“Good work!” Coach Tim Mulcahy calls from the pool deck to the water polo players treading for their usual warmup.
From playing at University of California, Berkeley in college to beginning his coaching career at the Jane Lathrop Stanford pool, Palo Alto High School Girls Varsity Water Polo Coach Tim Mulcahy knew from an early age that his life would revolve around the sport.
After playing water polo throughout college, Mulcahy took on the role of coaching Paly water polo athletes in 1983. By 1994, he had joined the USA Masters Water Polo team, a nonprofit corporation that provides training for elite athletes to compete at the national level.
Although Mulcahy is now coaching at Paly and competing for a top team, he faced an unexpected setback. Last year, he was forced to step away from the pool after being diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.
“My family was so supportive and allowed me to not think, ‘maybe it [treatment] won’t work,’” Mulcahy said. “They said, ‘it’s going to work.’”
With words of encouragement and superfood dishes, Mulcahy’s family played a crucial role in his journey to recovery.
“My wife was spectacular,” Mulcahy said. “We ate all sorts of cancer-fighting soups and meals. I mean, everything was a soup that had all sorts of incredible vegetables and good products.”
Despite the discomfort that chemotherapy brought, Mulcahy remained patient and focused on his passions.
“During therapy, my goal was to play in Singapore and to coach the kids,” Mulcahy said. “A year after finishing chemo and being in remission, I accomplished both goals, so that gave me something to shoot for.”
Aside from his family’s support, Mulcahy’s water polo players were another key motivator throughout his recovery. They gifted him a ball covered with heartfelt signatures from every member of the team.
“It was so very sweet and so very moving that it helped me get through my recovery and get better and back on the pool deck,” Mulcahy said.
When junior Sabrina Meyers first heard about her coach’s cancer, she was stunned and concerned for him.
“My mom told me a little earlier, and I was really surprised but also scared,” Meyers said.
Senior Estelle Dufour had a similar reaction when hearing about Mulcahy’s cancer.
“I remember I was really shocked and it took me a while to really understand what it meant,” Dufour said. “I’ve never met someone or been so close to someone who had cancer, so I didn’t really know the process.”
Dufour remembered feeling moved when Mulcahy spoke about how important the water polo team was to him.
“The biggest part that stood out to me about this whole experience was at a team banquet when he expressed how much the team meant to him, mostly after this really difficult year,” Dufour said. “And that really got to me, and I started crying.”
Meyers, whom Mulcahy has coached since her freshman year, said the support he has given her has not only improved her technique, but also her mentality.
“I didn’t really know what was going on [in freshman year],” Meyers said.” I was the only underclassman on the team, so I was kind of new to the whole thing. Everybody else knew what they were doing, but Tim really helped me get through that.”
Though his coaching strategy might seem tough at first, it’s easy to realize that it comes from a place of genuine love and dedication.
“He’s a really supportive person, even though his methods may seem a little harsh sometimes,” Meyers said. “In the end, he wants us all to get better.”
This balance between discipline and support really gets the athletes in a present mindset.
At each practice, Mulcahy emphasizes the importance of focusing solely on the task ahead.
“You have a physics test tomorrow and you’re in the water for an hour and a half,” Mulcahy said. “Well, during that time, you’re not going to change your physics score. You will afterwards, but you can’t do it right then, and so you have to let that go and be able to focus on the task [practice or game] ahead of you.”
Mulcahy’s coaching mindset originated from his own athletic journey. He joined the USA Masters team for water polo so that he could immerse himself even deeper into the sport.
“All this time, I’ve been playing internationally in Masters Water Polo and for world championships all over the world,” Mulcahy said.
While Mulcahy takes pride in his ability to balance both USA Masters and high school coaching, it isn’t without its occasional struggles.
“This year, the world championships were in Singapore, and that coincided with the start of Paly’s program,” Mulcahy said. “So I felt like I was torn there because I couldn’t be in two places at one time.”
From coaching to competing to battling cancer, Mulcahy has dealt with many changes throughout his life. But the one thing that has never changed is his unwavering dedication to the sport and his athletes.
“There isn’t any money in this,” Mulcahy said. “For me, there’s not a grand scheme of, ‘oh, I could maybe coach a junior college team next year.’ All that stuff is not what’s motivating me. Motivating me is to see these kids get better and grow as a team.”
