This post was updated Aug. 19 at 10:19 a.m.

Rosemary Varney’s oars made waves far beyond Westwood last month.

Adding a Bruin touch to the international rowing scene, UCLA rowing’s rising senior port propelled her way to the World Rowing U23 Championships in Bulgaria in mid-July. The Ventura County local’s presence on the team ensured the second consecutive year in which the U23 squad featured a Bruin student-athlete.

Occupying a seat beside some of the nation’s best rowers, Varney said her personal growth was spurred by an environment of competitiveness and camaraderie.

“I feel like it made me grow a lot, being surrounded by such competitive, high-achieving athletes,” Varney said. “Everyone was pushing each other, but everyone was looking out for each other as well. It grew me in terms of learning how to be a great competitor at a higher level.”

After Varney received an invitation for U.S. Rowing’s U23 National Team selection camp, she generated nationwide ripples as she headed to Oklahoma for the event. Oklahoma City High Performance Center coach Reilly Dampeer handpicked Varney to compete in the women’s quadruple scull and represent the Americans in Bulgaria, after three weeks of training at the OCHPC.

Varney earned her international call-up after helming the Bruins’ second varsity eight crew for the majority of the season and stroking the varsity eight crew in the season-opening dual-meet regatta against USC.

Commanding the left side of the eight, Varney led the squad to a first-place finish at the Big Ten Invitational.

Varney said she quickly recognized the disparity between the standards of international waters as compared to campus waters.

“A lot of it is just heightened,” Varney said. “You have to compete at such a high level in the college system already, but when you get to the national team, everything has to be in line and perfect. It’s one step above.”

Just a dozen days after camp, the U.S. team landed in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with four rowers hailing from various parts of the country. The Americans forged chemistry and synchrony quickly, Varney said.

“Once the boat was named, we’d only been in the boat for about two weeks,” Varney said. “So really emphasizing learning a lot about each other and bonding outside of the boat, so we’re able to come into it and just be completely in sync.”

A last-place finish rounded out Heat 1 for the U.S. as heat-winners Romania outperformed all opponents with a tournament-best time of 6:23, surpassing the Americans by 34 seconds.

And after placing second to last in Repechage 1 just a day later, hopes were dimming for Team USA.

“We really had to come together as a boat and have hard conversations about what happened in those races,” Varney said. “We had to find another level by focusing on certain technical things together and honing in on those things to take another step forward.”

This regrouping pushed the Americans to take third place in the B Final and ninth overall.

After being in fifth for the majority of the regatta, the U.S. managed to flip the script in the last 500 meters of the B Final to secure a third-place finish. With this, the Americans registered their fastest time of the tournament and fell less than two seconds short of runners-up Great Britain.

“To come away with that race, we were all very pleased, and we were able to prove that we had some serious power,” Varney said.

Amid Varney’s journey overseas, she said she navigated not only the physical currents of international waters but also the currents of heightened expectations representing her nation.

“You always had to be on,” Varney said. “You always have to be at your best. From day one, you have to be giving everything you have. Everyone is so competitive, so you have to constantly give your best to stand out.”