Natalie Coughlin rocks the Rumba

Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin keeps on rolling at Dancing with the Stars. This week, she and partner Alec put together a steamy Rumba en route to a total score of 26. In addition to being a fan favorite, she’s become one of Carrie Ann Inaba’s picks as well.

Here’s Natalie’s segment from this week’s show for those who missed it:

Throughout the season, Natalie will be sharing her DWTS experience through her Twitter (@nataliecoughlin) and Facebook pages so be sure to follow along and VOTE for Natalie all season long.

Natalie and Alec’s official voting number is 1-800-VOTE4-13 or 1-800-868-3413. You may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast and until 12:00 Noon, ET the following day.

Swimmer Natalie Coughlin among new “Dancing with the Stars” cast

Natalie Coughlin can do the backstroke and the breastroke in world record time, but can she do the paso doble or tango?

Coughlin, who has made a big splash in the Olympics, will attempt to excel in the ballroom during the upcoming season of ABC’s “DWTS.” She was among the 16 celebrities named to the “Dancing with the Stars” cast, as announced Monday morning. She’ll compete against former Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay, pop singer Donny Osmond, and former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin.

Other hopefuls include singers Mya, Macy Gray and Aaron Carter; actors Melissa Joan Hart, Debi Mazar and Ashley Hamilton (son of George); models Joanna Krupa and Kathy Ireland; reality stars Kelly Osbourne and Mark Dacascos (”the Chairman” on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America”); mixed martial artist Chuck Liddell; and professional snowboarder Louie Vito.

The contestants were announced on Monday’s “Good Morning America” by “Dancing” host Tom Bergeron, who also unveiled a new competitive twist.

“In the middle of our season, over three weeks, we’re going to have double eliminations,” said Bergeron. “We’ll lose about half of our cast within that period. It will be a ballroom bloodbath.”

Coughlin  represented the United States at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2008, she became the first American female athlete to win six medals in one Olympics.

After taking a break from swimming competition after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Coughlin will be extending that break with time logged on the dance floor. She appears to be in good company on “Dancing” as three Olympians have won the reality show’s coveted title. Speed-skater Apolo Anton Ohno captured the prize in Season 4, while figure skate Kristi Yamaguchi prevailed in Season 6 and gymnast Shawn Johnson won the disco-ball trophy in Season 8.

The ninth season of the hit ABC show premieres Sept. 21 with a three night event.

Update: Natalie will be paired with Alec Mazo on this season of DWTS.

Swimmers and stars come together at Golden Goggle Awards

November 19, 2008 -  If you’ve been wondering where your favorite swimmers have been hiding since Beijing, most of them were at the New York Hilton on Monday night for USA Swimming’s fifth annual Golden Goggle Awards (clever name, huh?).

Olympic champions Natalie Coughlin and Michael Phelps were the big winners at the event, which was hosted by Bob Costas and celebrated the accomplishments of the totally awesome 2008 Olympic Swim Team.

Coughlin won top honors on the women’s side, taking home the Female Athlete of the Year trophy. Coughlin earned six medals at the Olympics – one gold, two silver, and three bronze, becoming the first woman in any sport, to win six medals in one Olympiad. In 2008, Coughlin broke the 100m back world record three times and set a total of 11 American records.

“This was a great year,” Coughlin said. “This year was really special with so many records being broken and I’m really glad to have been a part of it.”

Phelps’ record-setting performance in Beijing earned him three Golden Goggle Awards at USA Swimming’s annual banquet including Male Athlete of the Year and Male Performance of the Year.

Women’s swimmer Rebecca Soni was honored with two Golden Goggle awards, the Breakout Performer of the Year Award and the Female Performance of the Year Award for her stellar performance in the 200m breast at the Olympics in 2008. The USC senior took home a total of three Olympic medals in Beijing, a gold in the 200m breast and silvers in the 100m breast and 400m medley relay. Soni broke the world record in the 200m breast, and defeated heavy favorite Leisel Jones of Australia to win her first gold.

Dara Torres, 41, who won three silver medals at the Beijing Olympics, said at the New York banquet  that if she can stay healthy, she hopes to race at the world championships next summer.

Among the celebrity guests in attendance tonight were Donald Trump, Tiki Barber, David Blaine, Ana Ortiz (”Ugly Betty’), Heather Matarazzo, as well as Olympic legends Summer Sanders, Pablo Morales, Gary Hall Jr., Lenny Krayzelburg, Jenny Thompson, and Rowdy Gaines.

In other swim news, the AP reports that Katie Hoff is now training with Michael Phelps’s coach, Golden Goggle winner Bob Bowman, who has returned to the North Baltimore Aquatic Club after four years at the University of Michagan:

Swimmer Katie Hoff has changed coaches after a disappointing Olympics in which the six-time world champion failed to win a gold medal in a half dozen events.

Girls rule the pool – records fall at U.S. Swim Trials

July 2, 2008 – The U.S. Olympic Team Trials in swimming began June 29 and will run to July 6 in Omaha, Neb.  The good news is that NBC and sister station USA are providing live and highlighted TV coverage of the event. The bad news for U.S. swimmers is that it’s a tough venue – no more than the top two swimmers in each event, aside from the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle, are eligible to be named to the Olympic team.

Expectations are high and for good reason. Intense training, combined with the controversial LZR swimsuit, are causing world records to fall on an almost daily basis. In many cases, a sixth place this week would have been worthy of a gold medal last time.

Natalie Coughlin blitzed to a world record in the 100-meter backstroke to highlight another breathless day of action on Tuesday. Coughlin stormed to the wall in a time of 58.97 seconds, trimming 0.06 off her own mark to become the first woman to dip under 59 seconds.  

A day earlier, Hayley McGregory knocked off Natalie Coughlin’s 4 1/2 -month-old mark in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.15 seconds, only to have Coughlin take it right back in the next heat at 59.03.

Christine Magnuson, a Tennessee swimmer, booked a ticket to the Olympics with a win in the 100 butterfly. The victory was helped by Coughlin’s decision not to swim, even though she holds the American record. Jessica Hardy also claimed her first trip to the Olympics by winning the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:06.87 ahead of 2000 Sydney gold medalist Megan Jendrick.

Teenager Katie Hoff, who has claimed a world record in the 400 medley and two Olympic spots, looks poised to add to more events to her Beijing program after posting the top times in the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley. Hoff is from the same North Baltimore club that launched Michael Phelps and is quickly becoming the sport’s other resident superstar.

With the trials as exciting as they are, will we see even more records fall at the Olympics?

Justine Henin Academy Athlete of the Year

Dec. 26, 2007 – Belgian tennis star Justine Henin and Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre were named the 2007 United States Sports Academy Female and Male Athletes of the Year after a worldwide online vote presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com.

Henin was named Academy Female Athlete of the Year after completing a year in which she lost only four of 67 singles matches. She won 10 tournament titles in 2007 including two majors, making the 25-year-old Belgian the first player since Martina Hingis in 1997 to record double-digit victories in a season. Henin became the first woman to pass $5 million in season earnings.

American tennis player Venus Williams took second in the women’s voting just ahead of American swimmer Natalie Coughlin who took third place.

The ballot was open to voting from 1-25 December. Overall, the ballot received hundreds of thousands of votes from sports fans around the globe. The Academy Athlete of the Year presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com is the culmination of the Academy’s yearlong Athlete of the Month program, which recognizes the accomplishments of men and women in sports around the globe.

To view results from the Academy Athlete of the Year, please visit http://www.usatoday.com/sports/front.htm, http://athleteoftheyear.msnbc.com or http://www.ussa.edu/aoy/index.asp.

Water Dance – Training for swimmers

Cal swimming coach Teri McKeever favors balance and body movement over traditional long distance training. And her non-traditional approach - which includes having her swim team dance hip-hop to stay in shape – reaps big rewards.

It’s a plan of action that probably wouldn’t occur to most high-level college swim coaches (most of whom happen to be men), and a reason why McKeever is considered an innovator in a sport that tends overwhelmingly toward stolid, tried’n-true yardage-based training. It’s also probably what makes her so successful.

McKeever’s accomplishments to date: First woman coach on the U.S. Olympic Swimming team. First woman to be named head coach of the national team at a major international meet. Eleven straight top-ten team finishes by Cal swimmers at the NCAA championships.

McKeever also is known as a coach who turns previously unnoticed swimmers into major talents, and talented-but-burned-out swimmers into Olympians and world champions.  Natalie Coughlin credits McKeever with resurrecting her swimming career and helping her to win five medals, including two golds, at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

McKeever believes awareness in the water is teachable, which is where dance classes help. Turns out if you’ve got better balance and body awareness on land, you can take it into the pool with you. What fun it would be to see some of her male counterparts adopt this training regimen.

Read full story at California Magazine