Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Last Saturday, the official presentation of the XVI Pan American Games 2011 in Puerto Vallarta was held at Teatro Vallarta. With just 41 days before the start of the Fiesta de America, officials pronounced Puerto Vallarta ready to host the sailing competition, open water swim, Triathlon and beach volleyball games.

Addressing more than 1000 people, Puerto Vallarta Mayor Salvador Gonzalez Resendiz, the Vice President of the XVI Pan American Games, Guadalajara Mayor Jorge Sandoval, Aristotle Diaz Yerena, Rep. Rafael Zambrano and the Director General of Jalisco's Municipal Sports Council, André Campos Miranda Marx, officially launched the Pan American Games in Puerto Vallarta.

Leo, Gavo and Huichi, the mascots for the 2011 Pan American Games, were the first on the scene. Excited to share the experience in Puerto Vallarta, they danced around and encouraged everyone to participate, they were welcomed by the Mayor of Puerto Vallarta, who mentioned that the Puerto Vallarta Malecon will be the new headquarters for the open water swimming competition, instead of the API Maritime Terminal.

Later, Aristotle invited Puerto Vallarta Mayor Salvador Gonzalez Resendiz to catch the sporting spirit of the Pan American Games. He also spoke about the economic flow that the Fiesta de America will bring Vallarta and mentioned that this is a unique opportunity to show the world the natural beauty of this tourist destination.

Campos Miranda offered some statistics for the Guadalajara 2011 Pan American Games, which will host 36 sports and 42 participating countries. The Pan American Village will host 12,000 visitors and 5000 athletes from October 12 through 30, and over one and a half million viewers are anticipated to watch the games on television.

At the end of the presentation, four distinguished guests gave awards to Lupita Hernandez, three time Pelota Vasca (Racquetball) world champion, Veronica Cibrian, triple gold medalist at the last Olympics National Athletics as well as Rogelio Adame, Rosario Pelayo and Floralia Estrada, special athletes who have earned the right to participate not only in the Puerto Vallarta games, but also in national and international sporting events.