KEY POINTS:
When Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell step into their boat today, there won't be any longwinded words of advice ringing in their ears.
The Hawkes Bay twins will start as hot tips to at least win a medal, but also put up a fierce challenge to repeat their
gold medal win in the double sculls at the Shunyi course at 9.50pm (NZT).
Their Athens gold, plus three world titles either side of it were achieved with the guidance of master coach Dick Tonks.
If lengthy dissertations on the key components which go into being a successful rower, Tonks is not your man. Short, pithy, to the point is his way of getting the message across.
"He's not the guy to sit down and have big, deep meaningfuls with you," Georgina Evers-Swindell said after the Athens win. "But he says these little things every now and then and you grab them and hold them because you know they're valuable."
Things have changed since Athens. The 29-year-olds have been beaten in the last two world finals by Chinese pair Li Qin and Tian Liang, who loom as their toughest opposition, and will sit alongside them today. Then there was an ordinary European campaign this season, lowlighted by a failure to even make the A final at the World Cup in Poland in June.
But they won their heat last weekend and, with no semifinals, have had a week of uninterrupted preparation.
Georgina said she expected to have some nerves leading up to the race _ "I think I'd be worried if I didn't" _ but having had a win on the course, and impressively too, has done them a world of good. "We had a fair idea where we were but you never know until you line up against the other double sculls," she said.
There is a relentlessness about the Chinese women, and the weight of the host nation's expectations will sit heavily. But the New Zealanders have felt the pressures of home and carried them admirably.
In Tonks' book, five elements made the sisters Olympic champions on Lake Schinias: training ethos, mental capacity, very good technique, an extremely competitive nature on the water; and courage.
It's too late for the first now, but the other four will play their part today.
"One good stroke after another," Georgina said this week.
That's all it takes, plus Tonks' package of ingredients.
