Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Andrea Adam described her decision to take up diving midway through her high school career as a shot in the dark.

It didn’t take long for Adam to find herself in the spotlight of her new sport.

A Regina graduate who competed for City High as a prep, Adam has becoming a star in the sport in three seasons at St. Ambrose University.

Adam has won six national diving titles in three seasons at St. Ambrose, sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competition for the third straight year last month at the NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee.  

“The success has really come as a surprise, absolutely,” Adam said. “It’s kind of incredible how far hard work can take you. It’s felt reassuring to know that all of the work has paid off.”

Adam ran cross country and played soccer her first two years at Regina but entering her junior year of high school was ready to try something else.

Her mother suggested diving as an option and signed Adam up for the Iowa Diving Club.

It took just one session with coach Brad Virkler for Adam to be hooked.

With seven years of gymnastics under her belt Adam was familiar with many of the movements associated with diving.

The sport almost instantly made sense.

My mom had mentioned diving as kind of a shot in the dark and it turned out to be a great fit for me,” Adam said. “It is almost all of the benefits of gymnastics but with almost none of the pain.”

Adam competed for City High for two seasons finishing runner-up at the state meet as a senior in 2016.

That was just the start for Adam who has continued to improve during her collegiate career.

Adam has been named the NAIA Women’s Diver of the Year in each of her three seasons at St. Ambrose while racking up her six national titles.

“I didn’t really have any expectations I just wanted to go in and have fun with it,” Adam said. “I already thought I was a little behind having only two years of high school experience and I thought I wouldn’t be very competitive at the collegiate level but that ended up not being the case.”

Adam scored a 249.7 to win the 1-meter title by more than 20 points over teammate Taylor Madison last month.

She won the 3-meter competition with a 256.2 to finish nearly 49 points clear of Madison for the top spot.

“My coaches and teammates really push me to be the best that I can be,” Adam said. “Our coach is very meticulous and she only has us do things that we are very comfortable with and things that she knows we will succeed at.”

Former West High head coach Rob Miecznikowski was hired to lead the St. Ambrose program when it was started in 2018.

With a limited number of participants on those early teams Adam was also asked to add swimming races to her collegiate duties, lending a hand on several St. Ambrose relay teams.

“I swam two 50s in high school and both of them I lost my goggles and pinballed back and forth between the lane lines, so it was a shock to me,” Adam said. “It started because my freshman year our team only had eight swimmers and to win dual meets we needed to have two relays for the points and he said I don’t care what you do you just have to touch the wall. It ended up being kind of fast so I started to train for it.”

Adam has come a long way in five seasons of diving and has also done plenty out of the pool during her first three seasons of college.

With one season of eligibility remaining Adam hopes to add to her title count and will begin physical therapy school next year which she will complete in 2022.

“Everything has been perfect actually,” Adam said. “I’ve been able to participate in swimming and diving while taking 18 credit hours and holding down two jobs so I really couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by becoming a member.