James made her Australian representative debut in 2011 at age eighteen in the U23 lightweight quad scull which raced at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Amsterdam. They missed the A final and finished in overall eighth place.[6] In 2015 she was back in the U23 representative squad in a lightweight double scull. She rowed with Holly Lawrence to a seventh place at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Plovdiv.[6]
In 2017 James stepped up to the Australian senior squad. She rowed in a lightweight double at the World Rowing Cup II in Poznan to sixth place with Georgia Miansarow[6] and then at the WRC III in Lucerne with Miansarow, Georgia Nesbitt and Alice Arch they raced in both the lightweight and the heavyweight quad events, winning the lightweight.[6] They were in ready form for the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota where they rowed to a second placing and a silver medal.[6]
That crew stayed together into 2018. They raced as two doubles at the WRC II in Linz where James and Arch finished 11th.[6] Then at the WRC III in Lucerne with Arch changed out for Sarah Pound they placed fifth as a quad.[6] She was selected with Sarah Pound to race Australia's lightweight double scull at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plodiv. Pound and James placed second in their heat, progressing through to the semi-final.[6]
