Whether it’s in the swimming pool, on the tennis court or even in gym class, you’ll see Coach Daniel Montgomery motivating and pushing the students he is working with.

Hired in 2019, Montgomery is the Boys Swimming coach and the Boys and Girls Tennis coach, while also a Physical Education and Health teacher at Warren Hills.

“Both of my older sisters were swimmers in their youth, so I was introduced to competitive swimming at a young age,”  he said.

Montgomery said he started swimming when he was five years old and kept swimming due to the great coaches and teammates he had. While attending Roxbury High School, he won gold for the breaststroke as a senior and was the captain of the swim team. 

Montgomery also swam for James Madison University (JMU) Swim Club and also was a part of the JMU Triathlon Team while majoring in kinesiology and physical education. 

Montgomery said it was during college that his coaching career began coaching recreational swim teams in Virginia.

While teaching at Roxbury High School he was the head coach of their Boys and Girls’ Swim Team. When coaching at Roxbury, he was awarded the Daily Record’s Coach of the Year, which he said is his greatest coaching accomplishment to date, while at the same time attributing that award to his swimmers.

”I really owe it all to how hard my athletes worked,” he said.

Some of Montgomery’s athletes have gone to Division 1 schools for their sport and some have qualified for Olympic trials.

While at Warren Hills, two of the three seasons Montgomery has been a part of have been effected or canceled due to COVID 

“You can’t fake strength in sports like tennis and swimming, you need to actively do them to get better, both sports need special environments that come at a premium during COVID,” he said. 

Besides COVID, Montgomery said low enrollment has been a struggle for both teams.

“If you have the slightest interest in trying a new sport, get out there and give it a shot,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said he loves seeing his players succeed in anything they are trying to accomplish.

“Having a swimmer legally finishing a new race, winning a championship, setting a record or watching one of my tennis players perfectly execute a new strategy and hit a beautiful shot are all examples that come to mind,” he said. 

The feelings toward Montgomery are mutual. 

“He has helped me improve in two new sports that I wanted to try and made the environment welcoming for me and many others,” said junior Gabe Serrao.

However Montgomery’s ultimate goal is to make the players he coaches better athletes than he ever was.  Although he hasn’t been a Blue Streak for long, Montgomery has fit right in with the Warren Hills family. 

“It’s great being in a cooperative and supportive environment,” said Montgomery. “The Blue Streaks are gritty, hard-working kids who are fun to coach and have bright futures ahead of them.”