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Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America's Olympic Champion
The story of Natalie Coughlin's remarkable battle back from injury and burnout to be-come America's Golden Girl—a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner in swimming and the most decorated female athlete at the 2004 Olympics
Five years ago, Natalie Coughlin's promising swimming career was all but extinguished when a devastating shoulder injury ended her dreams for the 2000 Olympics. After becoming, at age 15, the first person ever to qualify for all 14 women's events at the U.S. Nationals, she seemed destined to follow the path of so many other young swimming stars—devoured by an oppressive training schedule.
In Golden Girl , Sports Illustrated's Michael Silver—coauthor of many bestselling sports memoirs—including Dennis Rodman's, Kurt Warner's, and Jerry Rice's—tells the story of Natalie's remarkable journey back from the brink. With complete access to her family, friends, coaches, teammates, and adversaries, Silver details how she made the crucial choice to train with University of California coach Teri McKeever. Together the two, star and coach, have defied long-standing training methods, forcing the swimming community to rethink the ways in which it treats its talent. An inspirational story of a complex and courageous young athlete, Golden Girl is also a fascinating portrait of the fractious world of competitive swimming.
Five years ago, Natalie Coughlin's promising swimming career was all but extinguished when a devastating shoulder injury ended her dreams for the 2000 Olympics. After becoming, at age 15, the first person ever to qualify for all 14 women's events at the U.S. Nationals, she seemed destined to follow the path of so many other young swimming stars—devoured by an oppressive training schedule.
In Golden Girl , Sports Illustrated's Michael Silver—coauthor of many bestselling sports memoirs—including Dennis Rodman's, Kurt Warner's, and Jerry Rice's—tells the story of Natalie's remarkable journey back from the brink. With complete access to her family, friends, coaches, teammates, and adversaries, Silver details how she made the crucial choice to train with University of California coach Teri McKeever. Together the two, star and coach, have defied long-standing training methods, forcing the swimming community to rethink the ways in which it treats its talent. An inspirational story of a complex and courageous young athlete, Golden Girl is also a fascinating portrait of the fractious world of competitive swimming.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published April 18, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 2, 2012
Michael Silver knows how to get inside a sport and paint a portrait of an athlete.
This isn’t too surprising to anyone who has been a faithful reader of his sports coverage and columns at Sports Illustrated. He’s one of those writers who knows how to find the heart of a sport and pump its energy into the fans.
It’s perhaps for this reason that several premier athletes of the sports that Silver covers have trusted him to write their stories. He’s written books for such athletes as Dennis Rodman, Kurt Warner, and Jerry Rice—all three of them very different sorts of men.
His latest book, released in May 2006, turns from professional sports into the world of the Olympics and college athletics. Golden Girl is the story of Natalie Coughlin, a swimmer par excellence who brought home five medals from the 2004 Olympics.
It’s a book with a long subtitle, a subtitle that broadcasts the theme that will show up in every chapter of the book: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America’s Olympic Champion. Silver sinks his teeth into the theme of Natalie doing things her own way and spins his tale around that theme.
Because he is telling the reader about Natalie’s unconventional training regime and her pursuit of the championship, he doesn’t tell his story in chronological order. He begins with the race of her first Olympic gold, starting at the moment when Natalie panics and her body begins to seize up on her. From there, he takes us backward, showing us all the frustrations, the hopes, the work, and the choices.
In order to fully tell Natalie’s tale, Silver spent years following Natalie and the women’s swim team at UC Berkeley. The biography isn’t merely the story from Natalie’s point of view. Silver brings his skills as a reporter to the biography and interviews all of the important people in Natalie’s career—even those whom she has a tense relationship with.
In addition to being Natalie’s tale, it is also the tale of her coach, Teri McKeever. McKeever would become the first female coach for the women’s Olympic swim team and she was a coach whose methods were at odds with much of the conventional wisdom amongst other swim coaches. She resisted overtraining and spent a lot of time making sure her swimmers were whole and healthy.
There are times when the story bogs down and becomes slightly repetitive. There are only so many different ways you can make the point that other coaches didn’t approve of McKeever and Coughlin and were condescending about their training methods before it becomes tedious.
Also, while Coach Ray Mitchell is criticized for harping on the eating habits and weight of his swimmers, Natalie seems willing to be amused by her teammate Haley Cope doing the same thing to the swimmers at college.
That aside, Golden Girl is a well-told story, even for people who wouldn’t consider themselves swimming fans. It’s a book that any young athlete or parent of a young athlete could get a lot from—because it is the story of making choices so that the sport remains fun and doesn’t sacrifice the body and soul of the athlete in exchange for a medal or two.
Silver’s style is very easy to read. He manages to get into the intricacies of swimming without ever losing the neophyte reader. Swimmers may find some of the explanations basics, but there is so much meat on each page, that they’ll find themselves inclined to forgive—especially since the book explains their sport so well to others.
Golden Girl by Michael Silver is an excellent sports biography that tells a fascinating story of an athlete and a sport.
This isn’t too surprising to anyone who has been a faithful reader of his sports coverage and columns at Sports Illustrated. He’s one of those writers who knows how to find the heart of a sport and pump its energy into the fans.
It’s perhaps for this reason that several premier athletes of the sports that Silver covers have trusted him to write their stories. He’s written books for such athletes as Dennis Rodman, Kurt Warner, and Jerry Rice—all three of them very different sorts of men.
His latest book, released in May 2006, turns from professional sports into the world of the Olympics and college athletics. Golden Girl is the story of Natalie Coughlin, a swimmer par excellence who brought home five medals from the 2004 Olympics.
It’s a book with a long subtitle, a subtitle that broadcasts the theme that will show up in every chapter of the book: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America’s Olympic Champion. Silver sinks his teeth into the theme of Natalie doing things her own way and spins his tale around that theme.
Because he is telling the reader about Natalie’s unconventional training regime and her pursuit of the championship, he doesn’t tell his story in chronological order. He begins with the race of her first Olympic gold, starting at the moment when Natalie panics and her body begins to seize up on her. From there, he takes us backward, showing us all the frustrations, the hopes, the work, and the choices.
In order to fully tell Natalie’s tale, Silver spent years following Natalie and the women’s swim team at UC Berkeley. The biography isn’t merely the story from Natalie’s point of view. Silver brings his skills as a reporter to the biography and interviews all of the important people in Natalie’s career—even those whom she has a tense relationship with.
In addition to being Natalie’s tale, it is also the tale of her coach, Teri McKeever. McKeever would become the first female coach for the women’s Olympic swim team and she was a coach whose methods were at odds with much of the conventional wisdom amongst other swim coaches. She resisted overtraining and spent a lot of time making sure her swimmers were whole and healthy.
There are times when the story bogs down and becomes slightly repetitive. There are only so many different ways you can make the point that other coaches didn’t approve of McKeever and Coughlin and were condescending about their training methods before it becomes tedious.
Also, while Coach Ray Mitchell is criticized for harping on the eating habits and weight of his swimmers, Natalie seems willing to be amused by her teammate Haley Cope doing the same thing to the swimmers at college.
That aside, Golden Girl is a well-told story, even for people who wouldn’t consider themselves swimming fans. It’s a book that any young athlete or parent of a young athlete could get a lot from—because it is the story of making choices so that the sport remains fun and doesn’t sacrifice the body and soul of the athlete in exchange for a medal or two.
Silver’s style is very easy to read. He manages to get into the intricacies of swimming without ever losing the neophyte reader. Swimmers may find some of the explanations basics, but there is so much meat on each page, that they’ll find themselves inclined to forgive—especially since the book explains their sport so well to others.
Golden Girl by Michael Silver is an excellent sports biography that tells a fascinating story of an athlete and a sport.
November 30, 2009
I didn't feel this book was really about Natalie. It was about stats and sports and swimming in general with some stories about Natalie but it wasn't a bio on Natalie. Boring.
Read
September 13, 2021Now my favorite book I have ever read!! Natalie Coughlin's age group coach from the Terrapins swim club, Ray Mitchell, abused his swimmers, and made Natalie very unhappy. For college, Natalie had many scholarships, as a top recruit for college swimming. In the end, Coughlin chose Cal State Berkley where she swam with NCAA eligability with coach Terri McKeever through her senior year of college. After NCAA as a senior, when Cal finished 6th, Natalie's only focus was the Olympics. A lot of her teammates didn't understand why she was all favored, but the truth was, she was trying to get a gold medal in the Olympics!! At trails, she finished 1st in the 100 back and second in the 100 free securing her place in the Olympics. In the Olympics she swam in the silver medal 800 free relay, the gold medal 400 free relay, and the silver medal 400 Medley relay. She also won the 100 back and won bronze in the 100 free! Natalie will now continue her adventure to Bejing 2008.
December 15, 2011
Picking up Golden Girl, I was expecting to be inspired by how Natalie Coughlin, Olympic Champion Swimmer, rose to the top; however, the writer Michael Silver, more touched upon her coach, McKeever, and the people around her. I was truly disappointed in how little Silver actually talked about Natalie. Not only did the writer practically only talk about McKeever, but how he did that was extremely slow paced and a fight to get through. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking to be inspired by Natalie's unique journey to Olympic gold.
January 17, 2020
To me, this felt like a very long magazine article. We got play-by-play, we got stats, we got outside observations. What we didn't get was motivations, emotions, or the beating heart. There are better books on Olympic swimmers out there, namely Amanda Beard's memoir and Gold in the Water.
July 7, 2019
I feel that this book is a very interesting read for anyone who has experience as a swimmer, is a parent of a swimmer, or is otherwise involved in the swimming world. I am not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had NO prior knowledge of the sport of swimming. I especially enjoyed it as the parent of a swimmer- it seemed like more of an inside look as to what our kids could potentially be experiencing one day if they were to reach the college level or beyond. It also was very interesting to learn more of the ins and outs of the Olympics, as well as McKeever’s coaching style. In a world where many clubs do seem to push the more, more, more mentality, it was refreshing to see another option. And, to maybe help ease the pressure on parents that might feel that their kids “have to” be swimming year round, on the team practicing constantly, etc. This book seemed to support the movement toward balance in sports and thinking about why things are done instead of just following the trends.
August 20, 2020
The novel I read, Golden Girl by Michael Silver is a biography about an Olympic Swimmer, Natalie Coughlin, struggling to stay on top of the podium. She fought for every race she swam, but that did not stop the media from hating on her for the “bad” races she swam. Natalie fought through the negativity they kept giving her and, with time, overcame the harsh comments. Now, she is a role model for everyone because of how strong she was and how much perseverance she had. I chose this book because it really interested me because it was about a swimmer, and I am a swimmer. I also chose this book because I really related to her struggles of overcoming “bad” races and fighting for the “good” races.
I related to so many parts of this book. One personal connection I made with the novel was with how determined Natalie Coughlin was to win. She fought back the doubt in her mind as she said, “Her left arm hit the water then her right arm. I will not lose” (XVI Silver). Fighting the negative thoughts everyone had thought about her and breaking through their walls. Another personal connection I made with this novel was with how she broke other’s expectations. As others wondered, “Was she versatile and talented enough to approach the Olympics like Phelps” (9 Silver). Most people underestimated Natalie’s strength which made them even more surprised as she went on to win multiple medals at the Olympics.
I related to so many parts of this book. One personal connection I made with the novel was with how determined Natalie Coughlin was to win. She fought back the doubt in her mind as she said, “Her left arm hit the water then her right arm. I will not lose” (XVI Silver). Fighting the negative thoughts everyone had thought about her and breaking through their walls. Another personal connection I made with this novel was with how she broke other’s expectations. As others wondered, “Was she versatile and talented enough to approach the Olympics like Phelps” (9 Silver). Most people underestimated Natalie’s strength which made them even more surprised as she went on to win multiple medals at the Olympics.
December 24, 2020
Very well researched but not as well written. The book was more about Coughlin’s coach Teri McKeever and her other swimmers than it was about Coughlin. The writing style jumped from point to point without clear transitions, leaving me confused about which swimmer the author was even talking about sometimes. One of the least inspirational biographies I’ve read despite Coughlin being one of my childhood heroes.
October 20, 2025
I really doubt anyone who does not have a passing appreciation for the elegance, hard work, and athleticism of a world class swimmer will enjoy this story. While I am awestruck by Natalie's talent, I could have used more personal narrative, and a lot less statistics. I liked learning about the accomplishments of Natalie's college teammates, and would have welcomed delving into their backstories even more.
February 26, 2019
A great book featuring the idea of how antiquated training for competitive swimmers had become through the eyes of one of the most accomplished swimmers in a generation.
May 1, 2020
i unfairly compare all athlete books to chasing waters and this one was more interesting than most but felt somehow a lot less personal and more a recap of her university to Olympic career.
September 19, 2013
The story I chose to read is called Golden Girl. The author’s purpose for writing this book is to explain the hard work and dedication that went along with achieving the goal of becoming an Olympic swimmer. Natalie Coughlin encouraged her fellow swimmers throughout the text, always reminding the reader to never give up on your goals and dream big. She explains to readers that if she had given up when times were tough, she wouldn’t be where she is today. Along with the encouragement, I was also reminded of the hard work that must be displayed at every practice, even when injuries set you back.
The theme was interpreted as motivational and to always be the best you can be, because you will get far if you put in your upmost effort. For example, Natalie’s years of practice and difficult training to pursue her dream of competing at the 2000 Olympic Games were crushed when a terrible shoulder injury almost ended her career. Coughlin stayed strong and did not let the injury stop her from making her dreams come true. She returned from the injury to receive the title - the most decorated female athlete at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Natalie’s story was told through a narration, allowing the reader to better understand the series of events leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games. I think that writing the story narratively was effective to the reader because it made me feel like I had experienced the situation from the very beginning. Also, by telling the story in a narration I received background information on Natalie and her coach, and all of the events that took place in order to achieve the level of competition that she did.
My opinion on the book is that I enjoyed it immensely. As a competitive swimmer trying to reach my dreams of the Olympics, I found Natalie’s story to be very inspirational. Throughout the book I was informed of the training and lifestyle it takes to become a star swimmer at such a young age. I wouldn’t change anything about the book because it motivates me to follow my dreams, and that was the author’s purpose. This book is similar to the book No Limits, a story about Michal Phelps’s swimming career.
The theme was interpreted as motivational and to always be the best you can be, because you will get far if you put in your upmost effort. For example, Natalie’s years of practice and difficult training to pursue her dream of competing at the 2000 Olympic Games were crushed when a terrible shoulder injury almost ended her career. Coughlin stayed strong and did not let the injury stop her from making her dreams come true. She returned from the injury to receive the title - the most decorated female athlete at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Natalie’s story was told through a narration, allowing the reader to better understand the series of events leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games. I think that writing the story narratively was effective to the reader because it made me feel like I had experienced the situation from the very beginning. Also, by telling the story in a narration I received background information on Natalie and her coach, and all of the events that took place in order to achieve the level of competition that she did.
My opinion on the book is that I enjoyed it immensely. As a competitive swimmer trying to reach my dreams of the Olympics, I found Natalie’s story to be very inspirational. Throughout the book I was informed of the training and lifestyle it takes to become a star swimmer at such a young age. I wouldn’t change anything about the book because it motivates me to follow my dreams, and that was the author’s purpose. This book is similar to the book No Limits, a story about Michal Phelps’s swimming career.
July 19, 2008
This book touched a nerve. I devoured it, even though it's full of stats that are actually fairly uninteresting and the story line is not linear. The study of over-training young athletes is very interesting to me (as I believe I was one.)
I think this is a must-read for anyone who was an elite athlete - regardless of the sport - and anyone who has children who are heading in that direction. I was particularly moved by the comment about likening training methods to "throwing a bunch of eggs at a wall and seeing which one didn't crack. That's your star athlete."
There is so much more to athletics than the physical pounding these kids go through. I am glad to see that some coaches are investing in more holistic thinking and tailoring the training to the specific athlete, instead of continuing to throw those eggs until they all crack!
I think this is a must-read for anyone who was an elite athlete - regardless of the sport - and anyone who has children who are heading in that direction. I was particularly moved by the comment about likening training methods to "throwing a bunch of eggs at a wall and seeing which one didn't crack. That's your star athlete."
There is so much more to athletics than the physical pounding these kids go through. I am glad to see that some coaches are investing in more holistic thinking and tailoring the training to the specific athlete, instead of continuing to throw those eggs until they all crack!
July 3, 2022
Very good swimming biography- because it really concentrated on the swimming. The racing, the times, the training methods, the training programmes, the coaches, the teams, the US college system. Really interesting to read about Coughlin's strengths: her skill and technique, her 'body literacy'; her willingness to experiment; her instinct; her lung power, her underwater kick-- and her "weakness" in that she was just not physically strong compared to other swimmers.
And of course, the training methods- the rejection of the yardage philosophy which is such a badge of honour for many coaches and swimmers, yet is responsible for burning most of them out before they reach their potential.
And of course, the training methods- the rejection of the yardage philosophy which is such a badge of honour for many coaches and swimmers, yet is responsible for burning most of them out before they reach their potential.
January 9, 2023
Interesting book especially for a swimmer about how a change in coaching strategy and change the career and happiness of a elite athlete.
Now, however, I read "May 25, 2022 Updated: May 26, 2022 6:27 p.m. Teri McKeever, the UC Berkeley women's swim coach, was placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday following accusations from more than two dozen people that she created a toxic environment by bullying student athletes."
Oh my, what a toxic world elite athletes + money can make.
Now, however, I read "May 25, 2022 Updated: May 26, 2022 6:27 p.m. Teri McKeever, the UC Berkeley women's swim coach, was placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday following accusations from more than two dozen people that she created a toxic environment by bullying student athletes."
Oh my, what a toxic world elite athletes + money can make.
July 18, 2010
Great book about Natalie Coughlin. It spends a lot of time on the different coaches but it is still interesting for non-swimmers. She has gone through a lot to become an Olympic medalist. Very motivational. I especially enjoyed reading about the Cal v Stanford dual meet in 2004 since I was there. Very exciting meet to attend and the outcome was fantastic.
March 22, 2016
Michael Silver captures the readers attention immediately when telling Natalie Coughlin's story, that captures your heart. I would love to see another collaboration between them at the close of Natalie's career as she discusses her decision to train with Dave Durden over Terri McKeever following the London Games and other aspects of life and training. Fantastic book.
September 13, 2016
I do not consider this a biography of Natalie Coughlin but more of a narrative of Natalie's early career and the sport of swimming. I gave it 4 stars because I am a former swimmer and still geek out on the sport of my youth. However, if you are not familiar with the sport of swimming this could be a difficult read.
September 10, 2008
I love the Olympics so was excited to see this book featured at my library. Unfortunately, the author is more interested in talking about himself than telling Natalie’s story. I just couldn’t get passed him to get into her story, never finished it.
April 4, 2013
Natalie deserved a better writer to tell the story of her early (somewhat abusive) training and the innovative and life-affirming training she received form Coach Teri McKeever. Or maybe Mr. Silver needed an editor. Still a good read, but plan to skim the dull parts.
March 4, 2015
Awesome book. Weird style. Also made me remember that Haley Cope once got me headed toward my hotel room at a coaches convention after too many drinks on an exhausted and empty stomach (so, like, half a beer). I had totally forgotten that.
January 30, 2016
Love Natalie Coughlin and Mike Silver. Mike has fun way of keeping you interested from start to finish. And as Natalie is one if not the best female athlete ever, it's always wonderful to hear about how she came to be. However, the ultimate frisbee players weren't as bad as she said.
December 5, 2007
An exceptional book that is inspirational for athletes of all sports. Shows how far trust and faith and hard work can take a person.
July 20, 2013
This was absolutely a fantastic read. Less about Natalie and more about her coach Teri. It swayed my ideas about training significantly enough that I changed our senior program.
November 20, 2009
Awesome book about coaching philosophy at the college level
April 9, 2017
I wanted to read this to make sure it was age appropriate for my daughter. She's a huge Natalie fan and I knew she would enjoy it. This was a great book and gave so many different perspectives on coaching, swimming as a sport itself and pitfalls to look at. I love the swimming perspective and the challenges Natalie shared. I think it's a great read for swimmers but found it very informative as a parent. Different ways of looking at swimming for all age groups.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews