Fil-Am tanker takes a bow

LONDON – It wasn’t exactly the way swimmer Natalie Coughlin wanted to exit but the 29-year-old former University of California at Berkeley star whose grandmother is Filipina on her mother’s side will be forever remembered in history books as one of three most decorated American female Olympians after claiming a bronze – her 12th career medal – in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay without touching the water in the finals a t the Aquatics Center here recently.

Coughlin (pronounced Cog-lin) is as Filipina as her grandmother Zennie or her half-Filipina mother Nini. She loves her grandmother’s “pansit” and “lumpia,” respects her elders by saying “mano po,” values her close-knit family like the Filipino way and never fails to attend Sunday Mass with her parents, grandparents and younger sister Megan.

“My family is so close,” once said Coughlin who earned a psychology degree at Berkeley in 2005. “They support me a lot. My grandma always comes to my meets.” Coughlin’s grandmother said her first cousin Ricardo Cuenca once swam from Nasugbu to Luneta in the 1960s and was honored by President Marcos for the feat. The grandmother is married to Vietnam War veteran and former Notre Dame football player Chuck Bohn. Coughlin’s father Jim is a Vallejo, California, police sergeant who is of Irish descent.

Coughlin barely made it to the US team in her third Olympics here. She finished third in the 100-meter backstroke and seventh in the 100-meter butterfly in the US trials, failing to qualify for the Olympics in both events. Coughlin also tried out for the 100-meter freestyle and wound up sixth in the trials, enough to clinch a slot in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay for London. 

Coughlin swam in the heats here and registered the fastest American split. She was in contention for a spot on the team for the finals but an hour before the event, the US coaches bumped her off in choosing Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, Lia Neal and Allison Schmin. The squad took the bronze medal and Coughlin, as a reserve, shared in the glory for participating in the preliminaries. She has now collected 12 Olympic medals tying Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson for high honors. Torres did it in five Olympics but Coughlin only in three.

At the 2004 Olympics, Coughlin pocketed five medals, including a gold in the 100-meter backstroke and another gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. In Beijing, she became the first American female athlete to capture six medals, including a gold in the 100-meter backstroke, in one Olympics. Coughlin received her medal with her lip bleeding after biting it during the finals to distract her from pain in her legs.

It’s not likely that Coughlin will be back for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro but she hesitated to close the door. “I really have no idea what to think of it so far,” she said, quoted by Nicole Auerbach of USA Today. “I’ll have to let that one sit and I’ll have to take it all in.” US coach Teri McKeever said, “I’m incredibly, incredibly proud of her…she raced with her passion and she gave it her best, that’s all anybody can do, I hope she knows that and is proud of that, I hope she’s just as proud of this medal.”

Apparently, the decision to leave out Coughlin from the relay finals was not unanimous among the US coaches. Coughlin said although she didn’t qualify for any individual event, the honor of competing in her third Olympics was still a source of pride. “I’ll be there to support my teammates and the rest of Team USA,” she said after her confirmation as a relay swimmer. “I think that will be my bigger role this Olympics.”

Torres said Coughlin’s participation was historic. “I don’t think it really matters whether you’re a prelim swimmer on a relay or you swim in the finals on a relay, you still helped the relay win a medal in some capacity,” said Torres who competed in three swimming events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the age of 41 and took three silver medals. “Relays are all about teamwork. She was able to win 12 medals in three Olympics which is pretty amazing.”

Filipina swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi said she hopes to meet Coughlin here. She had met and taken photos with Coughlin’s grandmother in a previous international competition but never with her idol. “I sent Natalie a picture with her grandmother and me via email but she never replied,” said Alkhaldi. “I hope she received it. I’m her biggest fan.” If only Alkhaldi could be even slightly touched by Coughlin’s magic, she’ll be an Olympic medal hopeful in the future for sure.