At age 16, Junior Madison Dedman has been swimming competitively for literally half her life. She is a varsity athlete for Dunbar’s swim and dive team, which she impressively made as a freshman, and she also swims for the Bluegrass Marlins in Lexington. In addition, she has been competing with the USA Swimming League for the last 8 years.

Some of the events Dedman competes in individually include the 100 and 200 meter butterfly as well as 100 and 200 meter backstroke.

On the sport itself Dedman said, “Swimming is one of the toughest sports out there. If you think differently you’re seriously mistaken.”

Swimming takes a tremendous amount of skill and concentration so the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

“Attitude is everything. One negative thought can determine whether you win or lose and every tenth of a point counts,” said Dedman.

Coached under Sydney Witzky, Dedman hopes to win state this year with the Dunbar team.

“I think that this upcoming season will be a good one because we have a lot of skilled freshmen and experienced club swimmers,” said Dedman.

While anticipating the upcoming season, Dedman reflects back on her most memorable experience swimming for Dunbar which was breaking the team record for the Women’s 200 Medley Relay in the 2012-2013 state tournament.

As for continuing her swimming career in college, Dedman said, “I do plan on swimming in college. D1 would be ideal, but when it comes down to it, academics are the top priority.”

Swimming plays a huge part in Dedman’s life and she says that she hopes it always will.