Lily Montagnion loves that her teammates challenge her.
She loves the thrill of competing and there is no better feeling for her than finishing a race after giving it her all. It just so happens that more often than not, Montagnion finishes her races near the top or even on top of the leaderboard.
The Gilbert Plains native is in her third year swimming with the Parkland Gators.
"I love being able to stay fit," said Montagnion. "I also love that I get the opportunity to advance at a skill that I am very fond of."
At an event earlier this year in Winnipeg, Montagnion was all over the top of the leaderboard as she finished with a pair of silver medals to go along with a pair of bronze medals.
Lily has certainly grown to love swimming over the years and while she knows there is plenty of hard work ahead if she wants to achieve her goals, the Gilbert Plains swim star is committed and dedicated to becoming the best swimmer and teammate that she can.
"I've been enjoying my butterfly stroke this year, so it's certainly something that I want to improve on," offered Montagnion. "We have a great group of swimmers, I love being a Gator."
In her most recent action at a meet in Brandon, Lily earned herself another silver medal to go along with two bronze medals. Lily's goal is to get her 'AA' time in the 50m freestyle race and to do so, she will look to continue making great waves going up against the top age-eligible swimmers from across the province.
"I would say this year has been pretty good, but last year was probably a better year for me," said Montagnion. "Looking forward to next year, I'm hoping to continue getting my times back up and continuing with the skill that I know I have."
Out of the pool, Lily is very active and another passion of hers is playing volleyball. Now in her second season with the Predators 14U team, Montagnion has grown to love the sport.
"I enjoy that I'm a pretty good player and I love the group of girls that we have on our team, we work together so well," Montagnion mentioned.
Just because Lily enjoys plenty of success in the water, it doesn't mean that will translate to success on the court. However, in Lily's case, it certainly has. The Predators have put together an outstanding season which includes a fifth-place finish at a premier tournament to go along with a pair of bronze medal finishes in Brandon and Regina.
"We definitely have improved and I'm very honoured to be on this team," said Montagnion. "We're going to continue to improve and I'm very excited about that, it's great to know that we continue to get better."
The Predators also have three gold medal finishes to their names this season with a championship in Swan River and they also won the Bandits tournament on two separate occasions.
As Lily says, there's nothing sweeter than winning.
"It feels amazing, I always knew we were capable of great things, I really believe in this team," ended Montagnion.
Currently, Lily and her team are gearing up for a tournament in Minot, North Dakota, followed by the provincial championships. She is excited about the upcoming challenges and is confident in her team's ability to perform at their best.
