On October 2, 2008, Natalie Coughlin (pronounced “cog-lin”), a Filipina American Olympic swimmer who had won six medals in the Beijing Olympics, including a gold and two silvers (yes, being a quarter-Filipina makes one an American of Filipina ancestry!) was honored with the Achievement Award for Sports and Entertainment during the prestigious 11th Filipinas Magazine Achievement Awards at the South San Francisco Conference Center, South San Francisco, California. The award was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch Companies and presented by Jim Cho, Senior Manager, Community Relations.

Although I regret not being able to join my sister, Noemi Dado, in her Missouri countryside adventures since, as a member of the Filipinas Magazine family, I had to be present at this awards event, meeting Natalie Coughlin for the first time made up for the loss of cherished family time.

My assignment was simple: pin a corsage on every awardee. However, when Natalie arrived from the ABS-CBNi studios where she had done a TV interview, if you look at the pretty silk blouse she was wearing, there was no way I could pin a corsage without destroying the fabric. If you haven’t met her yet, let me assure you that Natalie Coughlin is VERY tall! Just like any celebrity, Natalie had her fair share of fans during that night. I gave up trying to have a souvenir photo with her although she posed with us for the Filipinas Magazine staffers’ annual group picture.

There were some friends who told me that they had never heard Natalie Coughlin talk about her Filipina heritage during her interviews. What I replied was, “Whether Natalie felt that mentioning her Filipina heritage was appropriate or not, that is her call. We need to respect her decision. After all, if you listen closely to her, Natalie chooses to talk about her passion: swimming. What is important is that she acknowledged her Filipino heritage by showing up at the awards event. Her presence indicates that she does accept the Filipina in her. Maybe this is the right time for Natalie to rediscover some of her ancestral roots, where her grandmother came from.”

Here is the Balitang America segment Natalie Coughlin appeared in that afternoon on October 2, 2008.

I found another video of Natalie Coughlin being interviewed by late night talk show host, Jay Leno.

Rachael Ray chats with Olympic Swimmer Natalie Coughlin

Natalie also wants to help all of us stay physically fit, and is offering free downloads for her iTrain workout programs (that’s a pool workout).

Swimming with iTrainH2O iSwim Demo1

We look forward to seeing Natalie Coughlin in action again in 2012. London, here we come!

Tags: Beijing Olympics, Natalie Coughlin

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