Natalie Coughlin in 2016 Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Ranking Cal Athletes' Top 20 TV Commercials: No. 19 Natalie Coughlin

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jake Curtis | Last updated May 11, 2025 12:26 PM ET

We are ranking the top 20 TV commercials featuring current or former Cal athletes. The rankings are based primarily on the appeal of the ad, but the number of commercials involving a given Cal athlete is given some weight as well.

Natalie Coughlin is one of the greatest swimmers ever and was a natural for TV commercials.

While at Cal from 2001 to 2004 she won 11 individual national championships and one as a member of a relay team.

Then she won 12 Olympic medals, including three golds, across three Olympic Games.

She was the United States Swimmer of the Years three times, and World Swimmer of the Year in 2002.

And she looks great on TV..

We picked out five of her TV ads, with each ad subsequent more appealing than the preceding one..

The first one is for TD Ameritrade. Coughlin does no speaking, but Matt Damon does:

https://t.co/MbgNRcX1gg
— California Golden Bears on SI (@jakecurtis53) May 10, 2025

Shampoo commercial, with this closing line: "I want to win as an athlete and shine as a woman."

The next two commercials fare for PetSmart, and Coughlin obviously is a dog lover.

https://t.co/3xW9usthgX
— California Golden Bears on SI (@jakecurtis53) May 10, 2025

.This ad deals with a particular dog food brand and lets you meet Coughlin's dogs, Dozer and Shera:

Natalie Coughlin, Dozer & Shera: Halthier together with Nulo
“We tried so many different things before we switched to grain-free. It made such a huge difference.” Hear what else Natalie Coughlin has to say about Nulo Pet Food's high meat protein, grain-free dog food.
Posted by PetSmart on Friday, August 5, 2016

And finally Coughlin's promo for ESPN's SportsCenter. It says something about an athlete's name recognition to be invited to do one of these, but it's a little odd for her to be in the ESPN office with her swimming gear on: