KEY POINTS:
The Evers-Swindells twins have retired as New Zealand's most successful female Olympians, as two of New Zealand's most recognisable faces, and two of New Zealand's least-known superstars.
And that, according to a man who spent years working with them, is how they would have wanted it.
Former Rowing
New Zealand boss Craig Ross, who led the sport through its most successful era before leaving under controversial circumstances, said the twins could appear a closed book. They were "a hell of a lot of fun but essentially very shy girls".
For any of us lucky enough to have covered their careers during their domination (and temporary slump) you couldn't help but wonder if they found the fact they were seen as a package deal a bit frustrating, whether they felt they had sacrificed a certain part of their individuality? The fact they were twins was a massive part of their appeal to the public, after all.
"I don't think so," Ross said. "More significantly, I think as they grew older their lives went in individual ways. Like any normal pair in a boat, it's a long time together.
"They were very guarded about that partnership but they wouldn't be alone in that. You only have to talk to Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater, and Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh, they had their ups and downs in terms of a partnership.
"On the water, great, but it didn't always work off the water so they made sure they kept their lives separate. You've got to find your ways of dealing with that, more so when you're siblings."
Over their magnificent career we learned snippets of their life: rowing was Caroline's sport and she made Georgina's life difficult at first when she, too, decided she wanted to be an oarswoman; the Clive River in Hawke's Bay was their first playground and parents Hornby and Fran were extremely supportive; they are in long-term relationships with rowers (Caroline with Carl Meyer and Georgina with Sam Earl, who would have been an Olympian were it not for a back injury); they briefly contemplated retirement before Beijing after a poor European campaign.
They owe much of their success to master coach Richard Tonks, who gave the most entertaining quote on their retirement. ("The first time I coached them in the double there were blades going in all directions and I thought 'what the hell', but the second time they'd settled in all right," he told Radio Sport.)
But the Evers-Swindells always seemed wary about giving too much away and that continued on news of their retirement. There was the 'revelation' they came to the decision separately and didn't have to talk much about it.
"We never really chatted about it, I guess we were both just trying to enjoy what we achieved in Beijing and it just seems like a really natural and right thing to do," Caroline is reported as saying.
Whether they were pressed and didn't elaborate or nobody bothered to delve deeper, it seems a credibility-stretching explanation for one of the epic decisions in New Zealand sport - certainly right up there with the retirements in recent years of Tana Umaga and Stephen Fleming, two others who managed the rare feat of getting out while their legacy remained mostly undiminished.
The idea retirement was consummated by little more than a nod, wink and a quick chat might fit into people's perception of the empathetic relationship between twins but also left so many questions.
These are, after all, New Zealand's greatest female Olympians, one of only four New Zealand individuals or teams to defend an Olympic title - Peter Snell (800m at Rome and Tokyo), Mark Todd (eventing, Los Angeles and Seoul) and Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald (K2 500 at Los Angeles and Seoul) are the others - and the only females to do so.
How long had they been thinking this? How, where and when did the first of these few conversations take place? How, where and when did they finally come to an exit strategy? Do they think they could have continued to dominate the double sculls (Tonks obviously thought they could)? Did they actually enjoy it any more?
But that is all water under the skiff now. They will no doubt flit across our screens for a while longer in those instantly recognisable beef and lamb ads (that you sense must have been excruciating for them to film). Expect the women's mags, too, to wheedle a few more covers as they embark on their 'Life After Rowing'.
But don't expect them to saddle up again, certainly not as a double, despite the Beijing Olympics having proved rowers can still be brutally effective well into their 30s and the twins only last week entered their fourth decade.
Those spoken to were unanimous this is the end of the road for them.
"They've earned their place in history, going out two-time Olympic champions, defending their title. Certainly they could have gone on but they've made a decision it's time to move on to other things."
That from the man who, outside their family and partners, knows them best. History shows it is dangerous to doubt Richard Tonks.
