Rick Merlo

Rick Merlo
	Merlo in 2008
Personal information
Born	August 5, 1982 (age 42); Fresno, California, U.S.
Medal record
Men's water polo
Representing the United States
Olympic Games

Rick Merlo was born in Fresno, California on August 5, 1982. Merlo is an American water polo player and was a member of the United States men's national water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.^[1] In the championship game, the USA team won the silver medal, defeated by Hungary.^[2]

High school

CIF Champion at Buchanan High School in 1997 and 2000. CIF MVP, First-Team All-American, All-League, and All-CIF in 2000.^[3]

Merlo attended University of California, Irvine^[4] and played water polo under Ted Newland and Marc Hunt. In 2003 Merlo played at the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea and placed 8th.

First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF, and Scholar Athlete in 2005. Third Team All-American and Second-Team All-MPSF in 2004.

In 2005 Merlo played for Genova Italy Nervi and then for Brazil in 2007.^[4]

^ USA Water Polo Men's National Team Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
^ Virgel, Steve (2008-06-30). "U.S. OLYMPIC MEN'S WATER POLO TEAM:". Daily Pilot. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
^ "Athletic Hall of Fame". www.cusd.com. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
^ ^a ^b "Rick Merlo". Team USA. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
^ "Rick Merlo - Assistant - Men's Water Polo Coaches". Fresno Pacific University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-07-14.

This biographical article relating to a water polo Olympic medalist from the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.