Don’t be fooled by Natalie Coughlin, and it would be easy to be misled.

It would be easy to gaze at her turquoise eyes, sandy brown hair and cheerleader smile and wonder if she’s

tough enough to be one of the dominant swimmers in the world or the Anna Kournikova of the pool.

It would be easy to look at her long, lean 5-foot-8 body – one not nearly as muscular as the Chinese swimmers of a decade ago – and wonder if Coughlin is strong enough to win multiple gold medals at the Athens Olympics, as she’s expected to do.

“Anyone who’s competed against Natalie or trained with her knows the competitor Natalie is,” Teri

McKeever, Coughlin’s coach, said by phone from California. “She is fierce.”

Coughlin, 21, is poised to become the golden girl of U.S. swimming this summer. But first she must qualify for the Olympics at the U.S. Swim Trials, which began yesterday in Long Beach, Calif.

“There are so many great American swimmers that the Trials could be as hard, if not harder, than the Olympics,” Coughlin said recently at the Olympic Summit in New York. “You can train for years and have one bad day and you don’t even get to the Olympics, which is why I say it could be harder. You may not even get there.”

Coughlin knows exactly what she’s talking about. She was the overwhelming favorite to dominate last

summer’s World Championships in Barcelona when she awoke the night before the individual competitions

began with a 102-degree fever.

“I was in a foreign country and no one wanted to be around me,” Coughlin said.

“I was an outcast.”

Which was quite a change for someone who burst on the scene in 1998 as a swimming freak. Coughlin became the first woman to qualify for all 14 events at the U.S. Nationals.

Some swimmers are better at longer or shorter distances. Some are better at different strokes. Coughlin

was exceptional at everything.

“What Natalie does is become one with the water,” explained former U.S. Olympian Rowdy Gaines, now a commentator for NBC. “She was born to swim.”

Literally. Coughlin’s mother, Zennie, was pregnant with Natalie when she swam laps in the pool behind the family’s home. By 1999, at age 16, Coughlin already had set three national high school records.

Then came the defining moment of her career. She tore the labrum in her left shoulder. Coughlin, choosing rehab over surgery, went from being swimming’s mermaid to its toad.

She failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympic team.

“I hated swimming,” she said. “My plan was simple. Just finish a race.”

McKeever, who was Coughlin’s coach at Cal, had loftier goals. She convinced Coughlin to change her stroke, using a more-rounded motion, which reduced strain on the shoulder.

Coughlin’s love affair with the pool was rekindled.

She won three NCAA championships as a freshman and went on to build a 61-0 record before finishing third in the 200 backstroke.

At the summit, she was asked more about her failures in Barcelona and in losing her final race than her successes.

“I wouldn’t call them failures,” Coughlin shot back.

“Those experiences have made me a better competitor.”

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Olympic Profile

Name: Natalie Coughlin

Age: 21

Sport: Swimming

Highlight: First woman to qualify for all 14 events at U.S. Nationals (1998)