Year 13 Rower Emilie Secures Prestigious US Scholarship 01 June 2026
BMS is proud to celebrate the outstanding achievement of Year 13 student Emilie, who has secured a rowing scholarship to California State University, where she will begin studying Journalism and News in September.
To earn her place, Emilie demonstrated not only her athletic talent but also her commitment to the sport, sharing detailed videos of her rowing form and technique, alongside regular updates on competition results and ergometer scores. Her dedication and consistency impressed the coaching staff and ultimately secured her the scholarship. As part of the rigorous recruitment process, Emilie was invited to California a few weeks ago to visit the university and meet the coaching team.
Emilie is currently Captain of the Senior Girls Rowing Squad at BMS and is widely recognised as a key and inspirational member of the school’s rowing community. Reflecting on her journey, she noted that before joining BMS in Year 7, she and her parents “didn’t know what rowing even was”, and she never dreamed it would be the key to unlocking her future. The opportunity to try the sport at school in Year 9 proved transformative. Always very sporty, Emilie found rowing to be a new and demanding challenge that she quickly came to love.
She speaks particularly warmly of the close-knit and supportive rowing environment at BMS, crediting it as a major factor in her development and success. Emilie has expressed her sincere gratitude to Director of Rowing Mr Bavington for his dedicated training, guidance and unwavering support throughout her scholarship application. She also thanked Elite Universities Coordinator Mr McIntosh for his invaluable help with transcripts, as well as her subject teachers, who she says have been “incredibly supportive” over the two-year process.
Emilie’s achievement is a testament to her hard work, resilience and passion, as well as to the strength of the rowing programme and wider support network at BMS. As she prepares to take this exciting next step, the entire school community wishes her every success in combining high-level sport with her academic ambitions on the international stage.
