George F. Mitchell (1901–1988) was born in San Francisco, where he attended Lick Wilmerding High School and began playing water polo. He then attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a degree in engineering. He joined The Olympic Club in 1922, while still at Berkeley, and competed for both teams before graduation. He served as captain of the UC Berkeley squad in 1923.
In 1924, Mitchell and several other Olympians, including fellow OC Hall of Famer George Schroth, played for Team USA at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. The team lost the silver medal match to Belgium twice, as the team protested the first loss, only to lose again in the replay.
They won the bronze by defeating Sweden, 3–2, in an upset. Sweden had won medals at the previous three Olympics. The Olympian noted that the “players from The Olympic Club were the backbone of the team.” Mitchell played in all five games.
The following year, The Olympic Club won the AAU National title, defeating the Illinois Athletic Club and the Chicago Athletic Club for the title. In the final game against Chicago, “Mitchell, captain of the Olympics, played the greatest game of his career,” the Chronicle cheered. “Time and again, he took the ball away from his opponent to carry it up the field and give the forwards the chance to tally.”
The Chronicle frequently touted Mitchell’s prowess, noting once that “Mitchell is one of those boys that is always in good condition and can be counted on to retain his reputation as the greatest water polo player in the country.”
Mitchell and Schroth played for Team USA again in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, where the team finished fifth. Mitchell continued to play for several more years, before he retired to focus on his engineering career, including helping build the south pier of the Golden Gate Bridge as an underwater engineer. He was a 67-year member of The Olympic Club and is in the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
