Amersham SC is entering a new era after losing its long-standing chief swimming coach.

The departure of Christine Green, who has ended a 16-year association with Amersham by joining Barnet, will see parents helping to run the club by taking on the responsibilities of the committee.

Green's assistant at Amersham, Darren Gurney, has been handed the coaching reigns along with Roger Comer and Maureen Tomlinson.

The first challenge facing the new team is the problem of spiralling costs, including water hire time, competition fees and travel expenses.

The club has already been forced to restrict the amount of coaching time spent in the water as its total incomings are less than the annual running costs by £10,000.

The hope is that the club's expenses could be reduced by early morning lanes being made available for free, as is the case at many of Amersham's rival clubs in the Premier Division.

However, the local council is reluctant to do that for fear of being inundated with similar requests from other clubs.