Shelley Pearson has described qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio as a “mind-blowing” moment in her already decorated rowing career.

Pearson became the fourth Bermudian athlete to reach the Rio Games after winning the Latin Olympic Continental Qualification Regatta in Curauma, Chile, last month.

Although she admits it was surreal to realise her lifelong ambition — her one and only chance to qualify for Rio — she never doubted that she would represent Bermuda at this summer’s Olympics.

“It was pretty surprising, not in the sense of whether I could do it, but it was such a surreal feeling when it actually happened,” Pearson said. “When it happened it was just mind-blowing.”

Pearson, who turns 25 this month, only had to finish the final to qualify after storming to victory in the semi-finals to claim one of the six Olympic spots available.

The Oxford University student is the first Bermudian woman to qualify for the Olympics in rowing and will be the first islander to do so since Jim Butterfield competed at the Munich Games in 1972.

“I knew I only had to get into the final to qualify and it was just exciting to see what I could do at that point,” said Pearson, the daughter of Kevin Pearson, the former Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby winner.

“I hadn’t raced against any of those girls before and had no idea what their speed was going to be like.”

Pearson will take another step into the unknown when she competes at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in the heart of Rio, where the rowing events will be held, having never previously faced any of her competitors.

She does, however, hope to learn more about her rivals when she races at the World Rowing Cup III in Poznan, Poland, which runs from June 18 to 19.

“The World Rowing Cup III should give me a good idea of where I stand in relation to the rest of the world,” she said.

“My training for Rio will be relatively similar to how it is now. I’m still a student and will continue to be based in Oxford, a great location where I have a strong support system.”

A former student at Peddie School in Mercer County, New Jersey — the same college Roy-Allan Burch, a two-times Olympic swimmer, attended — Pearson is keeping her cards close to her chest when it comes to her Olympic expectations.

“I have personal expectations but I’m not sure I want to share those,” said Pearson, who is studying for a master’s degree in business administration.

“I don’t really know where I stand, that’s why the World Cup III will be so important for me before I arrive in Rio.”

Pearson, who captured the gold medal in the United States eight at the Junior World Championships in 2009, will compete in the singles sculls in Rio. She has been a sweep rower — one oar as opposed to two — for the majority of her career.

It was in the coxed eights — a team of eight who propel the boat with sweep oars — that Pearson became the first Bermudian to row in the Newton Women’s Boat Race between Cambridge and Oxford Universities last year. Pearson’s Oxford, the overwhelming favourites, humiliated Cambridge with a 6½-lengths victory.

“As a kid I had only rowed sweep and at university in the United States that’s all you do,” said Pearson, who represented the Ratcliffe team while at Harvard University, winning the Ivy League Championship as a junior.

“But I knew if I wanted to compete for Bermuda I would need to be in the single scull. I spent my summers learning how to skull just so I would have the skills necessary when the opportunity came.

“The single scull is very different mentally and technically as you’re the one who has to mentally push yourself to get to the finishing line.

“With a boat of eight you still need that mental fortitude but you’re doing it for your team-mates not just yourself.”

The other Bermuda athletes qualified for Rio are Tyrone Smith in the long jump, sprinter Tre Houston and sailor Cecilia Wollmann. Triathlete Flora Duffy, who is ranked twelfth in the ITU Olympic qualification, has all but qualified.