Cayley Bowles

Cayley Bowles

• History of your high school/college & grad years 
I went to Menlo for high school and then to Princeton where I also played water polo. I then did a masters in epidemiology at Harvard and am now in an MD/PhD program at UCLA.
 
• Favorite memory of the club
It’s really hard to pick just one so I’m not going to. 
– One of my favorite memories of the club is beating SET in the quarterfinals of 16U junior olympics to make it to the semis. 
– Another favorite memory is scrimmaging as a 12U where T shots were worth 2 points. 
– I remember one random summer practice when I was 17 or 18 one of my teammates, Kandis Canonica showed up 5 minutes last to a team meeting because she got a flat tire. Susan said we should all be able to change our own tires and should leave enough time to get to practice so that even if we get a flat tire we’re still not late. I still think that’s funny. Maybe I’m a slow tire changer, but I would have to leave an extra hour to get to practice to avoid that scenario. Does anyone really do that?
– Finally, Susan using her sock as a whiteboard eraser all summer at morning practice.
 
• Do you still play water polo? 
I don’t play regularly, but actually am just back from playing in masters nationals this past weekend. I still swim!
 
• What did you major in at college?
I majored in ecology and evolutionary biology and chemical engineering. 
 
• Did you play water polo in college? What was that like?
I did play water polo in college and I loved it though the transition to indoor pools on the east coast was a little rough at first. Playing in college was a lot like playing club for me in that I played with a close group of friends for multiple years.
 
• What team was your rival when you played for Stanford?
Commerce. They beat us in the gold medal game of JOs as 12U’s and I think we played them in every JOs after that all the way to 18U.
 
• Where do you live now? 
I live in LA, going to school at UCLA.
 
• Any life milestones you’d like to share?
Mostly just going to med school right now!
 
• Do you keep in touch with club teammates?
I do! Elise Ponce who was my goalie for high school and club teams lives in Long Beach and we still hang out. I’m also still in touch with Kim Krueger and Megan Burmeister (also from Menlo and Stanford) as well as Tanya Wilcox and Phoebe Champion (from Stanford and Princeton).
 
• Do you remember any advice from a club coach?
I don’t know about advice specifically, but I will always remember Teddy saying “Let’s go to work” at the start of games and saying “offense wins games, defense wins championships”. I will also never forget Kyle saying “if you’re on time, you’re late”. I think it stuck with me because I’m 15 minutes early to everything.
 
• What hobbies do you enjoy?
I like swimming, running, and surfing, or really anything outdoors! 
 
• Will you be attending the reunion June 26-27?
Unfortunately, I can’t make it to the reunion. Sad to miss it!