The pair are currently ranked fifth in the world after playing just nine international tournaments together and make up part of Canada's 473-strong athlete delegation.

Their biggest highlight together was the gold medal won at the Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 event in Montreal in July.

"I was completely surprised and just overcome with emotion and stunned, almost," Humana-Paredes said of the moment they were told the news by Canada's Chef de Mission Christine Girard.

"I think this is something as an athlete you want to do one day and you hope that you have the privilege of doing, being a flag bearer for your country.

"The fact that I can do it in Chile, which is where my family's from, that my family will be able to witness it is extremely meaningful.

"This is definitely a moment I will never forget."

While Humana-Paredes, a two-time Commonwealth Games champion, is making her return to the Pan American Games after debuting at Toronto 2015, Wilkerson is set to compete for the first time.

"I've never really experienced an Opening Ceremony, like a true Opening Ceremony," Wilkerson, who made her Olympic debut at the re-arranged 2020 Olympics in Tokyo where COVID-19 restrictions were strictly enforced, said.

"To be able to do this as a flag bearer and with the person I would want to do it the most with, obviously, is so exciting. 

"It'll just be a glimpse to everything we’re working towards but also everything we've already done so far." 

Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson are aiming to win Canada's first Pan American Games medal in beach volleyball since 1999.

In the sport's debut at the event, Jody Holden and Conrad Leinemann won gold in the men’s event on home sand in Winnipeg.

Beach volleyball at Santiago 2023 is set to begin tomorrow and conclude on Thursday (October 26).