Genealogists spent months looking into the family history of Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin.
To the surprise of no one, her bloodlines are awash in red, white and blue.
Coughlin’s roots in the country go back to shortly after the arrival of the Mayflower. Mary Mettler, the research coordinator who dove into the swimmer’s gene pool, told Coughlin said that it was “amazing” that both parents were 13th-generation Americans. Mettler also noted that many of her ancestors were instrumental to the success of the country’s early colonies.
“It’s inspiring,” the 12-time medalist said upon hearing the news. “Being an Olympian, that’s one of the motivational things for us — that we represent our countries when we compete. That’s pretty cool.”
Image courtesy of JD Lasica, CC BY-NC 2.0
