James Bergeson

James Hunter Bergeson (born March 21, 1961, in Newport Beach, California) is a former water polo player who competed for Stanford and won the silver medal in Men's water polo for the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. In later life, he owned and started an equipment rental business. In 2002, he was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.

James Bergeson was born March 21, 1961 in Newport Beach, California, and attended and played water polo for Newport Harbor High School from around 1976-1979 where he was coached by long-serving Newport High coach and USA Water Polo Hall of Fame member Bill Barnett. As a High School upperclassman in 1978, he was voted to the Citizen Savings All-CIF Southern Section 4A Water Polo Team, and was also named a Most Valuable Player. While an athlete at Newport Harbor High, Bergeson received the honor of being named a High School All American.

Stanford University Bergeson attended classes and played water polo for Stanford University from 1979-1983, where he was coached by Dante Dettamanti and was an All American four times. He was part of the Stanford team that won the NCAA national title in Water Polo in 1980 and 1981, with the team finishing second in 1983. With his frequent scoring, Bergeson likely played primarily as a perimeter Driver, where he could take advantage of his speed and shooting accuracy. As a driver, he would generally play or line up even with the ends of the goals, allowing him to score and give scoring assists frequently.

Benefitting from his water polo experience while playing for Stanford University, Bergeson was part of the U.S. National Water Polo team from 1982-1988. He played for the U.S. Junior National team from around 1982-1987.

Bergeson is married to wife Fran and has two children.

Honors Bergeson was named to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2002, and was announced as part of a California Interscholastic Federation Water Polo All-Century team in 2014.

In his later career, Bergeson started a rental business that serviced both private individuals and companies.