RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. — The Palos Verdes Sea Kings boys water polo team has been led by coach Patrick O’Brien for the last few years. He also served as the school’s girls water polo coach until 2017. He has helped make the school’s water polo programs more competitive, but winning in the water hasn’t been his greatest challenge. He also had to overcome non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to succeed.

O’Brien first found that he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015. He was initially concerned, but he knew that he had to take it head-on to survive.

“I was like, ‘I know I’m going to beat this. I’m sick, there is medicine, and I’ll have to take the medicine to get through, but I’ll get by,’” he said to the Daily Breeze.

O’Brien had been relatively successful at the Sea Kings’ water polo coach before his diagnosis. In 2012, the boys team went 25-6, while the team went 22-7 in 2018. The girls team also had a 21-10 record in 2012.

But his main focus was soon on defeating lymphoma, an effort he knew he could complete. He went through six rounds of chemotherapy to defeat lymphoma, and his wife Sandi and daughter Chloe were there to help him throughout the process. O’Brien says that Chloe would often decorate his bald head with random stickers.

One of O’Brien’s greatest motivators came from his love for water polo and how he wants to help student athletes compete.

“Water polo is a passion for him, and it kept him forward focused,” his wife Sandi said. “(Principal Dr. Charles Park) and all of the teachers were very supportive. That took a lot of pressure off us so we could focus on just getting better.”

O’Brien’s attitude in coaching has been essential in helping him develop the necessary mindset to survive and thrive. He has been noted for producing a fast-paced approach to the sport.

“Most teams can’t keep up with our speed,” he said.

It is through this attitude in competing that he helped develop the motivation and positivity necessary to compete and defeat lymphoma.

He continues to be active in leading the Palos Verdes boys water polo team, while Andras Gyongyosi took over as the coach of the girls team in 2017. The 2021 boys water polo team finished with a 19-16 record, finishing in second place in the Bay Division.

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