Pune: When former India water polo player Arun Merchant bagged a contract to develop and maintain a swimming pool in a small town of Nagothane, with about 600-odd households in the early ’90s, he never thought that it would become a breeding ground for water polo players two decades later.
Nagothane in Raigad district has produced 10 men and five women who have made their mark in international tournaments. While the 25m pool was being constructed at Nagothane, Merchant worried if he could get enough swimmers.
