The 18th NatWest International Island Games are officially under way after the opening ceremony took place in Gibraltar this evening.

The 177-strong Isle of Man team joined the hosts and 20 other islands at the two-hour long ceremony at the new Europa Point Sports Complex.

After a performance by the Royal Marines marching band, the 2,000 athletes and officials taking part in this week’s event filed into a packed if blustery arena at the most southerly point of the peninsula. The Manx team were led by badminton player Kim Clague who will be aiming to secure her fourth consecutive gold in the women’s doubles.

Following that the traditional water ceremony took place. This sees representatives from each of the 22 competing islands proudly carry a vessel containing water from their home island. The contents of all the vessels are then poured into one big receptacle.

The role is traditionally given to the youngest member of the team, which in the Isle of Man’s case was 13-year-old Ramsey swimmer Aimee Myers.

The Games were then declared open by Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo who emphasised the slogan of this year’s event ’Clean seas, our futures’ while underlining his hopes that the Games will have a lasting legacy on Gibraltar’s young sportsmen and women.

A music and dance performance by West End performer Nathan Conroy’s Recycle Junkies brought the evening to a close.

The competitive action gets under way on Sunday morning, with the men’s triathlon starting at 7am (BST).