DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

Twists and turns, Adam Seagondollar has surely experienced those.

That’s expected from a diver. But away from the board and the water, the Corona del Mar High senior went through a different type of spinning and contorting.

Away from the pool, there was even a flip.

In the summer of 2006, Seagondollar tried to train for two sports, diving and water polo. For two seasons, he competed for the CdM boys’ water polo team. He was ready for another.

But, because of the busy schedule, his grades started to suffer. His grade point average dropped and he became academically ineligible. He couldn’t even be a CdM diver in the spring of his junior year.

He would have to wait for when he became a senior to make his debut as a diver.

Yes, his story has had plenty of twists and turns.

“I thought I could [compete in two sports],” Seagondollar said. “But it turned out I couldn’t.”

Water polo has been a strong presence in the Seagondollar family. Seagondollar’s father, Tim, played water polo in high school at San Gorgonio. Seagondollar’s older brother, Eric, played the game at CdM. The youngest brother, Ian, a freshman, is in the Sea King program.

Adam Seagondollar had a big choice to make.

But picking his sport actually proved to be easy.

“[Diving] is more thrilling to me than water polo,” Seagondollar said. “I like it more [than water polo]. I guess I like flipping around and stuff. It’s kind of fun.”

Seagondollar enjoyed diving so much, it helped him improve his grades at school. Yet it didn’t do much to shake away his disdain for classes.

“I’d rather just get it over with,” he said of school. “It’s just not appealing to me. It’s really boring. I’d rather be outside and doing other stuff.”

Still, Seagondollar knew if he could make his GPA rise, he would be able to make his jump into the water for the Sea Kings. He would finally be able to make his debut on the CIF diving scene.

He was anxious to compete on that level. He had rapidly improved in his new sport, while competing for and training with the Crown Valley Divers in Laguna Niguel.

Just last month, he finished 14th on both boards in a competition that included elite divers from all over the western states of the U.S.

This spring for CdM, his rise reached the pinnacle on the high school level at the CIF Southern Section Division I finals.

He won the CIF championship, scoring 530.90 points May 6 at Mission Viejo Aquatics Center. He edged Mission Viejo’s Kyle Kolar by 4.55 points.

“It was awesome,” Seagondollar said. “I didn’t think I would win. I knew I had a chance. It was just pretty cool to know that I could do it. At the end, it was kind of scary, but I pulled through.”

After his final dive, Seagondollar wasn’t sure he’d won. He said he blew his last dive and he knew it would be close.

He walked over to Kolar just before his named would be announced as champion.

Afterward, when all the competitors had cleared the pool, Seagondollar couldn’t help but celebrate.

He had to jump. So in he went. Through the air, a front half pike, half twist then spin into a backdive.

Splash.

It seemed a fitting way to celebrate his one-year high school career in diving.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.