THE founder and head coach of a small town water polo club which has produced 20 international players has retired after as many years at the helm.

George Carpenter had reservations over the longevity of Sedgefield Water Polo Club when he established it in 1997 following demand from parents and members of the local swimming club.

But in the following two decades, the former record-breaking water polo player has provided guidance to dozens of club members who went on to compete across the globe – including at the 2012 Olympics when club alumni Angela Winstanley-Smith and Chloe Wilcox were part of the first ever Olympic GB women’s water polo team.

Aged 59 and almost five decades after picking up the sport himself, Mr Carpenter, of Tudhoe Village, Spennymoor, decided it was time to blow the whistle on his final session.

“In the first six months I thought it wasn’t going to survive,” he said. “It started to grow over the summer and those people returned. There have been fluctuations in numbers but the number of active members are usually about 50 to 60.”

The father-of-two got into swimming as a child while living in Nigeria and again picked up the sport at the age of 13 back in the North-East.

Although he “wasn’t a natural”, he stuck at it and went on to play for Durham City from 1970 to 1990, when the club disbanded. In that time he broke the record for numbers of goals in one season and the side reached the first division of the national league, finishing fifth in 1984.

He stopped competing regularly in 1997 to take up coaching – but continued to play into his late 50s.

“The highlight for me has been my son’s achievement,” he said. “I broke all the national league records in the 1980s and he became the second person to score 100 goals in the season. He’s arguably the best water polo player produced in this country - with my guidance and his hard work.”

Former club pupil Scott Carpenter played professionally for ten years during which he represented Great Britain 100 times, including in Spain and Italy as well as playing three times for Australia after moving down under.

He was also the highest paid water polo player in the world in 2012 and 2013.

However, it was in Australia where he suffered a shoulder injury and following failed operations was forced to retire last year at the age of 28.

The club, which trains in Spennymoor and Newton Aycliffe, has continued to succeed and last month its under 19s team secured its eighth national title.

Mr Carpenter said: “The club is in good shape and has got a good coaching team. I wanted to leave when things were pretty good.”

He added his thanks to those who supported the club in the beginning.