By Josh Jeffrey

Female High School Swimmer of the Year: Natalie Coughlin She's Just Natalie

Prodigy...Wünderkind...Amazing. All three words could be used to describe Natalie Coughlin, but if you ask her, just Natalie will do, thanks.

Natalie Coughlin, a 15-year-old sophomore from Vallejo, Calif. sent high school swimming to new levels with three record-breaking performances last May at the California North Coast Sectional Championships in Novato.

Swimming for Carondelet High School on just a three-day taper, Swimming World's Female High School Swimmer of the Year bettered both the national public and independent school records in the 200 yard IM. Clocking 1:58.84 (after posting a 1:59.20 in prelims), she set a new independent mark, breaking Emily Mastin's (Xavier, Ariz.) 1:59.82 from 1995. She also became the fastest high school IMer ever as she eclipsed Allison Wagner's (Eastside, Fla.) 1994 public school record of 1:58.91.

"I was happy that I bettered my time, but I was hoping to break 1:57," admits Coughlin. "We did a lot of speed work leading up to the meet, and my legs were killing me." Natalie, though, would save her best for last.

Prior to the prelims of the 100 yard backstroke, Natalie's best time in the event was a 55.24. A little over 53 seconds later—53.46 to be exact—she had a new national independent school record, chopping 1.59 seconds off Margo Diamond's (Peddie, N.J.) 1995 standard of 55.05. And for good measure, she swam faster than Misty Hyman's (Shadow Mountain, Ariz.) public school record of 53.68, set in 1996.

Coughlin's new record, however, was short-lived. She came back the following night in finals to shatter her new mark by a full 6-tenths of a second, posting an incredible 52.86—just 15-hundredths off the new American record set by Catherine Fox at this year's NCAA Championships in Minneapolis.

"It was a really fun swim, but I have some mixed emotions about it," she says. "I really jammed my third turn and came too close to the wall, which cost me a lot of time. I was hoping for the American record."

In addition to her hat trick of records, Natalie helped the Carondelet girls win the North Coast women's title and contributed in the team's winning 200 medley and North Coast record-breaking 400 free relay.

Importance of Balance
Though swimming is a major part of Natalie's life, she understands the importance of balance. "You can't let swimming be everything," she says. "I've seen how easily it can all be taken away from you. One of my teammates from the Terrapins' national squad, Chuck Worthy, was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. Doctors told him he'd never be able to swim again. The whole group was devastated. Fortunately, after extensive testing, it was found to be a false alarm, but it really helped me put things in perspective. Something like that can happen to anyone, at any time."

Part of that balance is achieved by focusing on success in academics, and Natalie shines just as brightly in the classroom as she does in the pool. Throughout her freshman and sophomore years at Carondelet, Natalie carried a 4.0 average.

"I believe swimming is great for giving you the skills you need to do well in school," says Natalie. "It teaches you to manage your time effectively and also gives you the discipline you need to get the work done in a timely manner."

Another part of that balance is recreation time. In spite of a training and competition schedule that, coupled with schoolwork, is becoming increasingly more rigorous, Natalie makes time to hang out with friends on weekends. "It gets difficult at times, but friends are very important, and I'm trying not to miss out on a normal teenage life just because I'm a swimmer."

Even when away from the pool, Natalie can't seem to stay away from the water. "I guess you could say I'm a water baby," she giggles. "I love to surf." Whenever time allows, and the conditions are right, Natalie likes to steal away with friends to San Francisco Bay to catch a few waves. "I don't get to go that often, so I really enjoy the time I have there. It's calming," says Natalie.

And on Aug. 23, look out drivers. That's when Natalie turns 16, and she intends to get her license the next day. "The 23rd is a Sunday, so I'm going Monday to get my license," she laughs. "You have no idea how much I am looking forward to this. I am always asking my teammates for rides. I've already got this all planned out."

Swimming Fast
Inevitably, though, what Coughlin will be doing most this summer is what she does best—swimming fast. While most 15-year-old girls have their sights set on dating and shopping, Natalie has hers set on world and American records.

Coughlin is currently ranked first in the 15-16 girls national age group short course rankings in at least one event in each stroke, which is garnering her comparisons to another swimmer who achieved such a feat, the great Tracy Caulkins.

"That really is flattering. Tracy was...incredible," Natalie blushes. "I still have a long way to go before I even come close, but instead of being the next Tracy Caulkins, I want to be the first Natalie Coughlin."

The down-to-earth Coughlin, who blushes and smiles from dimple to dimple when complimented, remains grounded despite numerous predictions and comparisons to former greats. As the weight of expectations grow leading up to the 2000 Olympic Trials, Natalie is quick to remind you that she swims for herself.

"I do this because I love it," she affirms. "If I hadn't achieved some of the things I've been fortunate enough to achieve, I'd still be swimming. As long as I honestly love to do this, I'll avoid falling into that pressure trap. The only expectations that matter are my own."

Keys to Success
Natalie's coach at Terrapin, Ray Mitchell, thinks her personality traits coupled with her work ethic are the keys to her success. "Not only is Natalie a hard worker, but she also does everything a good athlete should. She eats right, she gets enough rest, she keeps her goals in sight in everything she does. She also has the right attitude about her successes. She's not floating on some cloud. She's grounded, and she knows she can always get better."

Mitchell believes Coughlin will only continue to improve further, and he feels she has an excellent shot of making the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. "She knows there are a lot of technique improvements to be made for her to compete against the top world-class swimmers," he says.

"She's also a racer. She does best when she has someone to race against. There's still a top tier of girls she hasn't yet raced against. After this summer, she should have more international racing experience, which is what she needs to compete at the top of the world."

Coughlin's weakest stroke is breaststroke, but that's improving, says Mitchell: "The missing link in her IM is the breaststroke, but recently she's been training a lot in the breaststroke lane with our national-level girls, Laura Davis and Leah Monroe."

Breaststroke is the only stroke in which Coughlin is not currently ranked in the world's top 25, but that may change. "She's really improving in her technique, which should help both her individual breaststroke events and her IMs," says Mitchell. Coughlin would like to get Summer Sanders' 200 yard IM American record (1:55.54) before graduating from high school.

Future Goals
Natalie's goals in swimming are to break world and American records and to make the 2000 Olympic team, but what does the future hold for Coughlin past the pool? She's looking forward to college, although she's undecided as to where to go. "I really haven't given it much thought yet," says Natalie. She hopes to pursue a career in the sciences, potentially biotechnology. "I took biology this year and really enjoyed it. I definitely want to get into a scientific field."

Natalie would also like to try a triathlon. "I like to run and bike, and, of course, swim, but we don't have any time during the season to do a triathlon other than the two weeks rest we get at the end of the summer—and that wouldn't exactly be smart," she admits. "I plan to stay active after my college swimming career, so triathlon would be a great way to stay in shape."

At next year's North Coast meet, Coughlin says she'd like to try new events. Her best time this year in the 200 yard freestyle (1:45.69, swum at a USS meet) would have broken Sippy Woodhead's national high school record from 1982 (1:45.98).

Also, her best time in the 100 yard butterfly (53.96), also swum at a USS meet just one day after the North Coast championships, is within reach of Misty Hyman's national high school mark of 52.41. As it is, Natalie holds the independent school record in the event with a 54.11, done this year at a dual meet in March.

When Natalie was told she was named Swimming World's Female High School Swimmer of the Year for 1998—the first time a sophomore has received the award—Coughlin blushed and smiled in her trademark way and said that she was making it a new goal of hers...to become the first person to win the award three years in a row.

If all goes the way of Coughlin's goals, which seems to be the case lately, you'll be seeing her here again next August.

About the Author
Josh Jeffrey is a regular contributor to Swimming World. He maintains a swimming web site at http://users.southeast.net/~jjswim.