Water polo champion Maddie Musselman of Newport Beach explains what it was like to train for her third Olympics while caring for her cancer-stricken husband. Lynette Romero reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 1, 2024.
The husband of U.S. women's water polo star Maddie Musselman has died at age 31 from a rare form of lung cancer.
Pat Woepse, a former water polo player at UCLA, was diagnosed with NUT carcinoma in September 2023. Woepse was determined to see his wife compete in her third Olympics, which he did over the summer in Paris.
The 26-year-old Musselman, of Newport Beach, California, said in an Instagram post that her husband died Thursday.
"Heartbroken. Patrick gained his angel wings last night 10/10/24 surrounded by family," Musselman wrote alongside a photo of the two walking hand-in-hand on a beach. "No words to describe the ache of missing him. 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."
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Musselman, who also competed at UCLA, said her husband battled the rare cancer for over a year and "never complained."
"(He) fought harder that anyone should have to fight for something in their life," she wrote. "He fought every day to be here with us as long as he could. His courage was seen daily from Day 1."
Woepse grew up in Southern California and helped the Bruins win back-to-back national titles in 2014 and 2015. Teammates visited him in the hospital when the 2014 UCLA team celebrated its 10th anniversary this month.
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The two Bruin water polo players met at a friend's wedding in 2022. They were married the following year and soon learned Woepse likely had just months to live.
"With Pat’s diagnosis, we decided we wanted to get married as soon as possible," Musselman told NBC Los Angeles last year before the Olympics. "All the people that came together to make it happen within four days – it was pretty crazy. We had flowers. We had a church that welcomed us with open arms to marry us. It was just a perfect weekend."
She said there were times when she felt torn between being with her ailing husband and practicing with her team. His support never wavered, she said.
"There are times where I wanted to be with him, but he’s like, 'No, you have to go to practice,'" she said.
Musselman and Team USA won Olympic gold in 2020 and 2016. The team lost out in the bronze medal game in Paris.
