CdM alumna Maddie Musselman teaches next generation of water polo superstars across the bay
- Share via
Maddie Musselman laughed good-naturedly, pretending to cover up the “Newport Water Polo” logo on her hoodie before a picture could be taken.
“I do feel weird putting this on,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this feels really wrong.’”
Musselman grew up across the bay and attended Corona del Mar High, but she recently started donning clothing of a darker shade of blue. The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team is all the better for it.
Musselman, a three-time Olympian and two-time gold medalist, started on the bench as an assistant coach with the Sailors last month.
A five-time world champion, Musselman came into the position far removed from high school water polo. Still, when Sailors head man Ross Sinclair asked her last fall if she would coach with him, the answer was clear and decisive.
Sinclair coached Musselman when she was a sophomore and junior on the CdM girls’ water polo team. Then, a decade ago, she left to pursue a chance with the senior national team, and he left to go back across the bay to coach at his alma mater, Newport Harbor. But the bond was not broken.
“Obviously, I’ve known Ross forever,” said Musselman, now 26. “He came and supported me in Paris, and he’s just obviously been huge in my water polo career. When he asked me, I was like, how could I not? I love spending time with him, love learning from him.”
Musselman has become one of the most decorated women’s water polo players of all time. She was the Olympic MVP in Tokyo in 2021 and is UCLA’s all-time leading scorer with 252 goals.
Her first match with the Sailors was electric, as Newport Harbor stunned top-ranked Mater Dei 11-10 in overtime in a nonleague road game on Jan. 14.
The match understandably brought a mixture of emotions. Mater Dei is where Musselman’s late husband, Pat Woepse, went to high school and played water polo.
Woepse was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer — NUT carcinoma — in September 2023, after he and Musselman had been engaged for only a few months. As Woepse’s life expectancy was quickly shortened to a matter of months, they quickly married.
He was able to go to Paris and support her and the women’s water polo team at last summer’s Olympics, but passed away on Oct. 10 at the age of 31.
Mater Dei’s team has been wearing shirts with Woepse’s initials “PW” on the front, and a favorite saying of “We Can Do Hard Things” on the back, this winter.
The Bible verse in Musselman’s Instagram profile, Isaiah 35:3, also speaks of strength — “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way.”
“It feels like I’m giving back, and I know he would be so supportive if I ever wanted to go into coaching,” Musselman said. “It is a nice release. You don’t have to be in the water doing everything, which is kind of nice. It’s a little bit of a break, but at the same time it is exhausting and there’s a lot that goes into it. Luckily, Ross does everything and I just show up.”
The even-keeled Musselman has reunited at Newport Harbor with two other female Back Bay water polo alumni, assistant coaches Rachel Whitelegge and Christina O’Beck. Musselman and Whitelegge were college teammates.
There’s definitely no shortage of knowledge on the bench for the Sailors, who began the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs with a 12-8 win over Long Beach Wilson last week.
“Our coaching with Ross and Christina and Rachel is obviously really great, but having Maddie there is just that extra boost and motivation for us,” Sailors sophomore attacker Valery Verdugo said. “Her knowledge of the game is unmatched, and it’s just so helpful to have her there. She’s always so positive. Even just her presence makes us want to work harder, and I think she’s a great role model to have.”
Musselman said she isn’t quite sure yet what she’s doing with her water polo career. She’s taking a break from playing for now, and is training for a Half Ironman competition in Oceanside on April 5.
In August, she plans to go to physician assistant school.
“I want to try that out, see what that’s like and work in healthcare,” she said. “Whether that transitions me out of the sport, I’m not sure. The door’s not closed on water polo at all. Obviously, I’ve had a lot of experience with the Olympics. Being able to go to three is such an honor, and knowing that it’s in L.A. [in 2028] is obviously very enticing. But you know when you’re ready to move out.
“Especially with everything that happened with Pat, I’m in no space to make a decision at this time or know what I want to do. He supported me either way, to keep playing or to go to school. That’s what I loved about him, he was always just like, ‘take it day by day. If you want to come back, you come back. If you want to move on, you move on.’”
Musselman knows that Sinclair, her coach turned good friend, will support her no matter what she chooses.
He said it’s an honor to have someone with her talent on the bench with him. Even more than that, though, Sinclair knows it is Musselman’s selfless nature that stands out.
“I think the girls obviously are very lucky and fortunate that you get to [learn from] one of the greatest players of all time,” Sinclair said. “It’s someone that I think everyone has looked up to at some point in their water polo career, and now she’s a part of their process and their journey. Every day with her is super-fun, just enjoying that opportunity because you don’t get that often.
“It’s cool for the program and I think it says a lot about her, how much she cares about the sport and this community. Obviously, I’m fortunate to have her as a friend and plan to have a relationship with her forever. She’s a special person.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
