Newfoundland and Labrador got their first medal on home soil today, courtesy of Gavin Baggs. Baggs participated in the second heat of the 200 / 400m Para Men’s swimming freestyle, participating in the 400m portion of the race.
He swam an outstanding race, just barely losing out to British Columbia’s Ken Stroud.
After the race, Baggs talked about what winning that medal meant to him: “This means the world, I’ve been to four Canada Games and have not won a medal at any of them. To win my first one in my home province and to get the first medal for Newfoundland and Labrador in the Games is such an amazing feeling.“
Baggs previously swam in the 2022 Canada Games. He also participated in Wheelchair Basketball at the 2019 and 2023 Games.
Other than Baggs’ incredible performance, there were some other outstanding performances by other Team NL swimmers as well.
Anna Rideout and Maddy Ladha participated in the second heat of the Women’s 1500m, the longest indoor swimming race at the Canada Games. Both did very well in this race, with Rideout coming first in her heat with a time of 18:02.41, while Ladha came third with a time of 18:19.56. Rideout finished 7th overall, while Ladha finished 11th overall in the cumulative standings.
There were also two representatives from Newfoundland and Labrador in the Men’s 800m race, Nathan Wilson and Seamus Kavanagh-Penney. Wilson participated in the second leg of the race, finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 9:06.20, which was good for 11th in the cumulative standings, while Kavanagh-Penney was first in the third heat with a time of 9:17.09, good for 16th overall.
Newfoundland and Labrador also participated in both the Men’s and Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, with the women’s team finishing in sixth place with a time of 8:57.24, while the men’s team came in fifth, with a time of 8:13.91.
Ontario Picks Up Six Medals
Ontario dominated the pool today, finishing on the podium in all six races. Their most notable race was the women’s 1500m, where Isabella Cooper took home gold, with a time of 16:58.09, breaking the Canada Games record of 17:03.68.
Alberta also had a good day, winning four medals, including three silvers in the Women’s 1500m, Men’s 800m and the Men’s 4x200m.
Lastly, Quebec also had a very solid day, winning three medals. They won two gold medals thanks to Olivier Blanchard in the Men’s 800m and the Men’s 4x200m Relay.
