One will stay in the Olympic village while the other has rented an apartment just minutes from the course. One will walk in the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in the heart of London, while the other will watch the showpiece on television.
Of the two Tauranga yachties competing in London next month, it is not hard to pick which one is attending his first Olympics and which one considers it old hat.
Weymouth-bound Peter Burling and Jason Saunders were farewelled at Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club over the weekend, with the pair leaving in two weeks to round off their preparation in the small coastal village ahead of the games' start in late July.
Although they have enjoyed a similar build-up to the Olympics, culminating in a warm-up regatta on the Weymouth course a month ago, their paths will diverge days out from the opening ceremony.
Burling and his crewmate in the 49er skiff, Northland's Blair Tuke, will stay in a rented apartment overlooking the course, opting out of walking in the opening ceremony with the rest of the New Zealand team, with their regatta starting two days later.
Saunders and his 470 helmsman Paul Snow-Hansen are not in action for a week, so attending the opening ceremony was welcomed, as was bunking down in the village, which is three hours' drive from Weymouth.
"Not many of the sailing team are taking the opportunity to go to the opening ceremony, mainly because it's such a hike to get up and back to Weymouth, but it fits in well with mine and Paul's programme and I'd say it'll be one of the highlights. I would be keen to go regardless of when we were sailing but our schedule meant we didn't have to make any tough decisions," Saunders said.
Burling walked in the ceremony at Beijing four years ago, where he was the youngest athlete in the New Zealand team and still at Tauranga Boys' College.
He and Tuke have stayed in the same apartment every time they have sailed in Weymouth and will base themselves there again.
"It's a nice little two bedroom apartment, with a few others in the team staying in the same complex too, and it's a bit more homely now we've stayed there four or five times in the last three years."
Saunders was made a life member of the TYPBC last week, an honour bestowed on Burling a few years ago, and enjoyed his fleeting, but timely, visit back to Tauranga before setting sail for London.
"It was Peter's second time around but all new for me to be given a send-off like that, and then, to be made a life member on top of that was an awesome touch."
The former Tauranga Boys' students were not the only Olympians on show, with national Olympic selector Andy Knowles selected in the 470 crew for the 1980 Games in Moscow before the boycott, and sailmaker Jonty Farmer a three-time Olympian in the Finn class from 1968-76.
Snow-Hansen and Saunders have put a small target on their backs with their third in the pre-Olympic regatta in Weymouth last month, including a remarkable four bullets (firsts) in a row, although Saunders said the result was in favoured windy conditions.
"In those sorts of conditions we're fast but we're picking there'll be a range of conditions at the Olympics. We've been working hard to improve in light winds as well but haven't had a chance to show it yet."
Burling and Tuke were back on the water in Auckland yesterday, with plenty still to fine-tune after their 11th placing in Weymouth, with their pre-Olympic regatta cut short by bad weather. The pair's two silver medals at the last two world championships still makes them a threat.
"We made a bad start (3rd, 10th, 14th and 10th in their first four races) and with two days blown out, we never really had a chance to catch up. You learn from what you can though and we discovered a few things to work on before the Olympics," said Burling.