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At the World Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland
The World Championships finally came alive on Sunday, with crowds packing the grandstand and the grass banks of Lake Malta.
And the home team rewarded them, with three Polish crews winning medals, including gold for the Olympic champion quad, who have folk hero status and beat Australia in a thrilling final.
But Great Britain's big party was on Silver Saturday and the day after had a hungover feel to it, with dark sunglasses all round.
There were brave faces from Sophie Hosking and Hester Goodsell, who had come into the event as favourites but knew a revamped Greece would provide a tough challenge, even before the water became rough.
And there were tears from the lightweight women's quad, who had their sights on a first gold medal in 16 years for veteran Jane Hall but who had real trouble in the waves of the final 500m.
But there was a firm smile from GB team manager David Tanner, buoyed from the events of Saturday, which took him past his pre-event medal target of four with a day to spare, and also upbeat about the development prospects on show on Sunday.
At the World Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland
Memories of Great Britain's Super Saturday in Beijing were never far away from the mind on the first day of finals in Poznan but this was a Silver Saturday for GB's rowers on Lake Malta.
And that was good enough for a squad that is in development, three years away from the next Games in London.
Four GB entries ended up in second place, including Great Britain's first ever brace of medals in the single sculls, for Katherine Grainger and Alan Campbell.
The best performance brought victory for the men's four of Matt Langridge, Alex Gregory, Richard Egington and Alex Partridge, who dominated an Australian crew who were far more impressive in Beijing a year ago.
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I'm Martin Gough and I cover all Olympic sports but in particular rowing, which I've been a fan of since the age of three, when I watched on TV as Cambridge sank in the Boat Race. Follow me on Twitter.
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