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Multi-sport athlete and North York native Megan Collins has really come into her own since making the difficult decision less than a year ago to focus her time on water-skiing instead of ice hockey.

Fresh off of a double-bronze medal performance at the Pan American Championships, Collins, 16, won a silver medal in slalom (5 at 55 on a 13-foot rope) and a bronze in tricks (3,040 points) in women's junior competition at the Canadian water-ski championships, held Aug. 15 to 17 at the Summerski Water Ski Club in Newmarket.

It was a personal best for the tricks segment. Not bad for someone who prior to this year was a leisure "cottage skier".

Club coach Paul Roberts said this is just the beginning for the Greenwood College School Grade 11 student.

"Up until this year she has been distracted by other sports and I think (the quick success is because) this year was the first year she has decided that this was the one sport she was going to focus on," said Roberts, who also owns the club host Summerski.

"I can already see a significant difference in her performance, her attitude and her devotion to the sport."

Collins admitted she will likely miss hockey once the snow arrives, "but I'm pretty sure I made the right decision."

For the next year, Collins will travel between Ontario and Florida as she continues training with national team coach Matt Renie.

She'll continue to compete south of the border throughout the year with an eye on qualifying for the January world championships in Peru.

Collins' brother Stevie Collins, 18, skied to a third-place overall finish in the under-21 grouping at the Newmarket nationals, and she gives him credit for introducing her to the sport.

"We're all really proud of her," he said.