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Paint Branch senior diver Logan Shinholser admittedly didn't have the patience to start a new sport completely from scratch. That's why diving seemed a logical choice.

Shinholser was in the market for a new extra-curricular activity as a freshman after quitting gymnastics, in which he'd ascended to Level 10: just under elite Olympic level. He was able to transfer many of the skills he learned during that time to his new chosen calling, diving.

"I have some regrets with the gymnastics; I didn't push myself as hard as I could have," Shinholser said. "I always thought I'd try harder when I was older. I maybe could've gone farther. But I don't want to have any regrets with diving. I'm more goal-oriented. I don't want to waste another opportunity."

Shinholser finished outside the top 50 at the 2006 Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships as a freshman. As a sophomore, he finished seventh. Last year, fifth.

In November, he signed a National Letter of Intent to dive on scholarship at Virginia Tech next winter.

Shinholser has been around diving before; his father, Steven, was a record-setting diver at the University of Maryland. And he'd dabbled in the sport himself with his Calverton summer league team. Plus, he had all the twists and turns down from years of gymnastics training.

There was still much to learn, of course: proper use of the board, entry into the water, combining skills to make particular dives. But Shinholser is a perfectionist workhorse.

He excelled rapidly. After one year of twice-a-week diving with the Montgomery Dive Club, he was invited to join MDC's national team.

In just three years, Shinholser has catapulted himself into the upper echelon of the sport, not just in Montgomery County, but nationwide. He qualified for Junior Nationals last year and is aiming for Senior Nationals in 2009.

He'll be in the hunt for this year's Metros title, as well, along with defending county champion Michael Stanton of Churchill and fellow Bulldog Timothy Faerber, a freshman and international-caliber diver.

Diving is an intricate sport and requires a lot of practice. Shinholser is at the pool — usually Germantown Indoor Swim Center — between 21 and 24 hours a week honing his skills.

Elite divers must combine strength and flexibility. Strong legs and torso are crucial. Shinholser's training sessions include land exercises to keep his body in the best shape it can be in for diving.

"For me diving is like golf, where it's really frustrating and you can't do something right and then you finally get it and then can't understand why you were ever frustrated," Shinholser said. "For me, the practices aren't that much fun. But when you go to a meet and you do something and you can't find much you could've done better…"

Shinholser rarely feels fully content with his dives; there's always something to tweak. But he has four years of intense training and college competition ahead of him to make sure he's gotten everything out of diving he can.