By the age of 18, she had already won a world championship in the 100-meter backstroke. At 22, she was a two-time Olympic gold medalist. And at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she became the first American female in modern Olympic history to win six medals in a single games.
Despite all these accomplishments, Coughlin, now 29, says that she still gets nervous at the Olympics.
"Trust me, the Olympics are terrifying," Coughlin told the San Francisco Chronicle's Scott Ostler. "In a good way, but terrifying. There's nothing like walking onto the deck at the Olympic finals in front of, well, in Beijing, it was like 18,000 people, then there are millions and millions of people watching at home. So you feel those nerves, but usually you channel them in a good way."
Following Beijing, Coughlin took an 18-month break from swimming, competing in ABC's Dancing With the Stars in 2009, where she and partner Alec Mazo finished in 10th place. Coughlin won three gold medals in her return to the pool at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships before adding three more medals at last summer's World Championships in Shanghai.
If Coughlin, an 11-time Olympic medalist, can win two medals in London this summer, she will become the most decorated American female Olympian of all-time, moving past fellow swimmers Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres. She would also move into number two on the all-time list for most Olympic medals by a female athlete, trailing only Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won 18 medals between 1956 and 1964.
Click here to check out photos and videos of Natalie Coughlin in and out of the pool>>
