Laser Sailor and flag bearer Thad A. Lettsome makes his way into the National Stadium of Peru at the opening ceremony of the Pan Am Games in Lima on Friday, July 26, 2019. Photo: Dean H. Greenaway aka ‘The Sportsman’

Laser Sailor and flag bearer Thad A. Lettsome, left, and Chef de Mission Lindel Hodge aka ‘Chef’, right, at the opening ceremony of the Pan Am Games in Lima on Friday, July 26, 2019. Photo: Dean H. Greenaway aka ‘The Sportsman’

From left: Sailing coach Alec Anderson; Laser Sailor and flag bearer Thad A. Lettsome; and Chef de Mission Lindel Hodge aka ‘Chef’, right, at the opening ceremony of the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, on Friday, July 26, 2019. Photo: Dean H. Greenaway aka ‘The Sportsman’

Laser Sailor and flag bearer Thad A. Lettsome, Coach Alec Anderson and Chef de Mission Lindel Hodge aka ‘Chef’, were the territory’s reps marching in the ceremony that featured Peruvian history and culture.

As they marched into the national stadium, an image of The Baths was projected on the large rock backdrop which featured each country and later in the programme the flags of all 41 nations, the VI’s among them.

“From time we walked out our apartment, everybody was watching us,” noted Hodge. “Everybody was in their suits and bland sweat suits and we had our pretty shirts with Bee VI, it was an eye catcher. I wished we had more bodies, but we did what we had to do. Our shirts caught lots of eyes and everybody wanted to trade for our BVI pins after that.”

Unforgettable experience

Lettsome, coming off participating in the ISAF World Youth Championships in Poland, July 14-20, 2019 said he was surprised there was so much space and the teams weren’t jammed up.

“It was a fun, a good experience I won’t forget,” said Lettsome who’s making his games competition debut on August 3, 2019 and Paracas. “I’m pretty lucky I think to be doing this so young obviously, then holding the flag, so I’m trying not to take it for granted because a lot of people can’t do this.”

Sailing Coach Alec Anderson said it was cool being able to represent the VI in the opening ceremony.

“I’ve always had a goal of going to the Olympics—though this is not quite the Olympics—it’s still a big opening ceremony with a lot of countries and a big crowd so it was pretty darn special to finally be able to walk through a tunnel, repping the BVI. So, I had a great time.”

Anderson and Lettsome will depart for Paracas on Monday morning, July 29, 2019 to begin preparations for the Sailing competition that kicks off on August 8, 2019.