Bay athletes have got off to a roaring start as the 2016 Rio Olympics kicked off over the weekend.
Tauranga man Peter Burling, with sailing partner Blair Tuke, carried the New Zealand flag in front of the kiwi contestants during the opening ceremony of the games.
Tauranga born Ella Nicholas carried the Cook Islands flag during the ceremony. She will represent the island nation in the women's kayak single starting on August 9.
The opening ceremony kicked off at 10.30am New Zealand time and the Bay's first contestant Mahe Drysdale got into his first rowing race eleven hours later.
Drysdale placed first for the men's single scull heats with a time of a time of 7.04.45 which qualified him for the quarter-final to be raced on August 9 at 11.30pm (NZT).