Passages: Patrick Woepse, Former UCLA Men’s Water Polo Player, 31
Patrick Woepse, a former water polo player at UCLA and the husband of U.S. women’s national teamer Maddie Musselman, died on Oct. 10 after a 13-month battle with cancer. He was 31 years old.
Musselman posted news of Woepse’s passing on social media along with a beautiful remembrance. The couple had been married for just over a year.
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Woepse was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, stage 4 NUT carcinoma.
Woepse played at UCLA for five seasons from 2012-16. He was part of Bruins squads that won NCAA Championships in 2014 and 2015, teams that had a 57-match winning streak.
“During my tenure at UCLA, I have been so fortunate to have had players that have made an impact on our program and our culture, but none more greater than the impact made by Patrick Woepse,” UCLA head coach Adam Wright said in an obituary. “He has made a great impact on my life and he made such a deep impact on all of his teammate’s lives that it can’t be measured. He changed the course of our program, one that was trying to right its course. He was the most selfless kid and I can honestly say that he had the greatest impact on changing our culture, and that is a very rare thing.”
The undersized center scored on 11 of 18 shots in the 2014 season. An MPSF All-Academic honoree, he played 20 matches in 2014 and made four starts in 19 appearances in 2016. He finished his career with 35 goals, 89 drawn exclusions and 18 steals.
Woepse earned the 2016 Bruin Leadership Award and was one of two Pac-12 Leadership Award winners that year, while serving on the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Leadership Team and as president of the Bruin Athletic Council.
“No words to describe the ache of missing him,” Musselman wrote. “He was the light of my life and my person. He was my first love and the best husband I could have ever asked for. He opened my heart up to what love is and looks like and I will forever do my best to love as hard as Patrick loved from this day forward. He was a true blessing from God.”
Woepse attended Mater Dei High School. He was a member of an athletic family, with sister Elizabeth and brothers Gregory and Michael standouts for UCLA’s track and field team. Like their father, Gregory, who competed for San Jose State, all three excelled in the pole vault. Patrick followed the pathway of mother Sharon to UCLA. Patrick is survived by his parents and three siblings.
In 2023, Wright and Woepse’s teammates established the Patrick Woepse Foundation to honor his legacy, with an annual award to recognize a senior who, “demonstrates commitment, work ethic, selflessness, and the highest level of integrity within the program,” both in and out of the water.
A GoFundMe page to support the Musselman and Woepse family has been set up. The foundation is also accepting donations, payable via Venmo to @PW_Foundation or via check to The Patrick Woespse Foundation, LLC at 914 W 17th Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.