DURHAM — Sam Caswell doesn't know exactly how many medals he's collected as an athlete competing in the Special Olympics.

“I have quite a few. I just haven't counted,” the 15-year-old member of the Bedford Bobcats said Friday as he prepared to add more medals to his stack during the 43rd annual Special Olympics New Hampshire Summer Games.

Caswell is among the 958 athletes competing in the Friday and Saturday games at the University of New Hampshire.

Opening ceremonies were held Friday on Memorial Field outside the Whittemore Center Arena where teams from around New Hampshire arrived one by one in a Parade of Athletes. The parade was followed by the arrival of the Flame of Hope, the torch carried by officers at all levels who spent the past two weeks running 800 miles in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run.

Hooksett Police Officer Pete Dyrkacz and John Lemay, a member of the Exeter Area Athletes, climbed up on a step ladder to light the cauldron, officially kicking off the games.

Mary Conroy, president of Special Olympics New Hampshire, delivered a message to the athletes.

“To our athletes, please continue to impress us with your abilities. Please continue to inspire us and please continue to challenge us to be the best we can,” she told the crowd that gathered on the field with their team signs and lots of smiles.

“This weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the whole year,” said Courtney Jennerjohn, 19, an athlete from the Bedford Bobcats and a Special Olympics Global Messenger who addressed the teams from the podium alongside dignitaries like Gov. John Lynch.

The governor praised the athletes for their spirit and determination.

“You inspire us with your bravery and your courage … and you make all of us better people,” Lynch said.

For many of the athletes, the games have become an important part of their lives and something they feel they must do, not only to showcase their talents but to reconnect with the friends they've made along the way.

“I look forward to having fun with all of my friends,” said Charles Peaslee, 31, an athlete from Manchester.

Atrain Kimball, 39, also of Manchester, said the games are also about meeting up with friends.

“My friends say, 'You've got to get out,'” he said.

Other members of the Manchester team, Melanie Roy, 32, and Jessica Johnson, 30, said the games and the training they do leading up to the event are a good way to get exercise.

“I love it,” said Johnson, who will compete in the turbo jav, softball throw, standing long jump and the 50-meter walk.

Bedford Bobcat team member Meg Lawlor, 16, said she runs every Wednesday to prepare for the games. “If it doesn't rain,” she said.