NATALIE COUGHLIN:Filipino American, Champion Olympian

Originally from Concord, California, she started swimming when she was just a few months old. In the last two summer Olympics (Athens and Beijing), she won in every event she competed in, stashing a total of 11 medals.

She is Natalie Coughlin, and yes, the gorgeous, awesome swimmer is also Pinay/Irish American.

In Beijing, she became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics.

"I'm gonna take a long break away from the water for about a year," she says after her triumphant stint in Beijing. "I'd love to do a dance class, just for fun."

Here's a clip of her:



If you missed her recent appearance on Jay Leno's show, here's a link .

Here's an article about Natalie written by Dr. Ludy Ongkeko. "Her parents are Zennie and Jim Coughlin. Natalie has professed how she loves Filipino food and named ‘halo-halo’ and adobo as stand-outs, underscoring her grandmother’s chicken adobo," says the article.



[Picture - that's Natalie in the middle - from olympicgames2008medaltally.blogspot.com]