Melanie M. Valerio (born May 7, 1969) is an American former competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and Olympic gold medalist. Valerio was born in

Campbell, Ohio Campbell (; ) is a city in eastern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, along the Mahoning River. The population was 7,852 at the 2020 census. Located directly southeast of Youngstown, it is a suburb of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. ...

and graduated from the

Hawken School Hawken School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school in Northeast Ohio. Hawken currently has two main campuses, the Lower and Middle Schools in Lyndhurst and the Upper School in Chester Township, plus a third, an urb ...

Gates Mills, Ohio Gates Mills is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,270 at the 2010 census. Gates Mills is a suburb of Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the ...

. Afterward, she attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

, where she swam for the

Virginia Cavaliers swimming and diving The Virginia Cavaliers Swimming and Diving teams represent the University of Virginia in all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Swimming and Diving Events. In 2021, the women's side won the NCAA Championship, a first for a ...

team. At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta, Georgia, Valerio earned a gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay. Valerio races

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician *Mick Murphy ...

and is an elite age-group member of the Timex Multisport Team. She often blogs her races and training for Time

References

1969 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Cleveland Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Virginia Cavaliers women's swimmers Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics People from Campbell, Ohio Hawken School alumni {{US-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References