Sure there are plenty of supermodels out there that look great after spending two hours putting on makeup, but I'll take a natural beauty any day of the week.

Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin posed for the latest edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and can be found in the body paint section, looking spectacular.

Aside from the fact that her “Swimsuit” is an incredibly cool design that features scores of different blue paint, what stands out is her sheer beauty.  

The three-time gold medal winner is a great example of a natural female physique that doesn’t require Photoshop, Botox or plastic surgery.  When speaking with the Tucson Citizen, Coughlin agreed:

As beautiful as the supermodels are, I think it’s great to have different types of bodies. To have an athletic body in SI Swimsuit Issue, I think, is really important. SI is a sports magazine in the first place. So it’s nice to have balance between models and athletes.

133456219_crop_340x234 Harry How/Getty Images

Boom. She nailed it. Female athletes get a bad rap because of their preserved manly traits like muscles. In reality, they are just as beautiful as the next girl with a better-toned body.

In a sports magazine, it’s imperative that super models who can’t pick LeBron James out of a crowd don’t dominate the Swimsuit Edition from cover-to-cover. More than anything else, it’s sending a message to younger girls that you can still be considered beautiful despite breaking a sweat.

Coughlin is not just breaking a stereotype, she’s shattering it. I’m pretty sure plenty of models in the issue would die for Coughlin’s body…especially at the age of 29. 

 

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