Med Student Pooling His Resources : He Sets Education Aside to Play for U.S. Water Polo Team

As a medical student at UC San Diego, Alan Mouchawar would sometimes sneak away from one of his clerkships at the school’s medical facility to swim laps at a nearby pool and then return before his shift was over with no one the wiser.

Mouchawar will not have to worry about sneaking away from the hospital and into the pool tonight. Mouchawar is playing for the U.S. water polo team that will face West Germany in an exhibition match at the UCSD pool at 7:30 p.m. A preliminary match between club teams from UCSD and Irvine will begin at 6 p.m.

The U.S. and West Germany have split their last two matches. West Germany defeated the U.S. in the third-place match at the recent FINA World Cup IV. The U.S. defeated the West Germans in last year’s world championships.

The past two and a half years have been a study in balance for Mouchawar, a balance between studying in medical school and playing for the national team.

Mouchawar finished medical school in April, but will delay the rest of his education--one year internship and a three-year residency--until after the 1988 Olympics.

“(Playing in the Olympics) is something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s been one of my goals for a long time. It’s kind of a major commitment to put my medical career on hold. It doesn’t mean I want to be a doctor any less than anyone else.”

Mouchawar played on the national team in 1980 and 1981, but academics--and intercollegiate water polo--intervened and kept him away from the 1984 Olympics. His decision, he indicated, was at least partially influenced by respect for members of the 1980 Olympic team who had been kept away from the games by the boycott.

“I kind of looked at the situation and decided to go back to medical school,” Mouchawar said. “There were a lot of older players who had paid their dues.”

So Mouchawar went back to Stanford and graduated in 1982. While at Stanford, he was a four-time All-American and played for three national championship teams.

When the 1984 Games ended and many of the older players retired, Mouchawar joined the national team again in 1985. The logistics were ideal for Mouchawar. He could attend classes at UCSD and then drive to the national team’s practice in Newport Beach.

Although it was a constant struggle to balance the two careers, Mouchawar said he never considered quitting either--especially not medical school.

“I’ve never thought about not doing medical school,” Mouchawar said. “When you take time off, you forget things, it’s hard going back and forth. In the end, when I’m 55 years old, I’ll be glad I played water polo.”

Mouchawar said he had planned to go to an East Coast medical school, but there were no opportunities to play water polo. At UCSD, he was able to play competitive water polo and eventually rejoin the national team.

Mouchawar played on the Sunset Club team at UCSD, coached by Triton water polo coach Denny Harper, for four years.

“Who knows were I’d be if I didn’t go to a school with such a strong water polo program,” Mouchawar said.

Actually, if it wasn’t for his older brother’s coaxing, Mouchawar may not be playing water polo at all.

Mouchawar played baseball at Long Beach Poly High School. His brother talked him into going out for the water polo team when he was a sophomore.

“They needed bodies out there to make a team and baseball slowly faded,” Mouchawar said. “Water polo was successful and baseball wasn’t. It’s a lot more fun to win than to lose.”

Mouchawar continued playing baseball through his junior year, but then concentrated on water polo his senior year. When he graduated he attended Stanford, as his father and another brother had.

When he decided to rejoin the national team, Mouchawar had to tell his father, a doctor, that he was considering taking time off from medical school.

“My parents said, ‘Do what you have to do,’ ” Mouchawar said. “My parents love it now. My dad went to Russia for the Goodwill Games. I think he realizes that it’s not that I’m never going to work again in my life.”

Mouchawar plans to participate in the World Student Games July 7 in Yugoslavia and the Pan American Games in August. He is optimistic about the U.S. chances in the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul.

“The 1984 team spent a lot of time together, seven, eight years,” Mouchawar said. “But I think our team has a lot more raw talent. Once we start working together as a team, we should be pretty good.”

Although Mouchawar said playing in the Olympics would be a great experience, he is more interested in winning than merely playing.

“I don’t think I’d play if I didn’t think we could win the gold medal,” Mouchawar said. “I think if I came home with the silver I’d be disappointed.