Not long after winning a dramatic double sculls final here yesterday, Georgina was called into a drugs testing room where she was forced to wait for 2-1/2 hours because of a farcically slow testing procedure.
Sitting by herself, staring at her gold medal, she nearly fell asleep while a crowd of about 100 New Zealand supporters nearby celebrated the team's three medals - their finest Olympic return.
By the time she emerged, Georgina's sister, friends and family had all disappeared to a team function.
"I didn't get back to the hotel until 9.30pm and it was straight to bed," Georgina told NZPA today.
"It was a bit of an anti-climax but I didn't care, I had a gold medal."
Other peeved New Zealand rowers had to undergo the marathon blood test, made slow because just one official conducted the mountain of tests carried out.
"I remember after we won at the Athens Olympics Caroline was the one who got tested and I was the one who took off to see everyone. So it's only fair," she smiled.
Georgina had time for just "a brief hug" with parents Hornby and Fran before the test and was going to struggle to see them again today while she carried out media commitments.
Some consolation is that through their seven years of international success, the twins have never been into wild celebrations.
"You often think you're going to have a big party but in fact you don't need a big party," Georgina said.
"You don't need alcohol, you know you're on a natural high. You just want to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.
"I've got plenty of time to see everyone."
The Evers-Swindell's return to form rescued what was shaping as a flat finale for the rowers, with bronze to single sculler Mahe Drysdale and the men's pair of Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater the other medal collects.
Men's double scullers Rob Waddell and Nathan Cohen were a disappointing fourth while women's pair Juliette Haigh and Nicky Coles couldn't hack the pace in fifth.
Drysdale's bravery in the wake of a stomach bug that devastated his campaign was a genuine highlight, the triple world champion nearly holding on before being overwhelmed by defending champion Olaf Tufte and Ondrej Synek in the final 200m.
He needed 20 minutes of medical treatment afterwards and was still notably supping from a water bottle today, making up for the lost liquids of the past week.
"It's the Olympics. If you get ill, you've got to deal with it," said Drysdale, who drew inspiration from a pre-race email from long-serving rowing administrator Don Rowlands.
"He said the will is bigger than the skill, I think that was a Muhammad Ali quote.
"I still felt I was capable of winning that race. If it was 1900m long I probably would have."
New Zealand claimed three rowing medals at an Olympics once before, a trio of bronzes at Seoul in 1988.
The twins' second taste of glory made this regatta the best.
The fact it was so unexpected made it all the sweeter for Caroline, draped in a New Zealand flag and reflecting on two years dogged by injury and poor form.
In that time Chinese scullers Qin Li and Liang Tian had claimed the unofficial No 1 crown, a title the twins previously owned over an unbeaten four-year stretch.
They can now wear it again, something that seemed implausible two months ago when they missed the A final at a World Cup in Poland.
"Oh yeah, we lost a lot of confidence," Caroline said.
"We had a shocker in Poland. You're only as good as your last race and our last race was pretty bad."
