Newfoundland and Labrador swimmer Gavin Baggs says swimming in front of a hometown crowd is unlike anything he's ever done before — and it culminated in the host province's first medal at the games being placed around his neck.

On Sunday, Baggs won a silver medal in the men's 400m Freestyle Para.

"It's a sense of just honour and pride," Baggs, 18, told CBC News.

"This means so much," he said. "It's just an honour to be able to represent my province and absolutely an honour to win a medal for them."

The newly renovated Aquarena — a venue built for the last time St. John's hosted the Canada Summer Games in 1977 — was at full capacity for races on Sunday.

Now, 48 years and a large-scale renovation later, Canada Games athletes dove back in.

WATCH | Gavin Baggs says he's never felt anything like a hometown crowd:

'Just an honour': Gavin Baggs of Paradise wins N.L.'s first medal at the 2025 Canada Games

The first medals of the Canada Games were handed out at the Aquarena on Sunday, with a member of Team N.L. taking home silver. The CBC's Alex Kennedy was poolside, and has this report.

Baggs, a multi-sport athlete competing in his fourth Canada Games, believes the newly revamped pool will open doors for other local swimmers to have the same opportunity in the future.

"For any swimmer in Newfoundland, and any young swimmer in Newfoundland, we have the ability now to train at a high-performance pool. And the Aquarena before was a really great pool. But now that it was revamped for Canada Games, it's just at a whole other level," he said.

The first gold medal of the Canada Games was awarded to Isabella Cooper of Ontario. Cooper, 16, set a new Canada Games record in the women's 1,500m freestyle. It was a record that had previously stood for 12 years.

"I didn't think that would be, like, something that would happen. So I'm just really happy with how that went," Cooper said. "It's a big honour to be able to wear this medal, and I'm very excited to see what happens through the rest of the games.

Another historic moment came in the women's 400M freestyle S6-S13 event when P.E.I.'s Veronica MacLellan won a bronze medal, marking just the third time in Canada Games history the province has won a medal in the pool.

"I was just sitting there and my coach came up to me, and he was like 'Veronica, you are the third swimmer, like, in P.E.I. to get a medal here.' And I was like 'What? There's no way!' It's crazy. It's like a dream," she said.

Swimming events will continue until Friday. Monday will mark Day 2 of competition, with canoe kayak, road cycling, rugby sevens and sailing set to begin.

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