John Merricks

John Merricks
Personal information
Full nameJohn Edward Merricks
Born16 February 1971 (1971-02-16)
Leicester, England
Died8 October 1997 (1997-10-09) (aged 26)
Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb)
Sailing career
Class(es)420, 470, Fireball, Laser II
Medal record
Men's sailing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta 470

John Edward Merricks (16 February 1971 – 8 October 1997) was an English sailor. He represented Great Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he received the silver medal in the 470 class along with his sailing partner, Ian Walker.[1][2] At the 1996 470 European Championships he and Walker won the silver medal.

Merricks died in a car accident in Italy on 8 October 1997. He and Walker were passengers in a minivan when the driver lost control.[3] A lake at Watermead Park is named after him.

  1. ^ "1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States – Sailing". databaseOlympics.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "John Merricks". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.
  3. ^ Wallechinsky, David (2004). The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, Toronto: Sport Classic Books. ISBN 1-894963-34-2