Largely unheralded, the 23-year-old belted through to a silver medal behind Marie-Louise Draeger of Germany, a spectacular finish seeing her through from fourth place halfway through the race to second in seven minutes 48.48 seconds.
But midway through the year, nothing was going right for the Invercargill rower. She'd missed out on a place in the New Zealand team to contest the World Cup regattas in Munich and Lucerne after a less-than-impressive showing at the national championships and trials earlier in the year.
Ayling turned her omission into motivation, more determined than ever to make the world championships on her home water.
"I guess everything happens for a reason, and because I didn't go away I knew I probably had to work harder than anyone else," Ayling said. "I was in a situation where it was do or die, and I wanted this so much."
Ayling shifted her training base to Hawke's Bay earlier in the year, working from March until mid-winter with Doc McDonald, who proved just the catalyst she needed to reignite her enthusiasm for the sport and show the progress which saw her added to Rowing New Zealand's elite squad.
Her hard-nosed approach to training is replicated in racing: "You just have to try so hard in every single row. You can't take any row for granted, you can't take it easy in anything. Everything you do, you have to give it your 100 percent best.
"If you work really hard, put the time and effort in and keep believing, it does pay off. You have setbacks, but you come back better and stronger and faster."
Ayling's rowing background has only recently evolved to single sculls, with doubles racing more to her liking until recently. "It's definitely hard in the singles, when you spend so many kilometres by yourself," she said yesterday. "You have to keep backing yourself, and talking positive because it can be easy to slip.
"Rowing with someone else, knowing that someone else is there and pushing as hard as they can is pretty inspiring."
Her long-term goal is a return to the double-seater, particularly given that lightweight single sculls is not an Olympic event - a prime motivation in Ayling's sporting career.
" I definitely want to go to the Olympics, I don't think I'll ever give up until I can."
