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Not just treading water

By Daily Bruin Staff

April 7, 1997 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, 4/8/97

Not just treading water

Star sophomore avoids attention about herself, offers praise for
teammates instead

By Sam Toussi

Daily Bruin Contributor

When you talk to sophomore Catharine von Schwarz, you’ll notice
that she stresses team play. She’ll talk about team unity and how
one win was sweeter than another because the team played as one
cohesive unit.

"We played well against USC (a 7-2 win) and UCSD (a 9-4 win) but
I think our best effort was in the San Diego State game," Von
Schwarz said of this weekend’s games. "We really came together as a
team." What she won’t say is that she scored four goals in the UCSD
game.

She deflects the attention from herself. After a while you might
start to wonder why she doesn’t talk about herself, especially
after you see what she’s done so far this year.

Just this last weekend, she scored seven goals in three games
and continues to share the scoring load with the Coralie Simmons.
The two have combined this year for nearly half of the Bruin goals
so far.

But if it’s all the same to Von Schwarz, she would rather talk
about how her teammates have stepped up this year and how they have
played.

Ask her about the injury to goalkeeper Nicolle Payne – "the glue
of our team," as Coach Guy Baker said – and she will go on about
how important Payne is and how she is a safety net for the team and
how everyone plays with more confidence when she is in net.

What she won’t tell you is that even without Payne, Von Schwarz
led the team to a 10-0 record while Payne was recuperating from her
back ailments.

Ask her about the loss of Stephanie Natcher to a shoulder injury
and she’ll go on about how much experience Natcher brings to the
extremely young Bruin team (it only has one senior this year).

What Von Schwarz won’t tell you is that she is considered one of
the best players at her position in the nation and that the loss of
Natcher hardly stopped the Bruins from dominating their games this
season.

If you haven’t gotten the message yet, consider that in an age
of athletes with huge egos and competition within a team for
playing time, it’s refreshing to hear Von Schwarz dole out praise
for her backup Erin Golaboski. Yes, her backup. Never mind that
Golaboski is considered one of best freshmen in the nation. Still,
Von Schwarz is quick to mention Golaboski as a reason for her
success this year.

"She’s taken my spot in the hole every once in while when Coach
Baker doesn’t want me guarded by some player," Von Schwarz said.
"She’s opened up a lot of space for me."

Case in point: Von Schwarz values the team and her teammates
over herself.

On any team, but especially a team with as much youth as this
one, leadership comes from example, and Von Schwarz has been a
primary source of it. She has added a certain mixture of fun out of
the water with an intensity and desire in the water.

"Catharine is such a carefree person. She really lightens up the
rest of the team," assistant coach Adam Krikorian said.

But her carefree nature does not extend to her game, where she
is one of the most competitive women on the team.

"She brings an intensity to the game and she’s so physical when
she gets in the game, she raises everybody’s intensity," Krikorian
said. "She is really intense about winning."

Von Schwarz even deflects that to her teammates. Ask her about
the intense desire for victory and she’ll tell you about Payne,
Natcher, Molly Barnes and Paige Ericksen. Why?

"They were here when the team wasn’t doing as well as they
wanted to. They know how hard it is to lose. They keep us focused
on winning," Von Schwarz said.

And winning is just what the Bruins have done this year. They
are now 18-1, the only loss coming in a heart breaker to
California. Throughout the whole season, as the Bruins have been
improving even more, it has been Von Schwarz who has been one of
several leaders both in and out of the water.CHARLES KUO/Daily
Bruin

Catharine von Schwarz, UCLA’s starting two-meter player, is
coming off a weekend in which she scored seven goals in three
games. The Bruins won all three contests, against USC, UC San Diego
and San Diego State.

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