National sailor Andrew Lewis was expected to have the esteemed honour of carrying the national flag during Friday evening's opening ceremony of the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Lewis, who created history earlier this year when he won a bronze medal at the Hempel World Cup Series in Genoa, Italy, the highest placing for a T&T sailor at a world series event, was joined by his fellow countrymen, all dressed in their traditional red, white and black attire.
His selection was announced late yesterday and he will be among a proud bunch who will share the moment with athletes from the 41 nations that are participating in the multisport event.
However, earlier it was not so heartwarming for the local athletes who were active on a chilly day as there were several close calls but no successes for T&T in their respective discipline.
Beach volleyballers Rheeza Grant and Malika Davidson were within reach of getting their first win of the Games but let it slip late to go under to Costa Rica, 2-0, in their final Pool B first-round match.
At the beach volleyball stadium, the T&T duo was connecting well to be tied 18-18 in the first set but the Costa Ricans were able to get the necessary three points to win the opener. The next set was just as competitive with T&T leading 20-19 but on return from the break were unable to add to their score and lost 22-20.
"Today I felt like we acclimatised so to speak," said Grant. "Our errors were a lot less and we actually enjoyed the game. We were pretty cold in the beginning but we started to warm up and started to focus and play the game that we know.
"We are happy and upset at the same time. You know when you have the games in your hand and you just let it slip," said Grant with a sigh. "Today we play US Virgin Islands and we expect a better game."
Grant and Davidson will hit that sand again today compete in the 13th - 16th positions as they placed last in the pool, following losses to Columbia (2-0) and USA (2-0) over the previous two days.
T&T men's beach volleyball team of Daynte Stewart and Marlon Phillip are in the same position as they will compete for 13th - 16th positions after falling to a 2-0 (19-21, 13, 21) defeat to El Salvador yesterday as well.
For rugby coach Carlton Felix, T&T's huge 55-0 loss to the USA will be taken as more of a learning experience for the Nicolette Pantor-captained national team.
"I think the players performed well. We set small goals that we were working on for the game and was able to accomplish most of those. I think they got to realise that USA players aren't superhuman. We are within their reach, we just have to continue with the work that we are doing and we will make the progress that we are looking for,
Pantor admitted her team was nervous initially against the tough Americans but has full confidence will improve today in their matches.
She said, "We are looking to improve on retaining possession of the ball and being more supportive in attack so that we can convert these middle line breaks into tries and get on the board
The games tomorrow will be a lot more competitive We have a better shot at upsetting these two teams tomorrow so we are going positive for those two matches.
Also in action on Saturday is boxer Nigel Paul against a Columbian opponent.
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