Natalie Coughlin: Analyzing Star's Impact on Olympic Swimming

Natalie Coughlin came to London needing one Olympic medal to join fellow swimmers Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson as the most decorated female Olympians in our country's history.

In 2008, Coughlin won six medals in Beijing. She won gold in her signature event, the 100m Backstroke.

Coughlin also won silver medals in the 4x100m Medley Relay and 4x100m Freestyle Relay. She rounded out her medal haul with bronze in the 100m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley and 4x200m Freestyle Relay.

Four years earlier, Coughlin won five Olympic medals in Athens. She took gold in the 100m Backstroke and 4x200m Freestyle Relay.

Coughlin won silver medals in the other two relay events, the 4x100m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley. She also finished third to take home a bronze medal in the 100m Freestyle.

In London, at the age of 29, Coughlin qualified for only one event. She competed in the preliminaries of the 4x100m Freestyle Relay, helping the US team reach the finals.

In a somewhat controversial decision, head coach Teri McKeever, who is very close to Coughlin and also coached her at Cal, opted to leave her out of the finals.

Although Coughlin did not swim in the finals, the US team took third place and earned a bronze medal. This gave Coughlin her 12th Olympic medal, putting her at the pinnacle of American female Olympians, along with Torres and Thompson.

Coughlin has not ruled out trying to make the US Olympic team in 2016, when the games will be held in Rio de Janeiro. This would be a monumental accomplishment, however, as she will be 33 years of age, at that time.

Age 33 is ancient in the world of women's swimming, unless your name is Dara Torres, who narrowly missed qualifying for the US team this year, at the age of 45. Time will tell if Coughlin decides to make another run at it, four years from now.

Coughlin, who married former swimmer Ethan Hall in 2009, has also mentioned that she would like to start a family after the London Games. The couple live in the East Bay, just a few minutes from UC Berkeley, where Coughlin attended college and led the Cal swim team for four years.

Unlike most other world-class athletes who have a singular focus on their sport, Coughlin has a multitude of interests.

In addition to her husband and their two dogs, Coughlin has done a lot of work with the media and has appeared in several television and print advertisements. She has also done a considerable amount of modeling in recent years.

Coughlin has also been a frequent participant and coach for youth swimmers at the Cal summer swim camps. She is always in high demand as the kids are excited to meet her, pose for pictures and get autographs. She also does a great job coaching and motivating these camp participants. 

Coughlin's favorite pastime, when she's not in the water, is her cooking. She is an accomplished gourmet chef and has appeared on quite a few television shows that concentrated on her cooking, as opposed to her swimming.

I have actually met Coughlin three or four times and each time she was very gracious, friendly and one of the most down-to-Earth young ladies you would ever want to know.

Coughlin has always presented herself with the utmost class and has a very charming personality. She is one of the most genuinely pleasant superstars you could ever meet.

Coughlin has been an ambassador for women's swimming and the sport could not have found a better person for the job. Whether she competes in Rio remains to be seen, but her impact on the sport will live on, long after she retires.

Countless young girls have been motivated by Coughlin and will carry on her legacy for years to come.