Natalie Coughlin had a passion for swimming that drove her to greatness.
She still has that passion that drives her — it is just a little different. Coughlin owns a winery in California and has made that her passion. After all, she grew up near Napa Valley with parents who frequently went wine tasting, something Coughlin began as an adult.
Coughlin was recently profiled in Sports Illustrated about her new passion.
“It’s just one of my passions,” Coughlin told SI. “I’m hands-on because I love this. I just loved the process of it. I loved the entire ritual of drinking wine—similar to coffee, just like I love the ritual of making my coffee every morning, I love having a glass of wine with dinner, and so I saw it as something I could do in moderation while training.”
Coughlin teamed with friend Shaina Harding to start a wine label in 2017, called Gaderian Wines.
While Coughlin returned to the sport of swimming for the 2019 inaugural International Swimming League (ISL) season, most of her passions now are away from the pool. She is now a mother of two and released a cook book last year.
“I hope it just is a way to share my love of food with my swim fans. There have been a lot of people that have asked me about doing a cook book. Sharing the fact that you eat healthy and that is very important to fuel yourself. But you can also indulge from time to time and that can fit into a healthy lifestyle. You can balance that and still train for the Olympics. I never wanted to write an autobiography or anything like that, but I saw a cook book as a way so share some of my travel and swimming stories, but make it about food,” Natalie Coughlin told Swimming World. “After 2016, I had time to do it and I shopped it around. I am really excited that this is finally coming out. It is something that I am really, really proud of.”
Read the full Sports Illustrated article here.