Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall (born August 23, 1982) is an American competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. She was the first woman to swim the 100-meter backstroke (long course) in under one minute in 2002. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she won six medals, becoming the first U.S. female athlete to do so in one Olympiad and the first woman to win 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. Her twelve Olympic medals tie her with Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most by a female swimmer.
Coughlin has received the World Swimmer of the Year Award once and the American Swimmer of the Year Award three times. She has won sixty medals in major international competitions, including twenty-five gold, twenty-two silver, and thirteen bronze across the Olympics, World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, and Pan American Games.
United States
