{"id":316975,"date":"2018-07-03T12:06:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T19:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=316975"},"modified":"2018-07-03T12:06:10","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T19:06:10","slug":"natalie-coughlin-describes-emotional-abuse-on-undeniable-show-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/natalie-coughlin-describes-emotional-abuse-on-undeniable-show-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Natalie Coughlin Describes ‘Emotional Abuse’ on ‘Undeniable’ Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dan D’Addona.<\/em><\/p>\n

Natalie Coughlin<\/strong><\/a>, the most decorated U.S. female Olympian, will appear on \u201cUndeniable\u201d a sports talk show with Joe Buck<\/strong> on Tuesday and will discuss many topics with the sportscaster, including the issues of emotional abuse and body shaming.<\/p>\n

Several clips of the interview were released ahead of the show\u2019s airing on the AT&T Audience Network, most notably issues Coughlin had with coach Ray Mitchell<\/strong> early in her career.<\/p>\n

Body shaming is something that has always been an issue in for a sport in which swimsuits are the uniform. It is easy for swimmers to compare their bodies with their peers, even easier when a coach or parent points out those differences.<\/p>\n

Coughlin, now 35 and pregnant<\/a> with her first child, said Mitchell did that to her and her teammates and it was a \u201ctoxic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell runs the Terrapin Swim Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe saw me in many ways as validating his career,\u201d Coughlin told Buck. \u201cIt was really tough. I was having a hard enough time as it was. He was just piling on to me just saying how I was an emotional basket case. He was really emotionally abusive and just really tore me down when I didn\u2019t need to be torn down. \u2026 He was just straight-up abusive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so happy to get that out of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n