Kobie Melton, left, and Mallory Underwood, right, at the AHSAA State Championships last weekend.

Athens swimmers Mallory Underwood and Kobie Melton put in a lot of work to be able to step up to the podium Saturday and receive gold medals at the AHSAA State Swimming and Diving Championships.

Hard work as in waking up at 4 a.m for a two-hour practice before school, followed by another practice in the afternoon. And that’s not just during high school swim season. Just a few days after winning state at Athens, the two were back in the pool, training with their club teams.

The season never really “ends” for Melton and Underwood with club season going year-round, along with the high school season, which runs from September to December. Melton swims with the Huntsville Swim Association while Underwood is a member of Tri Aquatics.

“Mondays are pretty hard. I go mornings and afternoons and then have something called TRX training,” said Underwood. “So, it’s really three workouts in one day.”

Underwood, a University of Alabama signee, broke the AHSAA record in the 200 IM Saturday with a time of 2:03.6. Underwood won another gold medal in the 50 freestyle race with a time of 5:01.69 — a full three seconds faster than the next closest competitor.

The senior has swimming during her first block at AHS, so her training doesn’t begin until 6:30 in the morning while Melton wakes up at 4 a.m. to drive to Huntsville for a 5 a.m. training session. Both do the same training again every afternoon.

“Doing doubles is the hardest,” said Melton.“I have a morning practice before school and then an afternoon practice, both about two hours each.”

Melton, a junior who qualified for the Olympic Trials this summer, won a gold medal in the 100 backstroke and also finished second in the 200 freestyle to earn a silver medal.

The 100-yard backstroke was one of the closest races at the event. The junior set the new 6A-7A record with a time of 56.99 seconds, less than a half-second ahead of Northridge’s Jewels Harris.

“She was ahead the whole time and then I caught up,” said Melton. “Obviously, I knew it was close, but it wasn’t until I looked at the board that I knew (I won).”

Melton and Underwood were also members of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished fifth. Also on that team were Madelyn Farmer and Emma Preston. As a team, Athens finished sixth overall and had the highest finish among 6A teams.

While Melton still has another year at Athens, Underwood signed with Alabama’s Swimming and Diving Team last month. Her decision came down to Alabama and Arkansas.

“I went on my recruiting trips and got to know the team,” said Underwood. “I wanted to choose a team on the rise, so I could be a part of the building process. At the end of the day, I had to choose where I wanted to go to college if I wasn’t swimming.”

For Underwood, Melton and other athletes that devote so much training and traveling year-round, the threat of overdoing it is always there.

“I got really burnt out last year. I was stuck in that daily routine. This year, I kind of found swimming again. I really wanted it compared to last year when I guess I just let that want slip away from me,” said Underwood. “I found that drive and motivation again and am happy as ever. You just have take it one day at a time.”

Melton has another year to decide where she will swim at the collegiate level, but she has already made a name for herself by qualifying for the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, in July 2016.

“It was a really neat experience,” said Melton. “I got to see all the big-time Olympic swimmers. I can’t put it into words. It was the biggest meet I’ve been to.”