Corona del Mar girls’ water polo coach Melissa Seidemann resigns

Melissa Seidemann has resigned after three seasons in charge of the Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo program.

CdM athletic director Brian Walsh said in an email Friday that Seidemann had resigned for personal reasons.

“We appreciate all Melissa has done for our program and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors,” Walsh said in the email. “Although these are big shoes to fill, we are confident that we will have the opportunity to select our next head coach from a pool of highly qualified candidates. The goal is to have our next head coach selected and on the pool deck in the coming weeks.”

The girls’ water polo season is quickly approaching, with games starting in December.

Seidemann, 33, is a three-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s water polo. Earlier this year she was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame.

She led CdM to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title in 2022, as the Sea Kings defeated Agoura 8-7 in a memorable title match. It was CdM’s first CIF championship since 2013.

Last year, Corona del Mar took a step up and made the Open Division for the first time, pushing top-seeded Foothill in the quarterfinals before falling 6-5.

This year’s squad is expected to be relatively inexperienced after graduating nine seniors.