LOL queue the experts to post a more elegant solution!

Anyways, I'm just throwing this out there for discussion's sake, make sure you test any solution you develop for suitability for your application.

USE [CRAP_DISPOSABLE_DATABASE_I_HAVE]

GO

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[TEST_FOR_DEMO](

[whateverkey] [int] NULL,

[rowdate] [datetime] NULL,

[otherinfo] [varchar](100) NULL

) ON [PRIMARY]

GO

INSERT INTO TEST_FOR_DEMO

(

whateverkey,

rowdate,

otherinfo

)

SELECT 1, '2013-01-01','fred'

UNION

SELECT 2, '2013-01-05','ralph'

UNION

SELECT 3, '2012-12-31','jane'

UNION

SELECT 4, '2012-12-15','suzie'

SELECT TOP 1 latest.whateverkey whateverkey_latest,

latest.rowdate rowdate_latest,

latest.otherinfo otherinfo_latest,

next_latest.whateverkey whateverkey_next_latest,

next_latest.rowdate rowdate_next_latest,

next_latest.otherinfo otherinfo_next_latest

FROM

TEST_FOR_DEMO latest

CROSS JOIN

TEST_FOR_DEMO next_latest

WHERE

latest.rowdate =

(

SELECT MAX(rowdate)

FROM TEST_FOR_DEMO

)

AND

next_latest.rowdate =

(SELECT MAX(rowdate)

FROM TEST_FOR_DEMO

WHERE rowdate <>

(SELECT MAX(rowdate)

FROM TEST_FOR_DEMO

)

)