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Catharine von Schwarz Named Head Women's Water Polo
Coach
Eight-year member of the U.S. Senior National Team
September 7, 2006
LONG BEACH, CA-- Long Beach State Director of Athletics Vic Cegles announced
today that Catharine von Schwarz has been selected as the new Head Women’s
Water Polo coach for the 49ers. For the past two years von Schwarz has
been the head coach of the 18 and under, 20 and under and Senior Women’s
teams for the Los Angeles Water Polo Club.
“We are extremely pleased and proud to announce Catharine von Schwarz
as our new women’s water polo coach,” said Cegles. “Her
commitment to the sport of women’s water polo is second to none
and her years of competition on the U.S. Senior National Team and her
four years at UCLA as a collegiate player have prepared her well for this
position. She has played and coached under some of the greatest names
in water polo and I believe she will bring those qualities, as well as
her own style of coaching to Long Beach State.”
“I am very excited to be at Long Beach State and get started,”
said von Schwarz. “With the help of the Athletic Department and
the administration, I hope to build Long Beach State into a very successful
women’s water polo program.”
von Schwarz was a member of the U.S. Senior National Team from 1995-2003.
She competed in over 100 international matches during her professional
career, and was the second alternate for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney,
Australia. The USA team earned numerous honors during her time on the
squad including a second place finish at the 1999 Pan American Games in
Winnipeg, Canada and a fourth place finish at the 2001 World Championships
in Fukuoka, Japan.
From 1991-97 she was a member of the U.S. Junior National Team, serving
as team co-captain in 1996 and captain in 1997. In 1994 the junior team
won the Junior Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba and in 1996 they once
again won the Junior Pan American Games title. She gained further international
experience as a player competing for two Italian A-1 Professional League
teams. In 2001-02 she competed with I.G.M. Ortigia of Siracusa, Sicily,
Italy and from 2004-05 she played for Rari-Nantes Florentia of Florence,
Italy.
She began her coaching career as an undergraduate assistant coach at UCLA
in 2000-01 where the Bruins won the 2001 NCAA Championship. She then spent
one year as an assistant coach at Golden West College before heading over
to play professionally in Italy. In 2003-04 she was a full-time assistant
coach at UCLA.
von Schwarz played her collegiate water polo at UCLA (1995-2000). She
was a four-year letterwinner with the Bruins and was a part of four NCAA
Championships (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000). von Schwarz was selected as the
UCLA Player of the Year in 2000 as a senior and was the co-Player of the
Year in 1997. She earned four All-America and four All-Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation (MPSF) honors as well.
von Schwarz hails from Annapolis, MD and competed on the Naval Academy
Aquatic Club for five years (1986-1991), where she played primarily with
the boys team. A 2001 graduate of UCLA with a degree in history, she is
currently enrolled in the Graduate Program at Loyola Marymount working
towards a teaching credential and Masters in elementary education.
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