Natalie Coughlin

Natalie Anne Coughlin started swimming in her parents' pool at 10 months of age and began competing by age 6. Her first meet didn't turn out as well as the 2004 Olympics. "I remember, I think it was my first meet, I entered the 25 fly," she said. "I couldn't even get my arms out of the water, and I got a DQ, ....that was just a little bit discouraging." She is Natalie Anne Coughlin, and she is my hero.

She has been my hero ever since the day I went to a swim shop and they gave me a poster with a picture of her on it. I had no clue who she was, but all I knew was that she was cool. So I would tell all of my friends, "She is my hero." And I truly still believe that to this day. She was my hero before she was even breaking Olympic records. Another thing I thought was interesting was that she lived in the same city that I lived in. She is the one who inspires me in my swimming.

Natalie Coughlin isn't just my hero because she holds: 17 American, 11 Cal, seven NCAA and six current world records and has broken 35 individual American records and three American relay records. She is my hero because she tries her best, and in my opinion, she has succeeded. In addition, she worked and worked until she has finally accomplished what she was trying to accomplish.

By age 11 or 12, she was swimming times well ahead of her peers'. In 1998, when she was 15, she became the first swimmer to qualify for the U.S. nationals in every distance of every stroke, won national high school swimmer of the year and was on everyone's checklist for stardom in Sydney in 2000. Natalie graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a BA in psychology. While attending Berkeley she won three National Collegiate Athletic Association Swimmer of the Year honors in her first three years at the university.

Natalie's best strokes are backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle. She used to not be a butterflyer, but in the past years has improved her stroke. Although, she has not completely mastered all of the strokes, she has come close in the freestyle. Natalie is always up for tips to help her improve her technique. Natalie's favorite stroke is either the freestyle or the backstroke.

Natalie Coughlin is my hero because she never gives up, tries her best, and is a kind hearted woman. Natalie Coughlin has most definitely made a difference in my life in many ways. One way is, I am on a swim team myself, and Natalie inspires me to try my best in each stroke that she excels in. She says that she got a DQ in butterfly when she was six, and that sounds exactly like me at the age of six. She also mentioned she didn't use to excel in butterfly, but looking at her now you would never know. As I try my best in everything including swim team, Natalie Anne Coughlin inspires me even more.