STRAIGHT A TEAM: Davis Mello
6/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
June 11, 2008
This is the sixth in a series of 16 features about Miami University's brightest student-athletes. Their exceptional academic performance during the recently completed spring semester earned them a spot on the roster of the RedHawks' exclusive Straight A Team. In addition to their rigorous schedules on the athletic fields, each of these individuals earned a perfect 4.0 grade-point average this past semester. Overall, during the 2007-08 academic year, Miami's 500-plus student-athletes earned an impressive cumulative 3.0 GPA in the classroom.
Two-time Olympic swimmer Scott Goldblatt once said, "Mainly, I like to have fun. Swimming is all about having fun, and I am firm believer that you should keep swimming as long as you are having fun, but I can say that it becomes much more fun as you get older and learn more about the sport, life, and especially more about yourself."
While swimming has always been enjoyable for Davis Mello, the Brentwood, Tenn., native truly began to develop a passion for his academics this year.
"Swimming has always been a passion of mine. I love going to a big meet at the end of the season and swimming fast. However, I have been developing a true academic passion for the first time this year," Mello said. "I am starting to really enjoy what I am doing in the classroom and to look forward to a career in law, and I think that passion for what I am doing is a huge part of my successes in the pool, in the classroom and in the rest of my life."
A double major in business legal studies and political science, Mello's class schedule consisted of honors constitutional law, honors political thinking, operations and supply chain management, and a geology class (The Dynamic Earth). It was the honors constitutional law class that really sparked Mello's desire to pursue law as a career.
"Each day for class we read and briefed three to four Supreme Court decisions and had to be prepared to answer (Dr. Gus Jones') questions about the cases. It was really a lot of work, but I absolutely loved the subject matter," Mello added.
In the pool, Mello was one of the top swimmers in the breaststroke events during the 2007-08 season. Mello's times of 2:07.71 in the 200 breaststroke and 58.83 in the 100 breaststroke at the Ohio Senior Championships were the second- and third-best times, respectively, of any RedHawk swimmer in those events this season.
Mello is currently taking classes this summer, while training and competing as he prepares for his final season as a RedHawk swimmer.
Name: Robert Davis Mello Hometown/HS: Brentwood, Tenn. / Christ Presbyterian Academy Year: Junior Major: Business Legal Studies and Political Science Spring Semester GPA: 4.0