Team Bermuda will be making their way on boats down the Seine in a historic Olympic Games opening ceremony today.

The Paris showpiece, which is set to start at 2.30pm Bermuda time, is being held outside a stadium for the first time with Olympians travelling through the capital on one of the most famous waterways in the world.

Six of Bermuda’s eight-strong squad will feature in the aquatic procession, with defending Olympic triathlon champion Dame Flora Duffy and Tyler Smith choosing to bypass the ceremony in favour of prioritising training in advance of their races next week.

Triple jumper Jah-Nhai Perinchief, who was chosen as one of Bermuda’s flag-bearers earlier in the week along with sailor Adriana Pendruddocke, has revealed his shock at being chosen to carry the nation’s colours in the ceremony.

“I feel great and it was a pleasant surprise,” Perinchief said.

“I didn’t expect it as we have a lot of people worthy and capable of carrying the flag and it’s a high honour.

“My family are all very excited and everybody was calling and texting just as they did when they found out that I had qualified.

“I’m excited to see how the opening ceremony will work out, as it’s a different, unique set-up to be on a boat.

Penruddocke experienced similar feelings when she was informed that she would be carrying the flag down the Seine.

“It was such an awesome surprise to get nominated as the flag-bearer among the Bermuda team,” she said.

“Katura [Horton-Perinchief, chef de mission] gave me a call and told me. I was just out of words. It’s one thing to obviously qualify the country and get yourself here but to hold the flag will be such a proud moment and to honour my country is really exciting.

“Walking into a stadium is one thing but to be on boats will be amazing. I don’t yet know all the details and all the planning but it is a unique opportunity and I am really looking forward to it.

“It’s such an awesome opportunity. We have such a strong team and the fact I was selected is amazing. My family were so happy for me and they can’t wait to see me waving the flag and honouring Bermuda.”

Horton-Perinchief revealed it was not an easy decision to select the flag-bearers after Duffy, who is competing in her fifth Olympic Games, chose not to take part.

“When Flora was not going to take part in the opening ceremony, the decision became very difficult,” Horton-Perinchief said.

“Flora is at her fifth Olympics and is obviously the standout choice for bearing any flag but she needs to rest, stay off her feet and get mentally in a space to get back on the podium.

“Tyler Smith will be in his training camp so he will also not be walking, so that left me with the difficult choice of six very deserving athletes. It was tough but we arrived at our very first qualifier in Adriana Penruddocke as she is the reason we knew we would be represented at these Olympics when she qualified in November.

“Jah-Nhai rounded out the team and they are the alpha and omega, the beginning of our journey all the way to the end. It’s an incredible honour and we have new Olympians bearing the flag. I don’t think it gets any better than that.

“I was the flag-bearer at the closing ceremony in Athens and my room-mate Kiera Aitken was the flag-bearer for the opening ceremony and it’s an incredible and humbling experience to carry Bermuda’s flag so I’m very excited for these young Bermudians and it’s going to be an opportunity of a lifetime.”

“We are going to look incredible so I hope we can get a lot of TV time. The athleltes are going to leave early and that early-deaprture option is open to any athlete and ours are taking advantage of that. It’s a long time on their feet but I plan to be at the whole thing as I wasn’t able to be at the whole thing during my own Olympics because Iwas competing. The open-air opening ceremony will be second to none. Go Paris.

Horton-Perinchief’s role involves arranging logistics and she has had her work cut out even for the opening ceremony, with Penruddocke arriving in Paris only this morning after travelling from her sailing base in Marseille.

“We have a three-hour train journey on Friday and we’ll stay at the Olympic Village and then come back on Saturday morning,” Penruddocke said.

“We’ve planned it well so it works around our schedule and we are using our two rest days to go to Paris and then come back for three training days before the event.

“It’s one thing to be in the satellite village down here in Marseille but to go up to the main one, which is even bigger with all the athletes and seeing people you look up to will be really cool.

“It’s also great to be able to meet up with the rest of the team and be involved in that team atmosphere as that’s not something I’m always used to.”