US Olympic water polo player Maddie Musselman pays tribute to husband Patrick Woepse who died from cancer aged 31
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Family and friends gathered on Sunday, November 3, to honour Woepse with an emotional ocean swim, a moment Musselman shared on Instagram. “All for you, Pat. All for you. We love you and miss you. We can do hard things. PW FOREVER,” wrote the 26-year-old athlete, alongside a video showing swimmers navigating the waves to the tune of Chris Stapleton’s Starting Over.
Musselman won gold with the American water polo team in 2016 and 2020, and also competed in Paris this summer, losing in the third-place play-off match.
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Woepse died on October 10 after battling NUT carcinoma for more than a year. The couple had met in 2022 at a friend’s wedding, but shortly after their engagement, they received the devastating news that his illness was terminal.
“With Pat’s diagnosis, we decided we wanted to get married as soon as possible,” Musselman told KNBC-TV. “All the people who came together to make it happen within four days — it was pretty crazy. We had flowers, a church that welcomed us with open arms. It was just a perfect weekend.”
Woepse, like Musselman, was a talented water polo player at UCLA and had been training for an English Channel swim in 2023 when he sought treatment for a persistent cough. “I never smoked. We have a pretty healthy lifestyle. Hearing that news was a huge shock,” he told Today.com in July.
Musselman paid frequent tribute to him on social media, on occasion before the Olympics writing: “I pinch myself daily that I get to have this guy next to me and cheering me on during this journey. He is my person, best friend and biggest fan. He pushes me to be better, gives me wise advice about life (and isn’t afraid to chirp in on the water polo), and is beyond faithful to all his people. He was definitely made in God’s image and I admire every part of him.”
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Hide AdDespite his diagnosis, Woepse was determined to cheer on his wife as she competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she was named her team’s most valuable player.
In her tribute post, Musselman described the profound ache of his absence, writing, “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 I will forever do my best to love as hard as Patrick loved from this day forward.”
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