Surf Life Saving Queensland Magazine
Surf Life Saving Queensland Magazine
NICK MARSHALL OAM: BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE FUTURE FOR SURF LIFESAVING
When Nick Marshall was awarded Surf Life Saving Queensland Life Membership, it marked more than decades of service — it recognised a leader who’s changed what belonging looks like on the beach.
From Brisbane kid to “all-in” lifesaver Nick’s surf lifesaving journey began with weekend trips from Brisbane to Metropolitan Caloundra, where his family quickly became immersed in club life. Guided early on by renowned swimming coach John Carew, he developed both strong skills in the water and a deep connection to the surf community. Over the years, he went on to be part of several clubs — Surfers Paradise, Tugun, Currumbin, Coolangatta and now Nobbys — forming lifelong friendships and gaining experience that would shape his future roles. He continued competing throughout, and discovered a lasting passion for coaching. What began as helping out family members eventually grew into decades of guiding junior athletes across multiple clubs, a role he still holds today with Nobbys’ young competitors — including his own children. Alongside his club commitments, Nick has long been involved at the elite level of the sport. He has travelled extensively with Queensland and Australian representative teams as a physiotherapist, supporting athletes at national and international events. He has contributed to high-performance and medical advisory groups, coached branch teams, and remains a familiar face at nippers each weekend, helping wherever needed in water safety and on the beach. The spark that became Albatross Nippers Ask most members what Nick is best known for and they’ll say Albatross Nippers — the program he founded to open Nippers to children with disability. The idea took shape in 2012 when a young athlete’s siblings, unable to be insured in mainstream sessions, were missing out. “It was splitting families on carnival day,” Nick recalls. “Mum at one end, the athlete at the other. That didn’t sit right.” Two years of questions, risk work, and patient advocacy followed. In 2014, Albatross launched — and the community arrived before the banners were up. “I expected three or four families,” he says. “We had more than 30 on day one — then close to 90
on the first day of the next season.” Demand has never been the problem; designing something sustainable has. Nick’s model is intentionally simple and replicable: adaptive Nippers embedded within a club’s normal program. No extra carnival day to staff, no parallel infrastructure to build — just an “Albatross” age group that rotates through the same beach set-ups with the right water safety and modifications. “Start with what you already do, then adapt,” he says. “Be honest, be safe, and learn as you go. Families will teach you — they’ve been adapting their whole lives.” The impact has been bigger than Saturday mornings. Parents now see volunteers greeting their kids at the shops, not looking away. Young water safety members are learning communication, empathy and leadership in real time. “We talk a lot about the benefit to kids with disability — and there is — but the quiet win is how it shapes our whole community.” A moment that still brings tears Among many highlights — ten consecutive Coolangatta Golds on the old course, state and national medals, wearing the green and gold as team physio — one memory sits tallest: the 2019 QLD Junior State Championships. It was the first time an inclusive March Past team took the field at State Nippers. One of Nick’s proudest surf lifesaving moments came at the Queensland Youth Championships, when the first adaptive nippers March Past team took to the arena. “Burleigh’s kids marched through a tunnel of people clapping and cheering,” Nick says. “You could see how emotional it was for everyone watching — it was a really powerful moment.” From that day, the significance of inclusion in surf sports became unmistakably clear, and the team has marched every year since.
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