Nick Mercieca has been awarded the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award for the month of December 2022.

Nick Mercieca is a paralympic rower representing Siggiewi Rowing Club. Together with Kurt Farrugia, he set a world record for the 500-meter event at the 2022 Malta National Indoor Rowing Championships.

Nick Mercieca competed in the adaptive category Men 15-16 PR1 500 metre race, which he completed in 3 minutes 9.6 seconds. This was the first ever world record recorded for this event.

This is the first time that World Records were set in Malta during the National Indoor Rowing Championships by either an abled body athlete or a para-athlete. During the month of December, Nick had two more world records, which are still under review by the World Para Athletics.

Despite having spina bifida, which restricts him from using his legs, Nick Mercieca also trains calisthenics, weight training and karate.

The trophy for the December 2022 Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month, together with the sports apparel voucher, were presented to Nick Mercieca by Matthew von Brockdorff, Managing Director & CEO of Atlas Insurance. The Malta Sports Journalists Association was represented by Administrator Stephen Azzopardi and executive committee member Domenic Aquilina.

This award is a joint initiative of the Malta Sports Journalists Association and Atlas Insurance. The adjudicating panel of this award takes note of all the youths’ achievements during the month under review and invites local sports associations and federations to send their nominations for consideration if they feel that any of their under-21 athletes have distinguished themselves during that month.

Nominations for this award may be sent via email to [email protected]. The rules and regulations of the award can be viewed on the website
www.maltasportsjournalists.com.

Photo caption: From left: Stephen Azzopardi, Administrator (MSJA), Nick Mercieca, Prof Joseph Grima President (Malta Paralympic Committee) and Matthew von Brockdorff, Managing Director & CEO (Atlas Insurance).