about me. I was kind of an outcast. I wanted to really stay positive and cheer for the team, but it was really hard.”

As the 2004 Olympics approached, retired gold medalist Rowdy Gaines, an analyst for NBC Sports, expressed his belief Coughlin would deliver.

”Natalie's the kind of swimmer who comes along once in a generation," Gaines said. "She could win almost any event she enters. She's that good.”

She won five medals at Athens — including a gold in her individual specialty, the 100 backstroke — tied for the most by a U.S. woman in one Olympics.

Coughlin topped that with six medals at Beijing in 2008, becoming the first American woman in any sport to win six medals at an Olympics. She also became the first woman to defend her title in the 100 back.

The No. 12 entry in The Cal 100, Coughlin concluded her Olympic career in 2012 with a single relay gold, giving her a total of 12 medals and tying the career record shared by swimmers Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most medals won at the Olympics.

Coughlin assembled a career equaled by few swimmers. She won a total of 60 medals in major international events, including 20 at the World Championships, the most by any woman.

She set six world records — including in the 100 back where she became the first women to swim faster than 1 minute — and 35 national records.

"I love the competitiveness and the training,” Coughlin told Self magazine in 2016. “I love to push my body to be faster and stronger. I love the feeling of racing against the best swimmers in the world.”

She shared the story of her swimming journey in Golden Girl, a book she co-authored with Cal alum and accomplished sports writer Mike Silver.

Coughlin, who grew up in the Bay Area and attended Carondelet High School in Concord, was a star before she arrived at Berkeley.

At age 15, she qualified for 14 different events at the USA summer nationals. She broke national high school records in the 100-yard back and the 200-yard individual medley.

Once at Cal, she dominated college competition, assembling a 61-0 record in dual-meet races. She also won 12 NCAA titles, three times was named NCAA Swimmer of the Year, and three times was a finalist for the Sullivan Award, given to the nation’s top amateur athlete.

Now approaching 41, Coughlin has thrived outside the pool. Married and the mother of two, she served as an Olympic analyst for MSNBC and appeared on season 9 of Dancing with the Stars.

Cooking has been a long-time passion, and Coughlin helped prepared a Chinese dish on the Today show during the Beijing Olympics. She competed on the Food Network’s Chopped and was a judge on Iron Chef America. Her cookbook, Cook to Thrive, was published in 2019.

Natalie Coughlin in the vineyard / Gaderian Wines

In 2017, she accepted an invitation from Shaina Harding to become co-owner of Gaderian Wines, based in St. Helena.

Harding, with the wine background, saw Coughlin as an ideal complement in the partnership. “I’d never managed my personal brand or anything like that,” Harding told Sports Illustrated in 2020. “But Natalie’s been doing that since she was a teenager.”

Coughlin took classes at UC Davis in viticulture and enology, but says the hands-on experience she got working alongside Harding was invaluable. Their venture is now in its sixth year.

Coughlin’s swimming career has been recognized with her induction into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

-- No. 13: Joe Kapp

Cover photo of Natalie Coughlin by Devanshi Rathi

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo