James Coleman was celebrating the Easter long weekend in 2016, enjoying the warm weather in his then-hometown of Darwin when he dived into an unfamiliar swimming pool.

“We’d just come home after being away for work – I was in Defence at the time,” the 36-year-old says.

“I dived into the pool, hit my head on the bottom and broke my neck in four places. That left me with quadriplegia and … here I am.”

For many, coming to terms with the fact that you would need a wheelchair for the rest of your life would take a long period of adjustment. For James, it happened “pretty much overnight”.

“I thought, ‘oh well, this isn’t a great situation but what’s next’,” he says.

“That’s the way I’ve always been.

“I think some of my family and friends found it harder to deal with than I did.

“I thought to myself, ‘what can I still do?’.

“Obviously I wasn’t going to go for a run in the morning, but there were things I could still do.”

While in rehab the now-Adelaide based disability support worker was introduced to the sport of wheelchair rugby, and having played rugby union at club level in Queensland and during his time in the Army it seemed like a perfect fit.

“It’s the only full-contact sport for people with a disability, so I was like, ‘put me in a chair, let’s go!’,” he recalls.

While James has impairment of his arm movements, he has enough functionality to propel his wheelchair and participate in the fast-paced – and sometimes brutal – sport in which he now represents South Australia.

“For someone like myself, who lived a very physical and sporty lifestyle, you don’t want to give that up,” he says.

“You just have to change the way you’re doing it.”

Now James is hoping South Australia can repeat last year’s efforts and bring home gold in the Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championship which kicks off at Netball SA Stadium on Friday.

Australia is the current world champion and will use the three-day event to finalise its list of 12 athletes to represent the nation at the 2024 Paralympic Games, being held in Paris later this year.

The event is the largest annual wheelchair rugby event in the southern hemisphere and will also feature world-class international players.

And the skilled mid-pointer – who’s main role is to “bash into people and help our ball-carrier get through for the score” – thinks we’re a good chance to bring home the gold.

“SA is in with a good shot this year,” James says.

“We won gold last year and silver the two years before that, so we’re hoping to back that up this year. There will be a lot of competition though.”

Win or lose, James says he’s just happy to be on the court with “likeminded people who are into hard contact and just getting out there and bashing around”.

“I would definitely encourage people to come and have a look,” he says.

“When I watch regular rugby now, I think it’s nowhere near as exciting as wheelchair rugby.”

The 2024 Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championship runs from Friday 3 May to Sunday 5 May.  Click here for a special 50 per cent off deal on tickets.