Kobie Melton of Arkansas has announced via Instagram that she will be returning to Arkansas to use her COVID-19 fifth year of eligibility. Melton made the announcement by placing the @razorbackswimdive ’22+1 in her Instagram bio.
Melton used her first four years of eligibility at Arkansas. This past season, she was Arkansas’ fourth-highest individual scorer at SECs as she scored a total of 32 points. There she finished 11th in the 100 back (52.85), 13th in the 100 free (48.70), and 22nd in the 50 free (22.63).
She went on to qualify for the 2022 NCAA Championships. There she competed in prelims of the 100 free (48.48, 29th), 100 back (52.65, 36th), and 50 free (22.43, 43rd). She also was a member of the team’s 200 medley, 200 freestyle, and 400 freestyle relays.
In 2021, she swam in two A finals and one B final at the 2021 SEC Championships. She finished eighth in the 50 free (22.36), eighth in the 100 back (53.01), and 12th in the 100 free (48.92). She went on to qualify for NCAAs as well where she swam in prelims of the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back.
Melton also swam at Wave I trials in June 2021. There she finished sixth in the 50 free (25.65) and second in the 100 back (1:01.89). Her second-place finish in the 100 back qualified her for Wave II Trials where she swam another personal best time of 1:01.50 in the 100 back.
Her best SCY times are:
- 50 free: 22.18 (2021 SECs)
- 100 free: 48.42 (2022 SECs)
- 100 back: 52.65 (2022 NCAAs)
- 100 fly: 52.91 (2019 SECs)
Arkansas finished 11th out of 12 teams at the 2022 SEC Championships. They also went on to finish 28th at NCAAs scoring a total of 15 points.
Melton told SwimSwam that she will be finishing up her undergrad and adding a business minor to her animal science/pre-vet degree in her fifth year. She said that taking the fifth year was an “opportunity I couldn’t pass up. My undergrad is something I’ll never get to relive. I want to take advantage of every possible moment in the pool and classroom at Arkansas.”
