Nuria Marques Soto

Started: She began swimming lessons at age three at the CN Martorell club in Spain. She began competing in Para swimming at age 11. (Athlete, 27 Aug 2024, 12 Jul 2015; liniaxarxa.cat, 19 Oct 2021; nuriamarques99.com, 28 Apr 2016) Reason: Her father and her doctors encouraged her to get involved in the sport. "I started with conventional swimming, with people without any impairment. I did workshops, like every kid who starts in a pool. Water was a means in which I felt I was in control, it was normal, and it made others see that I could be just like them. That the fact that I was missing a leg was no impediment and I could continue to swim, to do what they did. And that has really led me to enjoy the sport a lot, to get where I got, to keep working." (tododisca.com, 23 Apr 2021; ellasvalenoro.es, 16 Nov 2020; Athlete, 12 Jul 2015; swimbiz.it, 09 Jun 2014) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (infobae.com, 12 Mar 2024) Awards: In 2023 she was named Best Female Athlete of the Year by the Catalonian Para Sports Federation. (elbruguersdigital.cat, 30 Jun 2023) She was named the 2021 Para Athlete of the Year at the 25th Catalan Sports Festival, organised by the Sports Federation Union of Catalonia and the 'Sport' newspaper in Spain. (labustia.cat, 19 Dec 2021) In 2019 she was presented with the Paralympic Ace of Sport prize. (as.com, 03 Dec 2019) She was named Best Athlete of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Spain, for the 2018/19 season. (labustia.cat, 08 Oct 2019) She was named among the Best Athletes of 2017 at the National Sports Gala ceremony of the Spanish Association of Sports Press. (aepde.org, 26 Feb 2018) She was named Spain's 2017 Athlete of the Year by the Olympo Deportivo magazine. (olympodeportivo.es, 30 Dec 2017) In 2016 she received the Silver Medal to the Sports Merit from the Spanish National Sports Council [CSD]. (lainformacion.com, 20 Oct 2016) She was named Female Athlete of the Year at the 2016 Martorell Sports Gala in Spain. (cnmartorell.cat, 21 Jan 2016) Additional Info: EARLY DAYS She believes her parents' decision to treat her like any other child has contributed to her success in the sport. "My parents took me swimming and I did everything like any other girl, despite having several operations. My impairment was normalised because my parents did not overprotect me but they said, 'Do it yourself, we will help you'. They never eased anything for me, but they gave me the opportunity to cope for myself with their support. You must not hide at home with your impairment but face reality. The tendency when you see someone with a problem is to overprotect them, but this is a mistake. You must empower yourself and look for something that allows you to dream." (as.com, 18 Nov 2019)

Sporting Relatives: Her younger brother Mauri Marques has played professional water polo for CN Sant Feliu in the Spanish Division de Honor, the highest level of men's water polo in Spain. (liniaxarxa.cat, 19 Oct 2021; rfen.es, 31 Jul 2021)