The 28-year-old admits she has been travelling a bumpy road to realise her dream but is confident it will be worth it after making that initial stroke on the choppy waters in Poznan, Poland, with double sculls partner Catriona Sens.

The pair face the daunting task of having to finish the regatta with either gold or silver to qualify the boat for the Games, but Mills said any pressure on the pair had been swamped by its own confidence and excitement.

The two are strong favourites to claim one of the available berths for China after winning the B final of the World Cup regatta in the Swiss city of Lucerne earlier in the month.

It was the first time the pair had raced in a double sculls event together and was just two days after a serious gastro bug had bed-riddened Mills in her hotel room.

''The result was fantastic really,'' Mills said from Poland, her final stop in the four-week European tour aimed solely at Beijing. ''It was a steep learning curve because that had been our first race experience.''

Three Australian crews are racing in Poland each with the aim of securing qualification for the August Games.

Queenslander Pippa Savage, 27, will also chase her Olympic dream in the cut-throat event tonight in the single scull.

The men's four of Francis Hegerty, Cameron McKenzie-McHarg, James Marburg and Matt Ryan, who became Olympic medal contenders after winning Lucerne's World Cup event, will also row for their Games opportunity in tonight's heats.

Mills knocked out controversial Athens Olympic rower Sally Robbins from a place in the boat.

Both she and Sens were confident of winning this week's event and being a force in Beijing.

''I feel so fresh,'' Mills said. ''I left Australia tired having trained so hard and combined with the fatigue [had] a bit of jet-lag and illness. But now, with the added three-race experience [from Lucerne] I am really excited and just want to get on the water.

''We are expecting a pretty bumpy course with pretty rough conditions. But we know the course pretty well when we medalled [bronze] here two years ago in a World Cup. That gives us added confidence.''

The Australian pair will be racing against nine national crews, several of which it beat earlier this month in Switzerland.

''There are a few crews we don't really know much about but we are going for the win in the heats and the finals,'' the Canberran said.

''It's important to have nerves but we are more excited than nervous.''