The 20-year-old former Kavanagh College pupil is targeting a spot in New Zealand's lightweight double at next year's Rio Olympics.
McBride capped an unbeaten season in the lightweight single by winning her first elite gold medal at the world championships in France last month, an experience she described as ''pretty incredible''.
She also won the under-23 world championships and two world cup golds in just her seventh season since taking up rowing in Dunedin.
McBride has been permanently based at Lake Karapiro with the rest of New Zealand's elite rowers for a year, and resumed training last week after a short break.
There are only a couple of regattas either side of Christmas for McBride to compete in before the national championships in February and trials in March, but she knows what she needs to work on.
''My goal overall is to get into that double,'' she told the Otago Daily Times from Lake Karapiro yesterday.
''I want to keep building on my strength and fitness, which has come over the past couple of years. I just want to put myself in the best position I can leading into nationals and trials next year.''
McBride took up rowing in 2009 and excelled under coach John Parnell.
She won 13 medals, including 10 golds, at Maadi Cup regattas in her final three years at Kavanagh College.
In addition to being named club rower of the year at the Otago rowing awards two years ago, she was named schoolgirl rower of the year and in the crew of the year with Hannah Duggan.
Before moving north permanently a year ago, she spent a couple of months at Lake Karapiro with the national junior squad in 2012 and 2013.
She was also based there for three months with the under-23 squad last year.
McBride now represents Central RPC, which meant she had to join the Nelson Rowing Club.
But she has not forgotten where it all started.
''I still like to think of myself as an Otago girl,'' she said.
''I grew up there half my life and started rowing there. Otago is definitely my home club.''
McBride, who is studying a business degree part-time through Massey University, will spend the next few months training twice a day in the single, double and occasionally the quad.
