PETER Bromby, Paula Lewin, Glenn Astwood, Dwayne Pearman, Michael Sims . . .

Don't let it be said Bermudians can't make their mark at the highest level?

Within the space of a few days last week, all of the above again demonstrated that individually there's no reason why our athletes can't only compete but actually succeed on the world stage.

Size doesn't always matter.

Small countries often produce competitors with big hearts.

And there can't be many, if any, nations smaller than Bermuda who continually drive home that point.

Indeed, there are plenty with far larger populations who would be envious of the Island's record.

In sailing's Gold Cup, one of the premier match racing events on the global calendar, Bromby, Lewin and Astwood - with a number of Bermudians as crew - all progressed to the championship round last week.

Bromby got as far as the semi-finals, and with a little more luck might have gone all the way; Lewin eventually bowed out in the quarter-finals as the last remaining female, having already clinched the women's international match-racing crown.

In golf, Pearman won the Bermuda Open - the first Bermudian to do so since his last triumph 14 years ago, and in the same sport overseas, Sims breezed through to the second stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School, considered by many as tough as any Tour event itself.

All were significant accomplishments, but we shouldn't be surprised.

Nothing has made more of an impact on those of us working on The Royal Gazette sports desk over the past couple of decades than the enormous increase in international events in which Bermudians and Bermuda residents take part. So much so, that sometimes it's simply impossible to keep track of every individual performance.

Besides the above, last weekend saw Bermudian Gilbert Darrell complete the Hawaii Ironman triathlon in just under 13 hours - a terrific showing given that this is generally acknowledged as THE world's toughest individual race.

A few days earlier, Terry Reynolds and Mike Smith steered their way to highly creditable 12th place out of 46 entries in the World Cup Rally - hardly an event for which one can prepare amongst Bermuda traffic.

And then there were eco-warriors Jim Butterfield, Kim Mason, Lee Harrison and Kevin Pearson, venturing where no locals had ventured before - in the 300-mile Fiji Eco Challenge. They didn't finish but they did Bermuda proud.

Right now, another local adventurer Alan Paris is battling the elements as he attempts to become the first Bermudian to sail solo around the world, in the Around Alone Race.

And then of course, there's our most celebrated sportsman Shaun Goater, who critics continually seem to write off despite his almost legendary goalscoring record at every club for whom he's ever played.

By all accounts, his performance in Manchester City's 3-0 defeat by Chelsea last weekend was his most impressive yet in the current campaign. Nobody should be shocked if the Goater goals begin flowing again in the coming weeks.

For a population of 60,000, we don't do too badly.

In fact, when Randy Horton starts planning the long overdue Sports Hall of Fame, he might want to double check his dimensions. It could be he'll need a little more space than first thought . . .

- ADRIAN ROBSON