Natalie Coughlin Aquatics Center Coming Early 2018

12-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin‘s alma mater, Carondelet High School, is naming its new aquatics center after the 2000 graduate.

The all-girls school launched a campaign to raise $38 million to fund the creation of its new six acre, 6,000-foot athletic complex (as well as its STEM Innovation Center and a scholarship program), located 2.5 miles from Carondelet’s Concord, CA, campus.

“Carondelet’s new aquatics center and athletics complex will provide a place for Carondelet families to come together to celebrate their student athletes like never before,” Coughlin said. “I applaud my alma mater for its commitment to creating greater equity for female athletes by investing in a second campus that will be home to seven teams and all 800 students.”

The swim team previously hosted meets at next-door neighbor all-boys school, De La Salle High School.

During her 1996-2000 tenure, Coughlin broke the 200 IM and 100 back national high school records, and qualified for Summer Nationals in every event. She went on to attend UC Berkeley, a matter of minutes away from Carondelet.

“In her professional career and her personal endeavors, through her passion and determination, Natalie has demonstrated what it means to be a woman of heart, faith, courage and excellence – values that are central to everything we hold dear at Carondelet,” Carondelet President Bonnie Cotter said.

The aquatics center will feature a wall-sized image of Coughlin diving into the pool at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and her accomplishments will be unveiled in the Carondelet Hall of Fame in the spring of 2018.

Carondelet has graduated a number of elite swimmers, including 2012 Olympic Trials finalist and recent USC graduate Chelsea Chenault and UCLA record holder Madison White.

Scroll down to see images of the athletic complex rendering and pool construction, courtesy of Carondelet’s Director of Graphic Design and Digital Media, Bryan Navarro: