Shelley Pearson is just one finished race away from becoming the first Bermudian rower to qualify for the Olympics since Jim Butterfield in 1972.

Yesterday at the FISA Americas Olympic Continental Qualification Regatta in Curauma, Chile, Pearson won her semi-final to reach the final.

Now, as long as she completes the final today Pearson will achieve her goal of qualifying for the Olympics. Butterfield qualified for the Munich Olympic in 1972.

Pearson completed the race in 7min 46.073sec, arguably the most dramatic seven minutes of her rowing career, as she beat Brazil’s Fabiana Beltrameabiana by six seconds, with the Brazilian crossing the line in 7:52.820 and Cuba’s Yariulvis Cobas Garcia third in 7:57.385.

Paraguay’s Gabriela Mosquiera Benítez and Camilla Valle Granados, of Peru, completed the top five finishers from Pearson’s semi-final, finishing in 8:03.123 and 8:03.132, respectively.

The top three finishers from each semi-final have advanced to today’s final.

“It was a great win today and I’m so honoured to have earned a bid to the Rio Olympics,” Pearson said. “It was the top three places from each semi who earned a bid. I had a tough heat yesterday but placing second in the heat gave me a lot of confidence going into the semi. I didn’t know what to expect.”