Natalie Coughlin — American Athlete born on August 23, 1982,

Natalie Coughlin Hall, née Natalie Anne Coughlin, is an American competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than one minute—ten days before her 20th birthday in 2002. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. Her total of twelve Olympic medals ties her with Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most all-time medals by a female swimmer... (wikipedia)

I actually love swimming but I just hate jumping in the water.
There's an adage that a lot of coaches have, that I completely disagree with, is if you make the Olympic team too early you become complacent.
I very much looked up to Janet Evans and Summer Sanders.
I generally wake up at 4:30, have breakfast No. 1, then get to the pool by 5 a.m.
I was tempted my junior year to go out of college and forgo my eligibility. I had broken several world records. I did have a lot of people telling me that I should go pro.