Charles Turner (water polo)

Turner became a member of the South Australia state representative team in 1968.[1] He later joined the New South Wales representative team.[5] In 1970, he was a member of the Adelaide-based Payneham water polo team.[6]

Turner was a member of the Australia men's national water polo team. He had 504 caps with the team.[5] He competed but did not win a medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1980 Summer Olympics and 1984 Summer Olympics.[3] At the 1976 Games, his team finished 11th, and only had two matches, a 4–4 draw against Mexico and an 8–2 defeat of Iraq, that did not end in a loss.[7] At the 1980 Games, his team finished seventh, beating Bulgaria 9–5, Italy 5–4, Greece 4–2 and Sweden 9–2, and drawing Romania 4–4 along the way.[7] At the 1984 Games, his team finished fifth, beating Japan 15–2, drawing Italy 8–8, losing to Germany 10–6 and Yugoslavia 9–6, drawing Spain 10–10, beating the Netherlands 8–7 and losing to the United States 12–7 along the way.[7] He represented Australia at the 1993 World Cup, where Australia finished third and earned their first medal of any kind at a major men's international tournament.[5]

AIS Men's Water Polo Head Coach Charles Turner coaching in 1986

Turner coached the Australian Institute of Sport men's water polo team from 1985 to 1996.[5][8] He was the first top-level water polo coach to work at the Australian Institute of Sport.[9] In this role, he coached future women's national water polo team coach Greg McFadden. After two years on the team, Turner named McFadden as his assistant coach.[8]

In 1989, he was appointed Head Coach of the Australian men's national water polo team (Aussie Sharks). The team came fifth at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and eight and tenth at the 1991 and 1994 World Championships. At the 1993 World Cup, Turner coached the Australian team to third place and earned Australia's first medal of any kind at a major international tournament.[10]