Manitoba athletes winning medals, breaking records 1 week into Canada Summer Games

CBC

12 hours ago

Manitoba athletes are adding their names to the history books at the 2025 Canada Summer Games in St. John's.
Swimmer Maxine Lavitt broke the Canada Games record in the 50-metre freestyle para women's race with a time of 28.28 en route to a gold medal on Thursday. It's one of five medals she's taking home from the Games.
"It's really special for me," Lavitt told CBC News Friday. "I think it's really cool that I get to have my name there, until the next Games. We'll see how long it stands for."
"It means a lot to me because this was my last swim meet of my career," she said. "I'm taking a step back after these Games, so it was really special for me to go out with a bang, basically."
Beyond the medals, Lavitt also said participating in the competition was a meaningful experience.
"Being Red River Métis it was really special for me to represent my homeland and my province at the same time and for everyone at home to be watching me," she said. "And for everyone to be watching me, I've had so many people in my support circle who have helped bring me here.
"It's been a really long year training to get here, so I'm happy it all paid off," Lavitt said.
Manitoba had won 17 medals at the 2025 Games as of Friday night. Team 'Toba brought home 37 medals at the 2022 Games.
The Games began Aug. 8 and run until Aug. 25. The competition's first week has been affected by the ongoing wildfire situation in Newfoundland, which has forced multiple venue changes and postponements.
"We're so proud of all of our athletes and teams this week, putting in one outstanding performance after another in incredibly difficult circumstances," said Team Manitoba chef de mission Drew Todd, in a statement to CBC News.
'I was in disbelief'
Also adding to Manitoba's medal count is William Wintoniw, who won a bronze medal Thursday in the canoe kayak C-1 5,000-metre men's race.
"I was in disbelief to be honest for the first maybe half hour after my race ," he said. "I wasn't quite expecting it, but I was quite overjoyed.
Wintoniw said being able to celebrate with his family felt "surreal."
"I'm a lot younger than some of the competitors," he said. "I was going in with the mindset that I want to win, but I knew that there were a lot of others guys with a lot of experience."
While Wintoniw still aims to compete in one more Canada Games, Lavitt had some advice for other athletes who represent Team Manitoba this year and in the future before she walks away from competing: Have fun.
"For some people this is the only time they're going to have a major Games experience," she said. "It's just [about] having as much fun as possible and not taking yourself too seriously."