Long Beach Legacies Dominate Gene Pool
by Janis Carr, Orange County Register
April 28, 2005
LONG BEACH – When the Wawrzynski family and Azvedo brood get together, their conversations don't linger over the day's news or whether they have read any good books. After brief pleasantries, talk normally drifts to water polo.
It's a hot-button issue with the two families given their lineage in the sport, starting with the patriarchs - Paul Wawrzynski and Ricardo Azvedo - who played together at Long Beach State in the late 1970s. Azvedo now coaches the men and women's water polo teams at Long Beach.
Over the years, the families have watched their children grow up in the pool. This weekend, they will gather at Cal to watch daughters Drue Wawrzynski, a senior, her freshman sister Dayna, and junior Cassie Azvedo lead No. 4 Long Beach State in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's water polo tournament.
The fifth-seeded 49ers (19-7) play No. 12 seed Arizona State in today's opening round (11:15 a.m.). Also today, UC Irvine plays Cal State Northridge at 3 p.m. Top-seeded UCLA and second-seeded USC, which have first-round byes, open Friday.
Drue Wawrzynski, a former Los Alamitos High 2-meter standout, paces the 49ers attack, following in the footsteps of her All-America father, and older brother, Tyler, who also played at Long Beach.
Wawrzynski has started all 120 games in her four years at Long Beach, scoring 143 goals and has a 38 percent shooting average. She has 100 steals and 65 assists. Ricardo Azvedo called her one of the strongest players in the country.
"Drue's size and strength make her an exceptionally good player," the coach said. "Her physical play, plus desire and the fact she was raised around water polo, gives her a sense of commitment in the sport."
Wawrzynski said her father never put pressure on his children to play the sport he loves. She said she played soccer, volleyball and swam before settling on a career in water polo.
"We had a lot of different opportunities," Wawrzynski, 21, said. "But water polo was the sport I liked best. And whenever I get frustrated with the way things are going or how I'm playing, my dad can help me because he's been there.
"I think my dad has a lot of pride in seeing that we've followed in his footsteps."
Wawrzynski has played alongside two other starters, Robyn Gordin (Cerritos) and goalie Bri Hawkins, for the past four years, cementing the teamwork that has carried the 49ers slowly up the water polo ranks. Cassie Azvedo, a junior, leads the team in scoring, having scored at least two goals in 12 of the final 15 regular-season games.
"We are so well-bonded that we know we can get through anything," Wawrzynski said. "If we come upon a problem, we take it and then the conflict is over."
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