Tuesday, July 19, 2025 (St. John’s) – The diving competition at the Canada Games officially kicked off Tuesday evening with the artistic diving events. Samuel Talbot of Quebec and Lila Stewart of Saskatchewan captured the first gold medals of the event, held at the Aquarena in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
In artistic diving, athletes perform basic dives with a focus on technique and the aesthetics of each dive.
In the men’s event, the competition was extremely close. Samuel Talbot claimed gold with a total score of 220.80. Arnaud Corbeil earned silver, finishing just behind his Quebec teammate with 219.55 points. Mathias Frohloff of British Columbia took bronze with 215.00 points.
“It was about the basics today, so the goal was to perform them as well as I could. I think I did really well. I was consistent, and I’m proud of my performance. The atmosphere here is so intense. The cheering is loud. I love it—it pushes me to do my best,” said Talbot.
The atmosphere was electric at the Aquarena for this opening event. Fans turned out in large numbers to cheer on the athletes, including local competitor Juan Diego Palma, who placed 18th. At just 13 years old, Palma had the chance to compete in his very first Canada Games at home, in front of Newfoundland supporters.
You could hear the crowd roaring every time his name was called over the loudspeaker.
In the women’s artistic event, Lila Stewart was crowned champion, scoring a total of 221.70 points.
“I’m really happy. There’s such a great atmosphere here at the Canada Games. Winning a gold medal for Saskatchewan is an amazing feeling! This is such a special memory for me and a great way to start the Games,” said Stewart.
Also representing Saskatchewan, Isa Koop took silver with a score of 198.15. Ontario’s Ella Lindsay claimed bronze with 196.85, edging out British Columbia’s Simran Rakhra (196.05) by less than one point.
The competition continues Wednesday with the men’s 1m and women’s 3m events.
About Diving Plongeon Canada
Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of World Aquatics, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation of the world. For information, visit www.diving.ca.
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Information:
Alexandra Piché
Communication manager
(514) 625-5513
alexandra@diving.ca