John Edward Merricks (16 February 1971 – 8 October 1997) was an English

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

. He represented Great Britain at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, where he received the silver medal in the

470 class The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork i ...

along with his sailing partner, Ian Walker. 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.

Wallechinsky, David David Wallechinsky (born David Wallace, February 5, 1948) is an American popular historian and television commentator, the co-founder and past president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the founder and editor-in-chie ...

(2004). ''The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics'',

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

: Sport Classic Books. A lake at Watermead Park is named after him.

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* * * 1971 births 1997 deaths Sportspeople from Leicester Olympic sailors for Great Britain English male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 1996 Summer Olympics – 470 Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Road incident deaths in Italy Olympic medalists in sailing 470 class sailors Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics 420 class world champions World champions in sailing for Great Britain 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-yachtracing-bio-stub