WAWOTA - Wawota's Blake Lamontagne is sitting on Cloud 9 after his recent trip to the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation World Disabled Waterski Championship.
This was the first time in four years that the championship was held.
Fourteen members of Team Canada, including Lamontagne, went to Shortline Lake in Elk Grove, Calif., to participate in the worldwide event.
Sixteen years ago, Lamontagne was in a serious vehicle collision that left him paralyzed from the waist down. After going through years of bitterness, loneliness and feeling sorry for himself, he met two men, Chris Pearson and Nick Doulias, who would change his life.
They gave him inspiration to try something new. He began to work out and tried waterskiing, and to his surprise, he felt like a natural on the water. This gave him a positive vibe in his life.
It also provided him with freedom and it was something that a lot of able-bodied people cannot do. He had always loved sports, and this was the next best thing.
Lamontagne started to do vigorous workouts to build upper-body strength. This program had him exercising six days a week, but it was something he grew to love.
His No. 1 fan, his mom Melanie Brimner, supported him each step of the way.
Lamontagne began to compete and found he was pretty good at what he was doing. In 2021, he won the Adaptive Athlete of the Year. His persistence and hard work were paying off.
Travelling to California for the world championship, he was joined by Brimner, as she has for all his world competitions.
“It was great being back at the world championship,” said Lamontagne. “We were able to see old friends from around the world and make new ones.”
Team Canada has always placed fourth in the other competitions, but this year after Day 2 of the event, they were in second place.
This was exciting to the 14-member team, and they continued to hold this spot, taking home second place, which created a lot of excitement for the team.
The world championship ran from Sept. 11-18, with different events each day.
On Sept. 15, the excitement began to build, as Lamontagne would have his solo run for the world title.
“I was super nervous that morning,” said Lamontagne. “And when I am nervous, I know I have a good run.”
He had butterflies and could not sit still.
“If I am not nervous, I do not do well,” he said.
He could feel that this run was a contender for the title and with his biggest fan on the sidelines, he was sure to make it through.
When he strapped on the skis and hit the water, his nerves began to settle and his run began.
Lamontagne did many spinning turns, which gave him a score of 1,440. He knew this was an excellent score and was told unofficially this would take the world title.
On Sept. 24, Lamontagne received the email stating he was the new World MP3 Men’s Trick record holder for the World Disabled Waterski Championship.
Brimner was over-the-moon excited for her son and cannot believe that 16 years later she has a world record holder in her family.
Lamontagne is still riding high and at times he still cannot believe it, but he knows he will need to continue to train and stay in shape to compete in the world championships being held in Australia in 2025, with his No. 1 fan ready to cheer him on.
