Swimmer Neil Faudemer leads Jersey at Island Games

Jersey swimming veteran Neil Faudemer has described leading the team out at the Island Games opening ceremony as "a great privilege".

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe officially opened the event in the Isle of Wight on Saturday night.

Faudemer was chosen to be the Jersey flag bearer for a carnival parade.

He said: "The atmosphere through the streets up the town was just absolutely amazing."

Thousands of people lined the streets of Ryde to welcome competitors from 24 islands from around the world including Bermuda, Guernsey and Aland.

Faudemer told BBC Radio Jersey: "The crowd were electric and we got a fantastic reception as an island.

"The amount of applause and cheering was fantastic."

Lord Coe told the crowd: "When you bring communities together and you bring them from cultures and different languages and backgrounds, there is one language that we all speak, and that is sport.

"With the extraordinary carnival atmosphere I certainly know you have set us a hard task in topping the celebrations I've seen this evening.

"I'll go back to our creative director Danny Boyle and tell him he has a lot of hard work on his hands."