GB upbeat despite low-key finale
At the World Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland
The 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 , 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.
Only three members of the women's eight, including cox , were in action in Beijing a year ago but they ran with the US Olympic champions for the first half of their final.
The men's eight contains only one Olympian (former lightweight James Clarke) and impressed to qualify for the final even if they dropped off the pace in Sunday's last race.
And the women's quadruple scull, containing two new faces and two - Katie Greves and Beth Rodford - getting used to two oars instead of one this season - impressed in winning the World Cup series, although they struggled in Poznan.
"The guys and girls coming up and in have done a fantastic job this year," Tanner told a huddle of reporters as the final anthems were playing.
"But we need to strengthen those boats to get into the medal zone. There are people there but there is a gap we need to bridge.
"However, Tom Lucy [Olympic silver medallist in the eight] and Zac Purchase [gold medallist in the lightweight double] were not heard of three years before Beijing."
Selection queries have already begun but it will be a slow process before the crews for 2010, and then for 2012, begin to emerge properly.
For now, it's time for a few weeks off. Gold medallist Matt Langridge is off to do a diving course in Egypt, while sculler Alan Campbell is taking his red-and-yellow trainers and red-and-yellow sunglasses to Bermuda.
The reporting date for next year is 28 September, with winter trials taking place in singles and pairs through April before crews are finally put together again.
And Tanner even voiced the possibility that 2010 could be another "flexible" season, with the World Championships later than usual in late October in New Zealand.
That might mean another experimental year for in the single and Pete Reed and Andy Hodge in the pair before hard decisions are made.
Langridge would like to be back in the four - which Tanner called the "crew of the Championships, from any nation" - but admits the winter programme is necessary to make them all faster in future.
It has been a great four days in Poznan, with sun, some great racing and another strong showing from Great Britain.
Wherever you watched them (and if you're in the UK and haven't yet, you can do so in iPlayer until Saturday) it would be great to hear your thoughts on the action and on GB's performance.
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. .
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