Rowing: The only way is up for star twins

Here's the thing: you've worked your socks off for several years and achieved your dream. An Olympic gold medal to sit alongside two gongs as world champions. Top of the world, mum and dad.

Where do you go from there? It's a dilemma many of the world's elite sports performers have faced. Indeed, world and Olympic cycling champion Sarah Ulmer is shortly to confirm what her future intentions are post-Athens.

But for Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell there was no need to weigh any pros and cons. Quit as soon as you reach the top? Why?

"The only reason we row is because we enjoy it," said Caroline - the younger of the 26-year-old twins by about four minutes.

"The only reason we stayed rowing and didn't go back to the other sports we played at school is that the enjoyment stayed with us.

"Athens was the pinnacle. It was wicked and we just want to carry on. It's taken such a long time to get to that level you just want to make the most of it."

In fact within an hour or so of clinching the double sculls gold at Lake Schinias on the outskirts of Athens last August, the pair were making it clear they fancied defending their title in Beijing in 2008. This August, they will spearhead the New Zealand elite squad to the world championships in Gifu, Japan. Victory will mean they have been at the top for four years, unbeaten since winning the silver at the worlds in 2001.

So did it feel any different when they got back in the boat on November 1?

"It definitely felt like we'd had a really good break," Caroline remembered. "We do the same thing every year. Richard [long-time coach Richard Tonks] said, 'I don't want to see you for two months'. He says that every year.

"Mentally and physically it was good to have that time out of the boat. For Georgie and I it was weird because if we'd had to get back into the boat a month or so earlier we would have because we were really looking forward to getting back.

"There was no 'oh I don't know if I should be doing this' feeling. It was 'let's get into this again'.

"So the motivation is still there. People had kept on giving us their opinions on how we may feel. But it's really reassuring for Georgie and me that we both feel the same way. That was quite cool."

At last month's national championships at Lake Ruataniwha in Twizel, the pair bagged five titles, or red coats, apiece as New Zealand champions. They sat out one event each, so the Hamilton club won all six women's premier titles.

Caroline gave up her seat in the double scull to world under 23 champion Fiona Paterson and Georgina skipped the single scull. They were both in the coxless pair - for the first time since the nationals in 1999 - the quad, coxless four and the eight.

"That was one of the best nationals I've ever had," Caroline said. "We didn't go there for records or titles, just to enjoy it. It's so neat to do it for the club."

The twins had little preparation time for several of the disciplines, which made them a bit foggy. A bit like telling a wing he's at first five-eighth. It's the same game, same shaped ball, but the requirements are just a bit different.

"It was all a bit new to us, and that made it a bit of a challenge, but also makes it rewarding at the end of the day."

Plans are being worked through for the national elite squad to head for Europe to compete at two World Cup regattas - Munich on June 17-19 and Lucerne on July 8-10 - along with the Amsterdam event which splits the cup meets. Then it will be home for a few weeks before flying to Japan for the August 28-September 4 world championships. That elite squad comprises 11 rowers, four of whom are women: the twins plus Olympic coxless pair finalists Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh.

Caroline likes what she is seeing in women's rowing. Ignore the fact there are only four going to Japan, the future is bright.

Last year New Zealand won the Nations Cup in the quad, which is the world championship for under 23 rowers.

"They are all back in the under 23 this year (Bess Halley, Paterson, Jaime Nielsen and Darnelle Timbs) and there's another three girls in that squad, so there's a quad, a double and single going. That is awesome. The kind of rowers coming through the grades are really promising."