Charlottesville’s Ava Schetlick to represent the U.S. at the World Rowing Championship

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Some University of Virginia students and a soon to be student are going for world championships this summer. One of those is St. Anne’s-Belfield graduate and soon to be UVA first year Ava Schetlick.

“Racing at the world level, there’s gonna be a little bit of nerves, but it turns into adrenaline the second the buzzer goes off,” Schetlick said.

Schetlick has been rowing competitively for the past 4 years.

“I do most of my training alone or on the machine. So jumping into a camp like this, since it’s a competitive environment and having slightly less experience in these big boats compared to my peers here is definitely a challenge,” Schetlick said.

Now she’s been selected from more than 4,000 women to represent the U.S in the U-19 eight boat in Paris.

“It’s twice a day, six days a week. It’s pretty intense, especially in the selection process. It’s a ton of racing, erg testing. Definitely a very competitive environment with some of the fastest girls in the country,” Schetlick said.

And this isn’t her first rodeo. Last year she competed in the world rowing championship in a quad boat in the 2 seat.

“It’s gonna be a completely different experience for me. And I’m beyond excited to be able to compete in a boat class that I’ve never been in before,” Schetlick said.

She says this is just the start.

“U-19 is just the first little step in such a big journey. There’s U-23, there’s the Olympics, and it’s all just little stepping stones along the way. I’m excited to see how far I can go,” Schetlick said.

That’s not all for UVA athletes at worlds!

Swimmers Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh took first and second in the 200 meter IM this week. It’s the first time in 45 years the United States took home gold and silver in an event.

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