When St. Ed’s senior Kylie Oakes sustained a broken wrist in the fall of her junior year, she was concerned that her burgeoning desire to row for a competitive college program had become a case of untimely, and ultimately dream-smashing, collateral damage. The setback occurred during a period when college recruiting was peaking, and the injury admittedly led to an understandable bout of despair.
Undeterred, she did everything possible to stay in shape. A little over two months later the wrist was fully healed. The timeline was compressed and she had to ramp up quickly.
“The biggest test in rowing is the 2K, especially in college recruiting,” Oakes explained. “In my first 2K on the erg after my cast was removed, I got my personal best (time). So even though I wasn’t rowing, I stayed active and that was a really big hurdle that I had to get over.
“I applied for the U.S. Rowing regional challenge and, based on my scores and results, was one of 40 athletes selected for the Southeast Region team. Events like that allowed me to broaden my experience in the rowing world. After that I decided to make a change.
“I left Vero Beach Rowing and joined the Treasure Coast Rowing Club in Palm City. It’s about an hour away, but when I met with the coach it seemed like a better fit for where I was with my training, and for what I wanted to accomplish.
“I didn’t know most of the girls, and it was intimidating right off the bat. But everyone welcomed me and when the spring season started my partner and I were determined to make it to nationals. We trained twice a day, raced in regattas, and got first in the pair at sweep states. At the weeklong youth nationals regatta we placed fourth in a quad and fifth in the pair.
“In the meantime I was thinking about the summer and how I really wanted to be selected for the U.S. Junior National Team. I got my invitation to a selection camp right after we won regionals and went to nationals.
“The camp at Connecticut College was extremely intimidating because the girls from all over the country were the fastest on their teams. That was where I was one of 20 athletes selected to compete at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Tokyo.
“As a team we moved to New Jersey and trained out of the Princeton boat house. A month later we went to Tokyo where my partner and I placed third in the finals. We wanted to do better, but it was a really good experience. A pair is one of the hardest boats to row, and to be really competitive on a world level you have to be insanely fast.
“We didn’t go in with a lot of expectations, but I do believe both of us wanted to end up on the podium. When we didn’t that was an impetus for me to train even harder. I’m eligible to go to camp again next year, so I hope to make the team again, and medal this time.”
Something else was stirring the waters during this frenzied period. College was looming on the horizon.
“I didn’t start talking to Stanford until late in my junior year,” Oakes said. “I had my first phone call with the coach and I really liked her. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to study and row at a place like Stanford.
“What I didn’t understand at the time was that Stanford wasn’t this unreachable goal. So I talked with the coach throughout the summer and when I visited in August I fell in love with the campus. I thought it was the perfect fit. And then I got an offer.
“I’ve lived in Vero Beach since seventh grade, so I’m ready for a change in cultures and something a little bigger. I can step foot on campus and be almost like a new person. I will be on a team with amazing rowers, and on a campus surrounded by amazing students.
“I originally wanted to study biomedical engineering with a goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. But this past year I’ve become more interested in computer science.”