A ticket to America, via Lake Karapiro and Paris

Five young Wellington rowers are in the starting gates for a dramatic dash: autumn training at Lake Karapiro, racing in Paris at the world champs, coupled with pondering life-changing sporting scholarships to the United States.

US scouts arrived with offers even before Emma Bagrie, Nico Daly, Kate Barham, Zola Kemp and clubmate Maxim Ericson were selected for the under-19 world championships.

College approaches are a given for top secondary school athletes, Star Boating Club coach Catherine Duffin says. Her athletes attend Wellington Girls’ College, Wellington College and Wellington East Girls’ College. Next year, they could be in New England, Indiana or some other US sports hotspot.

‘‘They’re just figuring it out. Our rowers are getting better, so they are becoming more attractive to the colleges over there.’’

Rowing is big at the eight elite Ivy League universities on the East Coast, and in premier state universities.

New Zealanders have a reputation for being able to fit in, as well as having sporting talent.

‘‘Our kids tend to be pretty resilient, and good at getting on with it. They all tend to have very good experiences,’’ Duffin says.

‘‘They go to some pretty cool colleges … the Berkeleys and the Stanfords and Duke, some big names.’’

Athletes in the US are now tracked by Rowing New Zealand, so no longer have to shelve their international ambitions. Olympic rowers Daniel Williamson – who won gold medal in the men’s 8 at Tokyo – and twice world champion Jack Lopas went to Yale.

Duffin says one bonus for rowers is they don’t run the risk of being benched in the US.

‘‘If you’re not in the first boat, then you’re in the second boat or the third boat. So you

have a place. You’re not just watching … there’s a four as well,’’ she says.

‘‘We’ve had kids go over there who may struggle academically, and they’ve been given tutors. That’s a lot more than they’d be getting if they were stuck at [Victoria University], or somewhere.

‘‘They really are given a lot of support, and we’ve had some of the girls come back and run sessions … they speak very positively about their experience.’’

The rowers are now fundraising $55,000 for the Paris trip.

Duffin’s advice is simple: ‘‘It’s not just choosing the one that chases you the hardest, make sure it’s the right fit.’’

At the world championships, the Wellingtonians will row in the women’s 8, with Georgia Bethell, Nicole Vance, Alice Wallis, Phoebe Wallis and Annabel WynnWilliams (cox), of Rangi Ruru Girls’ College in Christchurch.

Ericson is in the men’s four with Justin Smyth (Hillcrest High) Marley King-Smith (Wakatipu) and Jack Clark of Hamilton Rowing Club.