Melvin Nash

Melvin "Mel" Nash (born c. 1955) is a former American swimmer and coach who competed for Indiana University, and won a gold and bronze medal at the world championships in 1973 and 1975.

Early life Nash was born in 1955 in Monroeville, Pennsylvania to Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Edward Nash.

Indiana University

He attended and swam for Indiana University Bloomington from 1972 to 1976 under Hall of Fame Head Coach James Counsilman who also served as an Olympic coach. At Indiana, where he majored in speech, he earned All American honors all four years, and was a Division I N.C.A.A. All American a total of fifteen times. He won a title in the Big Ten Conference Championship eight times. While at Indiana, he also served as a student coach, perhaps anticipating a possible career in coaching.

Coaching After graduating Indiana, he retired from swimming to become a swimming coach at the University of Texas at Arlington around 1977. At 22, he was the youngest head coach of any sport in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. After two years, his program was discontinued, and in the summer of 1979 Nash and his wife Carol moved to the Texas A&M University, where he began as Head Coach in 1979.

Marriage and family On November 19, 1977, he was married to Carol Frances Reid of Brownstown, Indiana, in Brownstown, Indiana, while he was coaching at the University of Texas Arlington. Like Melvin, Carol was a graduate of Indiana where she majored in music, theatre and dance and where the couple likely met. Melvin and Carol honeymooned in Disney World, before returning to their home in Arlington, Texas. His wife Carol would later help direct a swim camp associated with Texas A&M.

Nash has a daughter Kathryn and son Mel II; both are competitive swimmers.