The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Melinsky to swim at Marshall
By Don Richter, Sports Editor
PUBLISHED: August 7, 2008
What does buttering bread, public relations and West Virginia have in common?
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Not much, most people would say.
But then again, most people aren't like Dexter's Kimme Melinsky.
Earlier this spring, Melinsky committed to continue her swimming career at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
Last season, the Division I Thundering Herd women's swimming and diving team finished fifth in Conference USA.
Melinsky, Dreadnaught girls' swimming and diving captain last year and a two-time All-State performer, said she chose Marshall for multiple reasons.
"I liked how although it was a big school, it had a smaller campus," she said. "Also, I liked the girls on the team. I liked that the weather was warmer than here and I felt like it was the right place for me."
Melinsky, a four-year Dexter varsity swimmer and Coaches Award winner her senior season, will join sister Ally, a junior-to-be, on Marshall's team.
"She more influenced me to give the school a chance," Melinsky said. "I really didn't want to go to the same school as her because I didn't want people to think that I was only going because of her. But she talked me into going down and giving it a chance."
A message from Ally cemented Melinsky's final decision.
"What really helped me decide was that my sister and the girls she was rooming with sent me an e-mail to wish me good luck before the state meet," Melinsky said.
Melinsky (5-foot-8) competed in numerous events during her Dexter career.
"My freshman and sophomore years I swam mainly the distance freestyle events (200 and 500 freestyle)," she said. "I also swam a little bit of backstroke my sophomore year. Then my junior year, I swam the 200 IM (individual medley) and the 500 free. My senior year, I swam the 200 IM and 100 backstroke. I also swam on relays at states."
Melinsky qualified for the state meet all four years as a Dreadnaught, finishing eighth in the 500 freestyle as a sophomore and third as a member of Dexter's 400 freestyle relay as a junior.
Melinsky, who has a grade point average of 3.03, said she's still undecided on a major.
"I don't really know what I want to go into yet," she said. "But I have narrowed it down to two, public relations or marketing. I want to go into event management or special education."
Melinksy said she is anxious to get started at Marshall.
"I am looking forward to meeting my seven roommates first," she said. "I will be living in a large suite with the seven incoming freshmen swimmers and a sophomore diver. I think it should be a lot of fun to live with them. I'm also looking forward to the new settings and being able to compete at the next level."
Though heading off to college, Melinsky, who moved to Dexter from Loveland, Ohio as a sixth-grader, said she would cherish her years as a Dreadnaught.
"I'll miss the relationships that I had made with the girls," she said. "They were more than just teammates to me over the years. I'll, also, miss the dual meets where I got to see the girls I swam with from my club team."
Melinsky said former Dexter teammate Adrienne Woods, now swimming for the University of Texas, and older sister Ally have been inspirations.
"My sister inspires me because she never gives up on what she wants," she said. "Adrienne proves to me that with the right amount of drive, you can get what you want. And when you have setbacks, just keep working hard and it (goal) will happen eventually."
Also helping Melinsky during meets, or in everyday life, is a saying by a former coach.
"The quote I live by won't make sense to a lot of people, but my old coach Dan Ohm was trying to compare swimming distance to something that goes on every day," she said. "He said swimming the 500 (freestyle) is like buttering bread. He said you don't want it (butter) to all clump up at the beginning or at the end. He said you want it to be spread out evenly throughout the piece, otherwise you've got too much butter in one spot."
Interesting saying, for sure, but it's advice that has helped lead Melinsky throughout her athletic career and onto her next chapter as a member of Marshall's women's swimming and diving team.
Sports Editor Don Richter can be reached at 475-1371 or at drichter@heritage.com.
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