NY Times · May 30, 2015
Olympian Natalie Coughlin Prefers Rio Over Retirement
Natalie Coughlin has thought about quitting, about getting on with the rest of her life.
Those thoughts usually occur after the Olympics, when she has pushed herself to the brink in training and cannot bring herself to swim even one more stroke.
But after a few months of reflecting, her love for the sport returned.
“I love working out,” Coughlin said during a recent meet in Charlotte, N.C. “I love the process. I would be doing this anyway. I would just have to balance a real job on top of it if I retired. Why do that when I can just do this full time?”