Erik Gustaf Bergvall (7 April 1880 – 4 February 1950) was a Swedish

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player, journalist and sports official. He also promoted the

Bergvall system The Bergvall system was a variation of the traditional knockout tournament system. It was used at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics after being devised by Erik Bergvall, a Swedish water polo player, journalist and sports official who want ...

, a variation of the traditional knockout tournament system which was used at the

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

and

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

Water polo player

As a water polo player, Bergvall represented

Sweden at the 1908 Summer Olympics Sweden competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. It was the third appearance of the European nation, which had missed only the 1904 Summer Olympics. Medalists Athletics Sweden was one of 5 nations to win at least one ...

and helped the national water polo team gain the bronze medal in the

. At club level, Bergvall represented

Stockholms KK Stockholms Kappsimningsklubb, commonly known as Stockholms KK or SKK, is a Swedish swimming club from Stockholm founded on 12 July 1895, who competes in swimming and water polo. The swimming club goes under the nickname ''Kappis''. The most famous ...

Sports official

In 1904, Bergvall was among the founding member of the

Swedish Swimming Federation The Swedish Swimming Federation () is the national federation for Aquatics in body of Swimming in Sweden, as well as the other Aquatics sports: diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open water swimming. It was founded on 23 March 1904 a ...

and served as its secretary between 1904 and 1908 and as chairman between 1909 and 1932. He was also a member of the board of the

Swedish Sports Confederation The Swedish Sports Confederation (, RF) is the umbrella organisation of the Sport in Sweden, Swedish sports movement founded in 1903. Through its member organisations, it has three million members in 22,000 clubs. Its present chair, since 2024, i ...

from its foundation in 1903 until 1945. He also served as assistant secretary of the

Swedish Olympic Committee The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC; (, SOK) is the Swedish National Olympic Committee (NOC). The Swedish Olympic Committee organize the Swedish participation in the Olympics, choose the participants and run a support program for swedish elite a ...

in 1906 and again between 1913 and 1924. In addition he was among the founders of the Fédération Internationale de Natation in 1908 and was a member of its board until 1928. Between 1924 and 1928 he also served as FINA president. From 1916 to 1946, Bergvall also served as Director for the

Stockholm Olympic Stadium Stockholm Olympic Stadium (), most often called Stockholms stadion or (especially locally) simply Stadion, is a stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architect Torben Grut, it was opened in 1912; its original use was as a venue for the 1912 ...

Journalist

As a journalist Bergvall worked mainly at the sportspaper '' Nordiskt Idrottslif'', published between 1900 and 1920. He had two spells working for this newspaper, firstly between 1900 and 1903 and then again between 1905 and 1920. He was also the chief editor and compiler of the official report of the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

and wrote and/or edited or was a main contributor to some 30 books, including reports on the Olympic Games between 1920 and 1948 for the

. www.la84foundation.org

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergvall, Erik 1880 births 1950 deaths People from Sala Municipality, Sweden Swedish male water polo players Water polo players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic water polo players for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Presidents of World Aquatics Olympic medalists in water polo Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics 20th-century Swedish journalists Swedish male journalists Stockholms KK water polo players

Water polo player

Sports official

Journalist

See also

References

External links