Whidbey Island was put on the global map this summer, and it wasn’t accomplished with a sales pitch, expensive visitor information campaigns or pricey renovations of public facilities.

It was done with good old-fashioned hard work and American ingenuity. A bit of community assistance helped pave the way, but the success of three young South Whidbey entrepreneurs at an international robotics competition in Romania this summer is really theirs and theirs alone.

Haley McConnaughey, Hannah McConnaughey and Annika Hustad showed us, indeed the world, that American still have what it takes. We make cool stuff that works.

Henry Ford changed everything with the development of the assembly line, NASA put men on the moon and Steve Jobs created the iPhone, a nifty little device that’s in way too many people’s pockets.

The team’s underwater robot, made of PVC pipes and old boat parts, won’t change the way humans live but it proved the design best suited for navigating and completing a series of tasks in the Black Sea.

Incidentally, competing teams scoffed at the size of the Americans’ design — apparently we really are a society of super-sizers — but in the end Atlantis ROV members were the ones smiling, and holding a first place trophy in the high school division.

Perhaps there is something to be said about the old adage, “Go big or go home.”

The team’s success was made possible with financial help from the community. The trip to the Black Sea wasn’t cheap — $15,000 — and was covered with contributions from friends, neighbors and inspired South Enders via a fundraising effort.

Talk about money well spent.

Atlantis ROV’s success on an international level not only captured the attention of media outlets across the globe, from a national Romanian paper to stories in the Washington Post and Seattle Times — exposure that simply can’t be bought — but it serves as a reminder to us all of what hard work, perseverance and imagination can accomplish.

Way to go ladies — you’ve made Whidbey Island and your country proud.