Linck Bergen, the former head coach of the Tualatin Hills Swim Club in Oregon, has been arrested in Florida and charged with possession of a controlled substance.
The 55-year old Bergen was arrested on August 21st at 10:20PM for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. his wife, Michelle, was also arrested on the same charges. Both were released on $2,500 bonds each.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrest records, the controlled substance was methamphetamines. Linck Bergen‘s profession in the arrest records is listed as “coach.”
The paraphernalia charge is a class 1 misdemeanor in Florida, while the possession of a controlled substance is a class 3 felony.
Bergen was fired by the Tualatin Hills Swim Club in 2014, after 15 years as head age group and head coach of the program, and sued the team after his termination. Bergen also counts on his resume that he “assisted in coaching six Olympians in 2004,” naming Inge de Bruijn, Chantal Grout, Kaori Hamada, Igor Martchenko, Junko Onishi, and Dennis Pimankov among those he participated in coaching. His father, Paul Bergen, served on USA international coaching staffs at 4 World Championship meets, and also is a 4-time Olympic coach. In 2010, Deena Deardruff accused Paul Bergen of sexually abusing her from the ages of 11 to 15.
More recently, Bergen was a coach with the Asker Svømmeklubb in Asker, Norway. A Norwegian news outlet once called Oslo, Norway “the crystal meth capital of Europe.” Bergen more recently lists himself on LinkedIn as the head coach of the Greater Tampa Swim Association beginning in July of 2019. The club still lists him as head coach on their website.
Just wanted to make a comment that the cover picture (not the one listed above), but when clicking into the link from an external source shows the UC San Diego pool. Maybe change that photo so it doesn’t look like UCSD is in affiliation with this?
Sad. Linck. I hope you can get your s@&$ together. You have a great mind for getting kids to excel but this is a self-destructive path you’ve taken.
Mr. Bergen was arrested on August 21st, he is still listed ( on their website ) as Head Coach of GTSA. Is he still on the deck, if so, where is USA Swimming on this subject?
I don’t see Bergen on the GTSA site. I am told he didn’t coach after the arrest and a short time (matter of days once he arrived from Norway). Too bad GTSA team and children suffer by others from #TEAM making fun of them. #nobullyinginswimming
Ya methed up buddy
Mike Tyson, is that you??
GTSA swim parents should demand to see the letters of recommendation, that the search committee received. I would like to see SWIMSWAM publish these letters. Let’s see who is letting this type of coach on our decks.
This was a train wreck from the hiring. The people who hired Mr. Bergen should be fired. They did not do their homework.
The “people” doing the hiring are getting a bit of Karma. You reap what you sew TH! The real victims in all of this are the kids who just want to swim.
#Team hopefully no mistakes. Karma can come in court.
#TEAM sewing what you reaped!
Illicit drug use is mainstream . A yacht hit a reef off the WA coast & was found to be carrying a billion $ worth of drugs. Thats basically one ecstacy tablet/ sniff for every person in the country on just one yacht .
Meth is s little too potent to ever become a mainstream drug…
I read an interesting articles profiling how common “functioning” meth users actually are. Apparently there are many many people who use it to get through working two jobs while raising 4 kids, etc. Obviously it’s a dangerous, controlled substance and this leads to much larger problems for many people, but not everyone starts off or even finishes in an opium-den.
Yea working two jobs to support their meth habit, which they need to work two jobs.
You can make meth in your kitchen. Part of the reason meth grew in popularity in the U.S. is because working class Americans would take it to work 4 + straight shifts. Meth is much easier and cheaper to access than, for example, cocaine.
maybe this the floor of his downhill and he can start getting on the right track, godspeed