Typical college students may have more in common with athletes
than they think.
“For three weeks straight I just hit the bar,” UCLA
senior Robin Beauregard said.
However, this is not your normal college student talking about
Friday nights at Madison’s. It’s one of the best water
polo players in the country talking about a scoring drought she
suffered through earlier in the year.
That drought has turned into a fertile valley recently, as the
defender has picked her game up for the No. 1 Bruins. Not only
that, but UCLA’s team captain is a top student planning on
attending medical school.
This goal, unusual among athletes, has been shaped both by water
polo and the injuries she has had to overcome. Beauregard
hasn’t had feeling in two fingers on her right hand for
nearly a year and a half from an ulnar nerve transposition, giving
her a first-hand perspective on the life of a student-athlete.
“I always wanted to be a trauma surgeon, the adrenaline
reminds me a lot of water polo. I want to help other athletes get
back into the game,” she said.
For Beauregard, redshirting twice in her career provided her
with time to study. Water polo helped pay for college, and she was
not about to sacrifice her education. She plans to take the MCAT
during her last Olympic push in 2004, when treading water and
flipping through biology books will be her top priorities.
The life of a student athlete is a balancing act of academics
and sports training. As a psychobiology and physiological science
student, Beauregard appreciates the importance of
education.Â
“Most freshman (athletes) don’t take the nerdy
science classes; I tell the younger players to grab their books and
go study,” she said.
Now a 24-year-old, she has a sense of seniority that goes beyond
the role of a captain.
“I am like the grandma on the team, I have been around (a
long time) and my job after a tough loss is to put aside my own
feelings and make sure that everything is fine,” she
said.
In her first year at UCLA, Beauregard redshirted and had the
privilege to compete with the U.S. Women’s National Team
where it won the Canada Cup in Montreal, and came in second at both
the Pan American Games and at the Holiday Cup.
Scoring six goals in the Olympics, Beauregard helped the USA
Olympic team capture the silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
“Water polo combines physicality with speed and quick
thinking. No game is the same, even if you play the same
teams,” she said.
Like most other collegiate water polo players, she played on her
high school water polo team, but decided to mix up the competition
a bit: She played all four years on the men’s varsity
team.Â
“Playing with the guys at Marina High School helped me a
lot because I was able to take the punishment and now when I play
against the girls the game comes a lot easier,” Beauregard
said.Â
“I held my own,” she added.
Without a doubt the awards and recognition for her outstanding
play poured in throughout her career. She was named an
All-American, All-CIF, and all-league awards in both men’s
and women’s high school water polo and was the first-team
All-American at the Senior Nationals, Junior Nationals and Junior
Olympics.
It was not surprising that she was named the Marina High School
player of the year when, in her 97 games, she tallied a total of 99
goals, 97 assists and 220 steals.
“Water polo combines physicality, speed, and it’s
played at such a fast pace “¦ no game is the same, even if you
are playing the same team because the tactics and the game
situations are always changing,” she said.Â
For the second year in a row, Beauregard was named a first-team
All-American and was selected to the All-MPSF first team.
This made her slump all the more unfamiliar as Beauregard
isn’t used to not finding the back of the net. She cited
pressure as hindering her game during the scoring drought earlier
this season. But lately, she has relaxed and consequently been on a
tear. She has tallied 11 goals and 13 assists as of March 12, while
pitching in on the defensive side with a team-leading 15
steals.
Her schedule is conducive to quite a bit of pressure. A typical
school day sees Robin in the pool from 7:45 to 9:45 a.m., then she
rushes to class only to find herself in the pool again from 2:00 to
5:00 p.m., followed by an hour-long weight training session.
Sometimes it becomes impossible to stay awake in class or upon
arriving home for dinner, leaving her little time for
socializing.
No Sam Adams Light for her.