Following a process that has lasted eight months, Enniskillen rower Holly Nixon was confirmed on Tuesday as part of the GB Rowing squad that will compete at the World U23 Rowing Championships which will take place in Varese, Italy from July 23-27.

Holly has been selected in the Quadruple scull at the event, teaming up with Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Jo Wratten and Lucy Burgess, and while she stresses that they will take it one day at a time, Holly insists that they will be giving it their best efforts against the top U23 crews in the world.

“I think as a quad we will just take each day as it comes and then see what happens. We are a new crew, so it is hard to know, but we will go out and give it a good shot. Obviously, it is always nice to get a medal but we are quite a young crew and it is quite a high standard so it is hard to say. Also each nation always produces a top boat every year and you just don’t know whether it will be a quad or not. It could be an eight or it could be a double or a single,” she commented.

The Fermanagh girl has medalled previously on the World stage when she claimed a silver medal in the Junior Singles Womens Sculls in 2011 on Lake Dorney while representing Ireland. And she also has experience of the U23 level having participated in the U23 World Championships in a double scull in 2012 where she claimed seventh spot. “It is nice to have that (Junior success) under your belt. I’ve also been to the U23s before so that is a help too but hopefully this year will be better again,” she commented. Holly admits that it was a tough decision to leave Rowing Ireland and join GB Rowing and says that time will tell whether it was the right choice.

“Both teams have their strengths and weaknesses and it is hard to know which is the right choice. You take risks, and see what happens. I’m grateful for what Rowing Ireland and Derek Holland my coach at Portora did do for me as a Junior. That’s where my journey began so I would never forget that.” Having made the decision, there has been a lot of hard work put in over the last number of months to get to the point where Holly is at now.

“Basically, since Christmas we have had camps every month which have been part of the selection, or I come over here for a couple of days to do little bits of testing and things. There is no doubt, it has been quite challenging,” she added.

The Portora rower has got to know the rest of her Quad crew well over recent months as they made a big push for selection for the championships and she states that they all bring something to the team.

“We all have our strengths and they are all a nice bunch of girls, they are lovely,” said Holly.

Indeed, they produced a big display at Henley Royal Regatta a fortnight ago to claim runners up in The Princess Grace Challenge Cup.

“It was a strong performance and it was challenging because it was against the seniors and we didn’t expect to win it but we did make a decision that we would give it our best which we did.” And after a nervous wait, the announcement was finally made on Tuesday that Holly had been included in the squad for the World Championships.

“I’m delighted to have made it. There was a little bit of a wait to find out whether you were in or not but that’s the process with rowing, it just doesn’t happen over night. You have your winter season and your sprint season so things change along the way.” Rowing is a tough sport that demands maximum commitment with Holly and rest of the squad on the water for three to four hours a day as they prepare for the World Championships.

The goal for all the crews will be to succeed in Italy and beyond that the big target is qualifying for the Olympics, something Holly admits would be a dream.

“Every athlete dreams about it but I guess for now we have to take what is thrown at us and cross that bridge when we come to it. The qualifiers begin next year. In 2015, people start qualifying.” For now though the focus is on Varese and getting that big performance at the World U23 Championships.