Prince Christian and his saviour Nick Malcolm. Photos / Getty Images and Facebook
Prince Christian and his saviour Nick Malcolm. Photos / Getty Images and Facebook
The Kiwi lifeguard who saved a Danish prince caught swimming in a dangerous rip tide is back at work but "overwhelmed" by the attention, his boss said today.
Nick Malcolm was patrolling the surf at Mermaid Beach on Australia's Gold Coast last Thursday when he saw a 10-year-old boy in trouble.
The 25-year-old New Zealand surf life saving representative and three times national champion paddled out to grab the boy, who had been dragged from the surf by a rip tide while out swimming between the flags.
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Nick Malcom has kept pretty quiet about his heroics. Photo / Supplied
He took the boy ashore and was thanked by a very grateful father.
It was only after the relieved family left the beach that a bystander told Mr Malcolm that the boy was Prince Christian, the eldest son of Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik.
"We didn't have a clue," Mr Malcolm's supervisor, Stuart Keay said.
Princess Mary, who is originally from Tasmania, has been on holiday with her husband and their four children in Australia for the past week.
Mr Malcolm, a Rangitoto College old boy originally from Mairangi Bay, works for Gold Coast City Council.
Prince Christian with his family. Photo / Getty Images
He told the Herald today that his supervisor had advised him "not to comment any further regarding the rescue".
Instead chief lifeguard Warren Young fronted media today to downplay the royal rescue.
He said the boy had been caught in a rip between the flags and Mr Malcolm, a champion paddle boarder, had only paddled 10m to drag the boy on to his board and take him back to the shore.
It was a "preventive rescue", Mr Young said, the kind they do every day.
The royal family were doing the right thing by swimming between the flags while it was being patrolled.
Mr Malcolm was back at work and "overwhelmed by the attention", he said, but it wasn't going to his head.
"He's still the same," Mr Young said.
"He did a great job and that's what we'd expect."
Mr Malcolm has been involved with Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club since he was a primary school-aged nipper and rose through the grades, head of senior surf sports Danny Morrison said today.
Although he's now based in Gold Coast, the Mecca for surf life saving, Mr Malcolm still comes back and competes with his old mates.
The prince's rescue would've been a straightforward one which is replicated 15-20 times a day on that coast "but don't get reported because it's not a prince".
"Nick is the sort of laid-back bloke that just loves being in the water -- you struggle to get him out of the water rather than encourage them to go training," said Mr Morrison, a former coach of Mr Malcolm.
"He knows the ocean inside out and I would imagine that it would've been a pretty simple process for him."
It's not the first time Mr Malcolm has attracted attention for his life-saving efforts.
Footage of the dramatic incident, where Mr Malcolm performed chest compressions on the gentleman, was filmed by an Australian television network.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) sport manager Mike Lord said while it was "pretty awesome" that Mr Malcolm rescued a modern-day prince, it was an everyday rescue.
"Although Nick's one was highlighted because it was a well-known person involved, there are multiple rescues going on today across New Zealand and Australia that are just as good if not harder rescues."
KIWI SURF LIFE SAVING - THE NUMBERS
• This season around 4000 volunteer lifeguards will spend over 200,000 hours keeping a watchful eye on more than 80 New Zealand beaches.
• During an average season, more than 1200 people are rescued from life-threatening situations.
• Last season, 1328 people were rescued across New Zealand, up from 1034 the season before.
