“It Was Indescribable to Play the Olympics at Home” – Sean King on London 2012 & Great Britain Water Polo (Part 1)
“It Was Indescribable to Play the Olympics at Home” – Sean King on London 2012, Great Britain Water Polo & Playing Abroad (Part 1)
In this episode of the Waterpolo Expert Talk, former Great Britain national team player Sean King takes us inside one of the most emotional moments in his career: competing at the Olympic Games 2012 in London in front of a home crowd. As a London-born athlete, stepping into the Olympic arena with thousands of fans cheering for Team GB became an experience that, in his words, is still difficult to fully describe even years later.
Sean shares his journey from the British water polo system into professional club water polo in Germany and Spain. After the UK lost major public funding for water polo in the Olympic cycle, many players were forced to seek opportunities abroad. Sean explains how he unexpectedly signed with SV Weiden in Germany, describing the Bundesliga as a highly physical league that shaped him both mentally and athletically. He later moved to Spain, where he experienced a far more tactical style of water polo, highlighting how differently the game is interpreted across Europe.
A central topic of this episode is the state of water polo in Great Britain. Sean speaks very openly about the challenges the sport faces: limited funding, an amateur league structure, players training only a few times per week and the difficulty of maintaining international competitiveness. At the same time, he makes it clear that Great Britain has talented players, but structural limitations frequently prevent long-term development at elite level.
The episode also covers Sean’s later role as U19 national team coach, where he helped Great Britain qualify for the European Championships for the first time in many years. He explains how swimming fitness, discipline and defensive stability became the foundation of success. For Sean, professionalism and high expectations at youth level are essential if a nation wants to remain competitive on the international stage.
Beyond elite sport, Sean speaks about his current life as a teacher in London, at the same school where he first discovered water polo as a young boy. The school has a strong water polo tradition and regularly produces national-level players. His dual role as educator and coach allows him to combine education and elite sport in a way that is still rare in many European systems.
The emotional highlight of this first part is Sean’s vivid description of walking into the Olympic pool in London. Hearing 5,000 spectators, knowing that millions were watching on television and realizing that he was about to be the first British water polo player to touch an Olympic ball in over 60 years created a moment that shaped his life forever.
This episode offers a powerful and personal insight into the reality of Olympic dreams, professional club water polo abroad and the long-term challenges of developing water polo in Great Britain.
