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Take as an example. Seven years ago, the British women's water polo team comprised four players and a coach. But then everything changed in order to produce a competitive team for London 2012.

"Now we've got more full-time training and pool time when we need it, plus gym coaches and sport science," says centre-back . "It's amazing how much has changed."

But what the British women's team do not have is any decent opposition in this country. There are so few world-class water polo players here that the only way the national side is ever going to improve is if they head abroad.

The whole squad are now set to compete - as Great Britain - in the , which begins in October. Every fortnight, the team will hop on a no-frills flight to Budapest, play two games, then come back. And they will do this for half a year.

"Over there, water polo is like football here," says GB captain . "The men's game is on telly every weekend and I think some of the women's will be as well.

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"Obviously the ideal would be that we don't have to go abroad any more, that we're strong enough to have good-quality national leagues ourselves. That is happening slowly but, for now, we've definitely got to go abroad for the level we need."

Athletes getting on planes and travelling for their sport is not much of a headline, but there is a world of difference between Usain Bolt heading to his latest Diamond League meeting (or not, ) and struggling water polo players uprooting their lives for a sport few people in Britain have heard of let, alone watched.

You see, the British women's team actually don't have it so bad with their twice-monthly expeditions east. Their male counterparts, plus Britain's top handball and volleyball players, have been compelled to strike out alone, signing professional contracts with top European club sides to get the experience they need.

"I'm now writing from Terrassa, in Spain," wrote GB water polo's Scott Carpenter on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport's 606 last week. "I have signed to play in the Spanish Premier Division. It's a great opportunity as the Spanish league is one of the most prestigious and no British players have had the chance to play here before.

"Luckily [GB team-mate] Rob Parker and I have been offered places at the same club, so it's good to have a team-mate who speaks English and we can help each other get to grips with the culture and language.

"I'm way out of my depth with my GCSE Spanish but I'm doing my best to learn some each day. There is also a bit of curiosity about the new British players. My first pre-season session was in the gym with a television cameraman stood a metre from my face, while I tried to translate what the coach was saying and concentrate on training."

There are worse ways to earn a living than being paid to play water polo in Spain but reducing it to "nice sport, hot country" masks many of the difficulties Britons abroad face in pursuing their Olympic dream.

For example, I know of a British handball player who signed to play for a European club, only to find the team in financial turmoil when he got there. The coach who signed him had walked out days earlier.

Now, as his season begins, the player believes the contract he is being offered is markedly different from the one he agreed to sign before he left. But his options are limited. He is young and he needs to play at this level to progress as a player. What if kicking up a fuss ends his season, or his career, less than two years out from the Games? It is unthinkable after years of toiling away.

Homesickness and loneliness do not get mentioned much when it comes to challenges facing Olympic hopefuls but they are big concerns here. And whereas sports like hockey have ploughed resources into team-building and are reaping the rewards, that is wishful thinking for handball or volleyball, whose players keep in touch with the occasional session if they're lucky.

Playing and training abroad in these sports is no holiday. It is a long slog. And, after years of doing this, some GB squad members may not even be selected for 2012. But there is a bright side, too, argues Joanna Wray, water polo's world class performance manager.

"Getting the men abroad sets up a pathway for the younger ones coming through - that they can go and play professionally abroad. It's very good for our legacy," says Wray, who also believes the women are making a "massive name" for themselves by going to Hungary.

And pushing the top British talent overseas provides chances for the potential stars of 2016 and 2020 to establish themselves back here in the United Kingdom, too.

Not only that, sports such as volleyball are able to point to the number of British players earning money abroad as evidence of the progress they are making. Four years ago, volleyball had one Briton in that situation. Now, there are 30.

Whether British athletes should have to pack their bags in order to further their Olympic dreams is a big talking point. But when you watch the massed ranks of smiling athletes at the opening ceremony in 2012, remember that some members of the British team are not just happy to be competing at home, they are happy to be home.

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