won't find Bermuda's name on the final medal table.

When NBC inevitably reflects on the Games' greatest moments, you won't hear mention of Bermuda.

And when repeat after repeat is shown of the men and women whose extraordinary athletic feats have kept millions of viewers around the globe glued to their TV sets for the past two weeks, you'll see precious few Bermuda faces.

Which, all in all, is something of a pity considering that per capita this tiny Island's contribution to the Games matches, or perhaps exceeds that of any of the 170-plus competing nations.

As swimming coach Gareth Davies put it: "In Olympic terms Bermuda isn't a country -- it's a town. To achieve what we have with a population of just 60,000 is simply incredible.'' Bermudians, of course, would dearly have loved to have seen a fellow Bermudian on the medal dais. In reality, that was never going to happen -- although triple jumper Brian Wellman, fifth in the final, and sprinter Troy Douglas did their damndest to achieve a mission impossible.

Theirs, however, weren't the only success stories.

The swimmers, two of whom didn't even learn of their selection until days before departure, exceeded all expectations. Not one reached an event final, but each and every one of them contributed to an overall performance which would have done proud a nation one thousand times our size.

Our swimmers won heats, smashed national records and recorded a slew of personal bests.

We will never match the might of the USA, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Germany or Hungary in an Olympic pool.

But after this performance, rest assured that Bermuda will not be taken so lightly when the next Commonwealth Games rolls around.

The same might be said of Bermuda's equestriennes when they next enter the international arena.

Fighting an uphill battle from the start, after their most experienced team member Peter Gray was forced to pull out through injury, the three Bermuda women showed enormous courage and tenacity.

Mary Jane Tumbridge figured among the top 25 percent of the field before injury to her horse forced withdrawal; Nicola DeSousa completed the gruelling three-day event, a feat which many of the world's top riders couldn't match; and Suzanne Dunkley returned a personal best score in the dressage.

Again, we were never serious equestrian medal contenders, but from a country where horse-riding is not a national sport, Bermuda's representatives made an enormous impact.

If Bermuda had reason to be disappointed at all over the last two weeks, it was with the Island's sailors, who historically have sailed well at international level.

Such, however, are the vagaries of this sport, it's not always the best man who wins.

As chef d'mission Jimmy Amos pointed out, Bermuda's sailors had "a lot of good company'' in the lower half of the final standings.

Finally, what must be stressed is that these Barcelona Games saw for the first time in some 20 years every member of the Olympic family take part. There were no politically-motivated boycotts restricting entry.

This was a world championship in its purest form -- and Bermuda emerged with her head held high.