The Berwyn resident was among 18 young women selected for the U.S. team that will be competing July 22-27 in Linz/Ottensheim. She's now training with the U.S. team at Princeton University.

Hastings went through two weeks of selection camp in New London, Conn., to make the team. She was recommended for the camp by Agnes Irwin crew coach Kati Sedun, who had Hastings rowing in the sixth seat of the Owls' varsity eight last season.

"I was called into a meeting with the [U.S.] coaches," said Hastings, recalling the moment she learned she had made the team. "They told me I had made progress but I still needed some work. Then [coach] Jim Hargis told me they felt they could work with me [and] how did I feel about going to Austria?"

Hastings was encouraged by a cousin and some Irwin friends to give rowing a try as a freshman. She attended some camps after that first year. As a sophomore, she took first place in a rowing-machine competition.

"From the minute I met Eliza, I knew she had quiet determination and the passion to make the team," Sedun said. "Having gone through the selection camp myself as a 17-year-old, I had an idea of what they were looking for in their athletes."

Hastings said she planned to row in college but asked coaches not to contact her until after the world championships.

"I wanted to focus on Austria," she said.