Olympic Star Excels in Kitchen and Pool

A Contra Costa resident who is poised to become America's greatest woman Olympian ever keeps to a mostly vegetarian diet when she's training.

Natalie Coughlin of Lafayette — who burned up pools at Carondelet High School in Concord and at Cal Berkeley — is a foodie who is proud of her recipe for Vietnamese-style banh mi, a dried plum puree in a meatball mixture, according to an interview by Camilla Salem at yumsugar.com. Coughlin has 11 Olympic medals already and is itching to climb on the starting blocks in London in several months.