Surrey-born Olympic sailor Andrew Simpson died yesterday after his yacht capsized in the San Francisco bay as he trained for the America's Cup.
It is believed Simpson, 36, was trapped underwater for up to ten minutes after the 72-foot Artemis catamaran tipped over at 1.15pm local time.
Desperate attempts to resuscitate him sadly failed and he was declared dead around 20 minutes later.
Simpson won a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a crew member in the star class and took silver last year at the London Games.
Fellow Olympic sailor Annalise Murphy tweeted this morning: "Tragic news from San Francisco. RIP Bart, a true legend and ambassador to the sport of sailing, you will be missed."
Simpson, nicknamed Bart, was born in Chertsey before attending boarding school in Berkshire.
He had been living in Dorset with his family before temporarily relocating to San Francisco in March for his America's Cup training.
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