Alberta led the way on Wednesday, taking four of their 13 total pool gold medals at the Canada Games.
Nicholas Duncan (men’s 100-meter butterfly), Maxine Clark (women’s 100-meter butterfly), Connor Bissett (men’s 50-meter backstroke, Special Olympics) and the 4 × 100-meter medley relay Women all won gold.
Ontario and British Columbia each won three gold medals in swimming that day.
For Ontario, Julie Brousseau (women’s 200 freestyle), Maya Bezanson (200 backstroke), and Charles Giammichele (SB4-9, SB11-14 men’s 100 breaststroke) took first place on their respective podium finishes.
On the British Columbia side, the men’s 4×100 medley relay team, Thomas Caruso’s 200 backstroke, and Peter Huang’s men’s 200 m freestyle all won gold.
Selkirk, Man., a native of Teagen Purvis, earned her third gold and fourth overall medal of the competition and won the Special Olympics women’s 50+ backstroke. Halle West contributed to the province’s two-gold day in pool with a win in the women’s 100m breaststroke.
Quebec picked up a gold that day when Tatiana Nault won the SB4-9, SB11-14 women’s 100 backstroke. Nova Scotia’s only gold came from Keilen Bellis’ victory in the men’s 100 meter breaststroke.
Also, for the first time in Canadian Summer Games history, medals were awarded in women’s rugby sevens as British Columbia defeated Quebec for gold while Ontario won bronze.
“I don’t know if I can put this feeling into words,” Quebec coach Jocelyn Barrieau said in a statement. “I just watched the three medal winners dance and celebrate together. I know rugby has a good place in this country and this competition has done a lot for our game and I will be grateful for that for a long time to come.”
Ontario currently leads the medal tally with 46 and 20 gold medals. British Columbia is second for overall medals (39) and third for gold medals (9). Meanwhile, Alberta is second in gold medal winnings (13) and third in total medal count with 31.
Yukon, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are all still looking for their first medals at the Games.
© 2022 The Canadian Press