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Mater Dei has paid tribute to its former water polo standout Pat Woepse, who died Thursday after fighting a rare form of lung cancer. He was 31.
“Patrick Woepse — the ultimate grinder, teammate, friend and champion,” Monarchs girls water polo coach Chris Segesman stated in a message on Instagram. “Pat inspired everyone around him to be better. He sacrificed everything for his teammates, friends and loved ones.”
“The world lost one of the best,” added Segesman, who coached Woepse at Mater Dei. “You have forever impact my life and you will be missed.”
The Instagram post also included several photographs.
Woepse, who played center, was part of three CIF-SS championship teams at Mater Dei from 2009-11. He went on to play four years at UCLA.
In September 2023, Woepse married Olympic water polo player Maddie Musselman from Corona del Mar and UCLA.
Before the Paris Olympics this past summer, Musselman shared that she drew inspiration to play from her husband’s courageous fight against cancer.
“He is pushing me,” Musselman said of Woepse. “You play for country. You play for your teammates but each individual person has their own journey and their own story to tell and you kind of mold those stories together to make your team.”
“My story is playing for Pat,” she added.
Woepse said that he drew inspiration to fight cancer from watching Musselman play.
“Maddie’s ability to take care of me at home and then train double-day practices to prepare for the Olympics is nothing short of extraordinary,” he added. “If she is able to do that then I can continue to fight through all my treatments.”
A GoFundMe has been established for Musselman and raised more $70,000 as of early Saturday afternoon.
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