Watch above as Natalie Coughlin talks with USA Swimming about what #CoachesAre to her.
Coughlin has her eyes set on making another Olympics this summer, specifically in the sprint events. The first woman under a minute in the long course 100 back, way back in 2002, had a rough 2012 where she didn’t qualify individually for the Olympics.
She’s since turned that around, especially so after a lights-out summer of 2015. At the Pan Am Championships, she swam a great 59.05 in the 100 back, her best time since 2008. Additionally, she out-swam both of the American representatives in the 100 back at the World Championships in Kazan.
Now focused solely on the 50 and 100 free as well as the 100 back, she’s on a quest to make waves in Rio. Coughlin has yet to fully taper this year, though her 59.72 from the November FINA World Cup stop in Doha still ranks 9th in the world even after a fair amount of Olympic Trials meets have since occurred.
Coughlin has won sixty international medals in her illustrious career, and has competed at the last three Olympic Games representing the USA.